SPORT WALK

Roger Burlinson throws a spotlight on his own process to explain what a typical Sport Walk might look like.

When I was asked to describe a typical Sport Walk to someone recently, I have to say I was briefly stumped! I’ve become so used to explaining about challenges and how Sport Walking can be advantageous, that I rarely think about the everyday Sport Walks I do in training or just as adventurous walks for fun.

But of course, for most people who aren’t fixated on ticking off challenge after challenge, it’s the everyday stuff that means the most and if you’re going to become invested in something, you need to understand what that something is and how it plays out. How does an everyday Sport Walk differ from just a walk? What’s the process? How far would you go and does it really matter about speed if you’re not in training for something?

Yes, the thing that most of us do because it defines us as Sport Walkers, can seem like a rather complex beast to others, so let me try and set out what my Sport Walks look like and hopefully that will then give a clearer picture of what they could mean to others.

The first thing I should say is that I don’t really distinguish between Sport Walking for enjoyment and Sport Walking in training for something specific. I just apply myself as if training to any walk I do and in that respect, I’m always looking to walk to my potential. To my speed potential first and foremost and to my technical potential as well.

What do I mean by that? Well, as an experienced Sport Walker, I’m looking to be taking on routes that test me, I’m not simply seeking out a nice easy flat path where I can cruise along at a comfortable pace. Even if I’m not in training, I want to be always progressing and so I give every walk my all or at least I do unless there’s a good reason why I shouldn’t – for instance, if I’m on a recovery block or if I’m focusing more on building endurance than top speed, that sort of thing.

But that’s taking us more into training priorities than the nuts and bolts of how I perform my Sport Walks and what’s involved, so let’s just park than one there and move on.

Everything starts when getting ready and I always like to go out well hydrated and well fuelled, regardless of what I’m doing. I’ve tried ‘fat burning’ sessions when you go out first thing fully fasted but to be honest, I think my blood sugar make up doesn’t think too highly of that and I usually start to feel wobbly and regret ever thinking it was a good idea! That’s not to say others shouldn’t, it’s just what I’ve found works for me or in that case, doesn’t work.

So, I’ll always have a good breakfast before a Sport Walk – normally porridge with added flax and chia seeds, raisins and, if we haven’t eaten them already, a banana. I don’t tend to have some electrolytes before I go out, I prefer to tend to my hydration the day before, so that after my (essential) morning coffee, I’m still hydrated enough that drinking along the way will keep me sorted.

I get dressed (obviously) and then either drive out to a trail head or walk straight into the National Park from my house (we’re lucky enough to live on the other side of the road to it). When I start walking, I tend to start my watch from the first step because I want the complete picture in terms of distance and pace but instead of warming up first, then starting my watch, I just take it easy for the first couple of kilometres and ensure that the trail or route I’m on starts out flat. With a good technique, I’m able to hold a strong pace from the outset even if I’m going easy to warm up, so this part of the walk doesn’t affect my average pace at the end too much.

Once I’m under way, I fall into autopilot. I’ve been doing this for so long that I just go at the right pace and get my work rate right without thinking and I must admit that does free me up to enjoy the ride! I always try to use impactful trails and to go through impressive landscapes on my weekend Sport Walks whenever possible. To be honest, I’m really lucky living where I do and am spoilt for choice but choice is still a factor and I try to divide my Sport Walks into two camps – weekday routes and weekend routes.

During the week, because I can access the National Park so easily and because that is such an inspiring landscape to walk through, I get all I need psychologically. Physically, I do have to work a bit harder because our trails are really quite flat but also, I do try to route my walks along trails where I know there will be some climbs, even if they’re not that long.

It’s at the weekend when I really make an effort to go somewhere different and to significantly increase the physicality of the terrain, especially in relation to hills and climbing. We’re really fortunate here, in that not only have we got the New Forest National Park on our doorstep but we also have the South Downs, the Purbeck Hills, the Wiltshire Downs, the Hampshire Hills and even the North Downs all within relatively easy striking distance. Yes, I do need to drive to reach them but it’s worth it to get the riches they offer.

Recently, we took a trip up to the Cotswolds and to the Malvern Hills and it struck me that although on that occasion we made a couple of days of it, staying overnight near Gloucester, we could easily reach the Malvern Hill massif, walk there and get back home again in a day, so the broader potential for Sport Walking from where we live is immense and I use these weekend adventures to seek out the best and most fulfilling trails and landscapes I can.

Anyway, back to the how rather than the where. I must admit, I haven’t found that mainly training on gently undulating routes during the week has hampered me that much overall and I don’t suffer when I get to the lumpier stuff, where I pack my weekend walks with the best, toughest and longest climbs I can find. Yes, if I could walk in these routes every day it would give me even more strength but I really focus on high speed when the gradient is easier, so I’m still working hard aerobically during the week on flatter trails.

When I’m just Sport Walking I’ll still do exactly the same things as when I’m training. In fact, I’m not sure if I could distinguish between the two anymore. I’ll drink and eat to the same distance markers as I would in a challenge, I’ll walk a little faster than in a challenge because it’s a shorter session but I wouldn’t really differentiate between just walking and training in that respect.

