Deciding to sign up and Nordic Walk the Big Half (marathon) can be an amazing thing to do for yourself. You will raise money for an exciting charity, led by older people for older people, whilst giving you a great reason to get off that couch and stay active this winter.

Some things to think about before you decide to sign up for the Big Half
Ask yourself the following:

• How is your health? How fit are you now? You don’t have to worry about being able to walk 13 miles (21 kilometres) yet. That is for later. Important for now is: Are you currently able to walk comfortably for 4 miles?
• Can you commit to walk about an hour (3-4 miles) three days a week?
• Can you commit to one long walk per week? These long walks get incrementally longer over the training period, but count on anywhere between 2 to 5 hours?
• Do you wonder how long the half marathon will take you? For most people a walking speed of about 3 Mph or 5 Km/h is quite reasonable. Calculating with that speed, you would be able to walk the half marathon in 4-5 hours.

Are you up for the challenge? Then sign up here!

Maybe you can see it as a wonderful experiment? By committing to this challenge, you can find out for yourself how staying active, spending more time in nature, getting plenty of daylight, socialising and working towards a meaningful goal with the support and company of others can help you feel better than ever – physically as well as mentally.

Explaining our Weekly Schedule for your Half Marathon Nordic Walk Training

• 3 days a week: walk three to four miles. You can mix up the kind of walks you enjoy, but aim to train both for speed and for endurance. Taking part in both Silverfit walks and Fit and Happy Outdoors walks can really help you get your mileage in, and we can really challenge you to get fitter and increase your strenght.
• 3 days a week: rest days. Try to take a day off between each walking day, or just take an easy walk on your day off.  You can enjoy easy strolls or other fitness activities. Don’t think you are lazy, these days off are actually important to your progress. More information on the importance of rest days will follow in a later post.
• Deciding ahead of time what days will be your training days will greatly increase your chances you will actually do it. In the schedule, I have chosen Tuesday, Thursday and Friday as your training days, but you can choose your training days to fit your schedule. Why not take some time right now to choose which days each week will be your rest days, and which your training days? Here is a schedule of Fit and Happy Outdoor walks, and here is a schedule of Silverfit walks you can take part in every week.
• Life gets in the way sometimes, so make sure to review your calendar every Sunday evening so you can adapt your plans for the week if necessary.
• Sunday: Mileage building day – this is your day for a long-distance walk.
  This is a key part of the training plan as you will be giving your body the distance challenge it needs. Fit and Happy Outdoors will be planning fortnightly Explorer walks roughly following this schedule to help you get ready.
• Your longest training day should be three weeks before the half marathon. As the half marathon needs to be completed within a certain time, it is a good idea to exceed the event distance by a mile or two in your long distance workout, to make sure you can do the distance within time.
• To give your body time to fully develop new muscle and have full energy stores for your half marathon, we can reduce the distance in the last weeks of your training

 

Half Marathon Training Chart – Miles to aim for each week

Fit and Happy Explorer walks will be planned for the days marked with a *