[Closed] Advice needed for a VERY LONG walk

Run. It'll be over sooner.

Run quickly, it will be over even quicker.

a pair of trainers should get you round.. take a cardigan it might be chilly.. take half a dozen envelopes with 3.89 in each one.. it ll save looking for change at mcdonalds.

I reckon that's what I do every time I go ****ing shopping with my better half. Just stick the comfiest shoes you have on, and take some tunes 😉

Cursed Earth, or Undercity?

Wear a worn-in pair of ners. If you don't mind looking silly in the city, use poles with rubber stoppers on for speed & to save your knees. 14 miles isnt that far.

Pubs. A dozen should do it.

14 miles is really not a a very long walk wear whatever and employ Rule 5

I assumed the "VERY LONG" bit was [s]an attempt at[/s] humour

14 miles along flat pavements should be easily doable if you are reasonably fit. You won't even need any training walks, although a couple of decent length walks before then wouldn't do you any harm.

Wear some comfy trainers and good socks and you will be fine.

I know it's not VERY LONG, but you should see the faces of some people I mention it to!

Walking on pavement for an extended period does tend to make my back very sore, though, so I want to make sure that I do the right things and not exacerbate any back issues.

As for walking poles, do they make much of a difference? I don't mind looking goofy. What about 1 versus 2?

In my experience I find poles more of a hindrance along the flat than being any good. I use poles a lot when hill walking but mainly for the descents and occasionally ascending.

What about one of those back brace/lumbar support things you can get?

As others have said really not that far - go for a few long walks during the week and weekend and you'll be fine.

I do loads of biking but only some walking; it's the impact that gets me when walking, I end up with achey hips much sooner than my wife who isn't as fit as I am but does huge walks frequently.

I suspect the only thing that will help this is just "more walking", and who has the time when there's biking to be done?

Oh and never use poles for flat walking. One of my best friends is as orthopaedic surgeon and he see's a lot of injuries from using poles needlessly.

I've done the nijemagen marches 220k over 4 days.

Best advice some worn in trainers walking boots are to hot n heavy and just overkill.

Also sudacreem or drapoline in areas where your prone to chaffage.

As someone of generally decent fitness the only thing that really likely to stop you is getting a bit sore in places that aren't used to it so I'd recommend getting yourself a tube of this.

[img] [/img]

Works much like vaseline but doesn't seem to bugger up your clothes in the same way and seems to last for miles. Also might no be immediately obvious but getting the right underwear shorts/trouser combo makes all the difference to your comfort levels. Experiment over the next few weeks and find what you're most comfortable in.

As for poles. I'm not convinced that they make 'that' much of a difference. I started walking regularly towards the beginning of the year and rediscovered an old knee issue which gave me grief when descending, I bought some poles in the belief that spreading the load would help, and used them for a few weeks. It didn't seem to have any significant effect on the knee pain. I appreciate that this is a very specific issue and the poles might have more impact on a lower back issue than my knees so I wouldn't discount the idea altogether but try and borrow some or get some cheap ones to try rather than splashing out on super foldable lightweight carbon ones.

What has worked for me has been walking regularly, gradually building up the distance over a period of months to where I currently walk 20-25 miles a week with the longest weekly walk around 10-12 miles.

I notice that i am considerably less fatigued if i wear trainers compared to walking boots. So if the terrain allows for it I'd stick to trainers for the time being.

According to my daughters stepper we walked 14k one day on a recent city break. Sketchers trainers (sports direct) with memory foam insoles certainly took the edge off.

Get one of these to time it

[img] [/img]

Really isn't a very long walk. When I did the Pennine way was often 20+ miles a day with pack in the peaks the dales and so on. If it's pavement then trainers and a backpack with water.

3 hours at most I would have thought, about an average day for a postamn or meter reader

Comfy trainers or lightweight walking boots, realistically whichever you have to hand. Instead of the sudocreme which admittedly is magic stuff maybe buy some skins styley running compression short things. I picked up a cheap pair and eliminated chafe issues.

I have used a GPS watch and found I often did 7-10 miles just going round the city shops. I know what you mean though - have had people offer me lifts of only 500 yards or so on the basis 'its too far for you to walk'. Makes me wonder how they cope with going up that mountainus route to bed every night 🙂

Anyway I used to get a lot of backache if walking slowish or stood about. Then I sleep on a floor for some weeks (out of choice, too long to explain) and after the first few days of discomfort at loosing the soft bed the back aching in day to day life stopped and now I do not get issues any more. It forced my core muscles to improve. I sleep on a harder surface out of choice now and my body flexibility has improved a lot too, without doing any exercises to achieve all this. So I would say try to find some suitable way to improve your own core strength and walking will become more comfortable for you.