I have a pace range and I always walk within that range. If I’m walking short distances I’m aiming to be at my top speed. Not flat out like in a speed test but my top cruising speed. This is because I’m only walking for a relatively short period and I want it to be hard, so that I’m making aerobic gains. As the distance increases, I’ll reduce the speed incrementally but I always try to stay at a high pace. For instance, I’d generally seek to walk at around 7 minutes and 45 seconds per kilometre for a 5k walk, around 7:45-8 minutes per km for 10k and then 8-8:30/km for15k etc. For longer distance though, I’m always looking to keep my pace in the 8 minute range, so the longer I go, I don’t continue to go incrementally slower. It’s only really the transition from short distances to middle distances where the biggest change takes place.

As I move along on my walk, I’m partly focusing on holding a good technique but for my weekend walks, that’s less of a factor. I’m thinking more about enjoying the landscape and also thinking more tactically because this will be a longer walk of between 15-20km in general, so I’m thinking about what lies ahead, thinking about my hydration, my nutrition and, also navigation but overall, I’m looking to get the most out of the visual value of the scenery I’m walking through.

As I mentioned before, every walk for me is the same in terms of my overall approach, so when I’m just Sport Walking or training I still keep moving the whole time and if I need to put on or take off my rain jacket along the way, I’ll do it in the way I would if I were in a challenge – I keep walking, remove my vest as I walk then perform the whole manoeuvre on the move. It’s not so much because I’m trying to achieve anything or to make the walk more like a challenge, it’s simply because I don’t want to be having one set of actions for training and walking and one for challenges. That’s how you make mistakes in challenges because you’ve got something different to do and you forget or get it wrong.

I’ve always advocated training by doing what you’d do in the challenge itself because then everything’s automatic and you just do what you do. If it works in a challenge it’ll work in training and it’ll work when you’re just having a nice fulfilling Sport Walk. The only thing I don’t do on shorter walks of up to 10km is eat and drink, there’s just no need but at the weekend, on longer routes, regardless of whether I’m just walking or training, I’ll do what I’d do in a challenge because….. that’s just what I do and because I do the same things regardless, when I’m in a challenge, I just do what I do!

One thing I will do on training walks or on Sport Walks for pleasure is stop to take photos or videos because these walks are important in cementing your love for the trail and the landscape and although you’re walking strongly and pushing yourself, you can still pause for a moment to grab a shot of something special. I won’t tend to stop for any other reason – it’s a Sport Walk, so I’m looking to keep moving fast – although we have been know to stop our watches and pop into a pub if one appears on our route for a cheeky beer (for hydration purposes of course) before carrying on.

I mentioned my watch there and that’s another thing I always do regardless of whether I’m training, just walking or in a challenge – I’ve always got my watch tracking what I’m doing. The difference for me between challenges and training or Sport Walks is that for the latter two, if I need to stop for any reason, I’ll pause my watch, while in a challenge, the watch is always running – it’s a live time. This is because when I’m walking or training, I want to know what my pace and other performance metrics are for the time I’m walking and if I just leave the watch to run even if I stop, those metrics will be compromised because static time will distort them.

Having chosen an inspiring landscape to walk in at the weekend, the other consideration is the type of route I’m going to follow. I have trained a lot on National Trails in the past, especially when I’ve been familiarising myself with them for personal challenges. Often this means walking a section of a longer route and that means doing an ‘out and back’ route. So, I’d walk out along the section I’m exploring, reach the half way mark in terms of the distance I want to go and then turn around and walk back the other way.

Although this gives me good knowledge of the trail in both directions, it isn’t my preferred route type because I always struggle to motivate myself on the way back. I think “I’ve already seen this” and find the prospect of walking all that way back along the same path a little depressing. I prefer to follow circular routes and spend hours plotting them out online to give me circuits to follow. Generally speaking, for the same reason, I’m look for one single lap because that means that it’s always new, always fresh. While this can sometimes be difficult to achieve, I’d rather walk along a section of road to achieve a loop than to just double back on myself and stay on the trail.

Once I’m about three quarters of the way through my walk, whatever shape or function it’s taking, I’ve noticed that time and distance seems to change! This is a rather strange phenomenon, where the closer you get to finishing your walk, the longer it seems to take to complete a kilometre or a mile, even though you’re still going at the same pace. I know it’s just that psychological effect – feeling tired and ready to stop but the end seems as far away as ever – I know that time isn’t really slowing down but it sure as hell feels like it is! Sometimes on long training sessions of maybe 30-40km the last 5k will feel like it’s taking as long as the rest of the walk. I’ve tried all sorts of things to snap out of it and nothing seems to work, so I guess it’s just the curse of the long distance walker!

Once I’m back at the van or back home, I like to follow a ritual which I’m sure is as much about reward as it is about nutrition. Coffee and eggs has become my feel good post walk treat and when I say post walk I mean post walk. If I’ve driven to the trail head, I’ll have a stove, pan and kettle with me and cook eggs and make coffee to eat there and then on the trail in the car park. I tell myself it’s good to get the protein in you quickly but really and truly it’s just become a really nice feel good habit. I’ll sit there in the warm looking out over the landscape or even just at other parked cars in the car park, scoff my fried eggs with some break and sip my coffee and it’s the nicest feeling in the world!

Once back home, I like to do a little light foam rolling and a few stretches but I don’t make a big thing about it, I just look to avoid stiffening up and to keep the muscles in good condition, ready to do it all again in a few days time!