This summer, The Hiking Club team will be completing over 1,200km / 750mi to hike the top 8 multi-day hikes in Europe. We’ll be doing this as part of our 2025 Trail Updates program, as well as launching new hikes onto The Hiking Club platform. Sounds exciting, right? But, if I’m honest, also a little daunting. When it’s not hiking season in the Alps, I live at sea level and don’t have mountains on my doorstep. Not the best environment to get my body mountain fit!
Like previous years, I will be using our 3-month training plan that was developed in collaboration with Stacey Hardin, Doctor of Physical Therapy, and Athletic Trainer. This training plan helps people like me, build the endurance and strength to complete a multi-day hike in the Alps.
The aim of this training diary is to keep me accountable, share my progress and hopefully motivate you to start or continue training for your next epic hiking journey
If you’re interested which legendary hikes we’ll be doing, they are: Tour du Mont Blanc, Alta Via 1 Dolomites, Walker’s Haute Route, Tour des Combins, Bernese Oberland Traverse, Tour of Monte Rosa, West Highland Way, and a few we’ll keep on the downlow :P
susan’s WEEK 1: creating my training plan
(Monday 12th March > Sunday 16th March)
The first hike that I’ll be tackling in June is the Alta Via 1 in the Dolomites. The trail is 120km / 75mi, 7,400m / 24,00ft in elevation gain, and I’m aiming to complete it in 5 days.
One of the first pieces of information the training template needs to calculate how long it will take me to prepare for this trail distance is my current weekly step count. Luckily, I wear my Apple Watch everyday so I can easily check last week’s count - 77,000 steps.
Based on the above information, it shows it will take me 13 weeks to work my step count to the hike distance of 120km / 75 mi. (See how the right column turns green at week 13 when my step gap to readiness goal is met). With my trip 12 weeks out, I need to get cracking to ensure I’m ready!
Based on last week’s step count and the trail stats for Alta Via 1 Dolomites, the training plan shows it will take me 13 weeks to build up the endurance to complete the trail in 5 days.
The next step is creating my week 1 training plan. This week is a little bit different from normal as I got a Peleton bike for my birthday (yes - best husband ever!) so I’ll start to incorporate indoor cycling into my weekly schedule.
My focus for the first 4 weeks is ramping up key elements:
Increasing to 3 x strength sessions per week, by the end of the month
Plan: Use the training videos as part of the 3 month training program and start with 1 session in week 1, increase to 2 sessions for week 2 and 3, end with 3 sessions in week 4. I will tune into how my body feels as I activate new muscle groups and adjust accordingly.
Add one big steps day per week, increasing by 10% per week
Plan: Schedule short hike / trail run on Friday mornings, starting with 1 hour.
Continue 4+ short cardio sessions per week
Plan: Mixing up running, swimming and cycling
Gradually increasing total weekly step count (+5% per week, to minimise chance of injury)
Plan: Last month average was 77,000 steps per week. Aim to increase to 90,000 steps by week 4.
Here’s what my week 1 plan looks like:
My week 1 training plan using the training template from the 3 Month Training Program.
I’ll report back on progress over the next few weeks. Wish me luck!