Walking boots are overkill, hot and heavy. Trainers or sports scandals are best.

Wear some cushioned sports ankle socks or 2 pairs of thin socks. If they are not seemless, wear them near to your foot one inside out so the seem is away from rubbing your skin. I have also found sports sandals with no socks to work for me well if hot or raining (dry fast) but you really need to check out things on a few walks first to see what works.

Take blister plasters though really if you get the footwear right you will not need them.

Also take layers of clothes, things that open full length down the front rather than just at the neck - you will soon get hot walking about at a reasonable pace. Also take a lightweight waterproof.

Good luck, have fun. Urban walks are very entertaining as there is so much to see, esp if you like buildings, building details and gardens. Time will fly. Leave the headphones at home.

If you get a sore back then you probably need to work on your core. Planking daily might help you strengthen up before the walk.

For hillwalking I wear "cycling underpants" that I bought from Aldi.
They're like polycotton cycling shorts, not as long or high with a very thin comfort (fake) chamois.
SO much more comfortable on long hillwalks, I didn't realise how normal undies were less than ideal.

NOT walking boots for urban stuff, good trainers will do.

I'd also rub Vaseline into the inside top of my thighs in case of chafing, or a cream like mentioned above if you're worried about staining your undies ...

skids - Member

3 hours at most I would have thought, about an average day for a postamn or meter reader

I'm a fairly fast walker but I would allow 4-5 hours, nearly 5mph is a pretty fast pace for someone who doesn't walk much.

codybrennan - Member

Cursed Earth, or Undercity?

Get your coat, and

[img] [/img]

I used to frequently walk 12 miles a day to/from work (also similar distance into from town) and used predominantly trail shoes (scrapa goretex lined) as found these most comfortable over that sort of urban distance.

A Walkman/iPod was essential (tip put it on random/shuffle, keeps you on your toes 😀 ).

For preparation I'd do quite a few 2 hour (i.e knocking on 8 miles) walks as prep as that's probably enough to determine whether your footwear will give you blisters and help toughen up your feet for, er, the feat itself. When I first started I found the last mile (which was exposed and uphill) hard work but got used it after a week or two. Make any new footwear is broken in.

I used to walk at approx 4 mph but found feet got wearied at 6-7 miles (just over 1.5 hours) and needed a wee rest/coffee. So plan a couple of 10-15 minute rests, bring a flask.

HTH.

14 miles is not a very long walk..
😕
Just wear your most comfy footwear, and enjoy it. If it's all on pavements, just wear trainers, and crack on.

Or am I missing something here?

Used to walk 30-35 miles every sunday, mostly along country lanes.

Garb was a light woollen coat, jeans and German para boots or mid-top trainers plus some good socks.

Used to take a tiny Cassel's Pocket Book of Prose Quotations, rollies and sometimes a Panasonic personal cassette player. Stop for pints and/or rollie. Sometimes a peanut butter sandwich would be squeezed in a pocket for refreshment prior to return journey.

Times change!

Nowadays I can't do the distance but if I could it'd be lightish Merino socks, some good shock-absorbing trainers or cross-trainers, and lighter clothes to walk faster, ie a few lighter layers. If raining I usually prefer to get wet than wear any boil-in-the-bag waterproof gear.

14 miles will soon fly by. October is a lovely month for walking.

Fourteen miles, is that all? I've done twelve on a Sunday afternoon without thinking about it, from Chippenham to Lacock via the Wilts & Berks Canal, and I've done nine miles wearing wellies! Any reasonably fit adult should be able to do that without too much trouble on the flat.
Did twelve miles on sand once, almost killed my knees, practically crawled back to the car. Thankfully it was in a Sainsbury's car park, so ibuprofen was readily available.

That's a big car park

We've just done an 8.5 mile trail walk through the Swedish countryside on holiday - my youngest is 12. It took us all of 3hrs, including stops to take in views, take photos and explore interesting looking things. We wore jeans, t shirts and trainers and took no food or water. It was great and unproblematic. We all survived. You'll be fine for 14 miles on pavement. Poles not required.

Walk like this bloke ... Matej Toth ...

[img] [/img]

I should have chosen race walking when I was younger as I hate running.

😀