In Training for the 3-Day

So have I started training yet? Well, yes and no. I haven't gotten into a regular regime of training. My walk is still more than six months away. But I have been at least thinking about it. And this evening I took to the pathway.

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Let me tell you some things I have learned about training in my two years experience in the 3-Day.

JUST DO IT!

Okay, so the better prepared you are for the walk the more likely you will be able to finish and to finish happily and healthily. Training is crucial. The 3-Day has a suggested 20-week and 16-week training schedule which includes building up to longer and longer walks. Training does not have to only be walking. In fact, cross-training (doing something else) is encouraged. But it needs to include lots and lots of walking.

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Training gets your body ready to be an endurance athlete. Ha! I have become an endurance athlete after the age of 60. It also helps you get used to your equipment. These are the essential things I remembered when I went walking this evening. Of course, I wore my walking shoes and some good absorbent socks. I had a bottle of water and that new pedometer.

Since I was walking alone, my cell phone was something very important to carry. CARRY--not walk along chatting. Don't we spend way too much time on our cell phones chatting anyway? But really, just as driving while on the cell phone is not only not a good idea, but is illegal in many states now, talking on the phone while walking can be a safety issue. So take the cell phone for emergency purposes and don't let it be a distraction.
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Well, right in the middle of that display of things to remember is my camera. The camera is not an essential for walking--it is just an essential for ME.

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Now about those socks. Those socks reminded me tonight of one of the big reasons for training. It is really important to break in your equipment . You need to know how the equipment suits you. Shoes have to be broken in in the traditional sense. Other things--you need to know how you are going to react with them.

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There is something about that particular pair of socks that is just not right. They are a little too big, and they slip. Three miles tonight, and believe me, I would have never made anything like twenty in those socks. I came near to blisters in just three miles. Two hours later and I can still feel the "hot spots" on my feet. Friction is the enemy.

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Which brings me to some things I didn't remember this evening. Actually, the moleskin and blister bandages are something I almost needed tonight. But the Body Glide could have prevented the problems. It is a skin protection product that you use in places that could rub or chafe. Like YOUR WHOLE FOOT!!!! It really works to prevent blisters. Try it. If you don't find it in your local drugstore (I didn't) try a shoe store like Foot Locker or a sports or outdoor store like REI or Big 5.