Camino Fitness Week Five

Camino Fitness Plan Week 5

This week's training plan looks very similar to last week’s. The day of your fitness test reverts back a short 30 minutes walk.

On day 7, the length of the hike increases by about an hour or lengthened about two miles.

The primary training goal this week is to begin to extend your aerobic endurance, which you’ll achieve by the increase in length of the hike. If you are feeling ready, aim for four hours this week. Adding an hour may seem like a small increment; but you are going from a medium length hike to a longer one requiring a fairly substantial effort.

There are several subtle but important things to consider as you increase the length of your hike. One of the biggest ones is energy consumption. Many people can do a two hour hike without any special preparation, and you'll probably have enough energy to complete it just fine. However, to be successful in maintaining energy throughout a three hour hike, you'll want to be diligent in preparing, specifically with nutrition, to make sure you have enough fuel in your body for the entire hike. Be sure to pack enough snacks to keep you fueled for the entire time! You'll also want to consider what you carry in your day pack. On a two hour hike, you may never be more than an hour from the start. As you go further out, this creates additional consideration for self-responsibility and risk management. The Mountaineers Club created the ten essentials for walkers to carry. It’s also good to have an emergency plan in case a mishap should occur. This includes letting people know where you're going, and/or also hiking with other people.

SUMMARY Week five can be a positive breakthrough, the week where many people feel a demonstrable increase in their fitness. Often-times, the thing which people notice is an increased aerobic capacity; you simply can do more without getting out of breath. Some people also report feeling stronger. All of this makes sense. If you've done all the workouts, you'll have logged 25 solid days of training. This amounts to 25 improvement cycles! As long as you're practicing good self care, you can't help but feel stronger. It's important to acknowledge the progress and perhaps celebrate in some way. You should feel confident about what you're doing; you've made significant gains and the foundation you're building at this point will result in greater gains still as the next few weeks unfold!



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Camino Fitness Week Six

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Camino Fitness Week Four