Top Ways to Make the Most of Your Next 3-Day Training Walk

The weather is getting warmer. The days are getting longer. It’s training walk season! It’s an exciting time, but training walks are also an important part of your 3-Day experience. They ensure you’re as ready as possible for your 60-mile journey, giving you time to bond with teammates and keeping you moving during these gorgeous spring and summer months. Here are some simple tips to make the most of your next training walk.

Make sure you’re prepared: Our blog is chock full of posts on the best ways to plan your training walk, including this highly informative one from Coach Liz. She recommends using the 3-Day training app, Google Maps and more tools to make sure your walk goes smoothly.
Do your research: Going for a walk may not seem like a scientific endeavor, but with a little research, you can find ways to optimize your walk. Thanks to our ongoing “Healthy Living” blog series with Amgen and American Bone Health, we have learned about the intricacies of getting your feet and legs ready in the right From improving your stance to increasing your flexibility, little changes can make a big difference.

Check the weather: Is it going to rain? How hot is it going to be? Different weather conditions can drastically change how your walk is going to go. Check in advance!
Look at the calendar: There are tons of training walks already planned by your coaches and local training walk leaders, so take advantage of those! Join one of the walks that are already happening, to meet people and get tips for your next walk. Check both our training walk calendar at The3Day.org/TrainingWalks and our local gatherings calendar at The3Day.org/Calendar.
Get some good tunes going: Nothing fuels a walk like some fun music! And we have the perfect playlist for you. Our Music Monday playlist on Spotify is made from songs that you suggested to get you moving when you need inspiration.
Make it themed for extra fun: Who doesn’t love an excuse to dress up and be silly? We have some easy theme ideas to add some flair to your training.
Set up a schedule: This is super easy with the 3-Day Training App, but you can also use your own system. Scheduling training in advance will help you stay on track leading up to your 3-Day and makes it more difficult to skip a day.
Add teambuilding into your walk: Grow your team while you train! Ask every team member to bring someone who’s not yet signed up for the 3-Day to the training walk and use it as a chance to show people the 3-Day spirit. You can also incorporate a teambuilding activity at the start or end of the walk to really get people excited to walk to together…and maybe add some new members to your 3-Day family!

Post about it on social media: Don’t forget to share photos! Use #The3Day and #Commit3Days on all social media so we can see your smiling faces ? Also make sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to get more training tips, alerts about training walks and more cool 3-Day info.
Always stay safe: You don’t have the awesome Safety Crew with you on your training walks, so it never hurts to add an extra safety reminder!

For tips about healthy living, click here for advice and support to keep you on track for the 3-Day and beyond. Thanks to the support of Amgen and in partnership with American Bone Health, the Healthy Living series was designed to prepare your mind, body and bones for the 3-Day.

Take a Walk in the Park, 3-Day Style

Now that spring is here, everyone is itching to get outside and into the sun. And this weekend is the perfect motivation to get you moving! Get out and get your steps in, but instead of walking on a track or at the gym, we want to see you all heading to the park to walk in the sun. Here are some fun ways to get your steps in…

Explore a new park

This is an easy one! Training can become monotonous if you’re always walking in the same park or area, so pick someplace new this weekend! Do some searching, and even take a bit of a drive if you need to, to find a picturesque and unique place to get moving. Websites like AllTrails.com, TrailLink.com and MapMyWalk.com can help you find a new park or trail in your area.

Do a lightning round

If you live in an area with lots of parks or hiking trails, hit as many as you can in one day! Walk 1-2 miles (or even less if you like) in each location, and then move on to the next fun spot. This is a great way to get in a lot of miles with nice built-in breaks. For first-time walkers or those who haven’t done a ton of training yet, kick your spring walks off with this idea!

Go for a hike

This is not the same thing as a walk! Find an area with more of an incline, be it a national park or a mountain (depending on where you live) and lace up those hiking boots. This will be a different type of training, and indeed a different type of park experience. That will help add some variety to your training schedule and prepare you for any hills you might hit on the 3-Day course!

Make it a nature walk

Collect cool flowers, leaves and other elements of nature as you walk. Make sure this is allowed by the park first, as some places do not allow you to remove the nature. However, if it is permitted, it’s a great activity to have on your mind as you walk and will really make you appreciate your natural surroundings. Then, use those petals and leaves for a later team building event and make fun art or pressed flowers that will always remind you of your 3-Day team. ?

Plan a picnic at the end

This will take some coordination but work with your family or friends to have someone meet you at the end of your 3-Day training walk with a picnic reward! Have as many pink items (think strawberries, pink lemonade, cookies and more!) as you can in the picnic and celebrate a walk well stepped.

If you need some more inspiration for your weekend walks, here are some other blog posts to check out:

5 Easy Ways to Get Outside this Spring
Planning the Perfect 3-Day Training Walk
Tips for 3-Day First Timers from 3-Day Past Participants
Top 3-Day Training Songs, According to YOU!
3-Day Guest Post – A Mother’s Day Training Walk (Get ready for the upcoming holiday!)

Are you going on a training walk this weekend? Tell us how you’re getting outside this spring!

For tips about healthy living, click here for advice and support to keep you on track for the 3-Day and beyond. http://the3day.co/amgen2019. Thanks to the support of Amgen and in partnership with American Bone Health, the Healthy Living series was designed to prepare your mind, body and bones for the 3-Day.

11 Hot Weather Training Hacks

In the middle of summer, going out for a 3-Day training walk in the heat may be the last thing you’d like to do. But if you decide to venture out and get some training miles in on hot days, here are some tips/hacks that might make the sun-baked miles a little easier to bear.

First, a few obvious reminders, which I’m sure you already know, but we must repeat anyway…

Always wear sunscreen, with a minimum of SPF 30. Don’t forget to cover your ears, any exposed parts of your scalp (better yet, cover your head with a hat) and lips too.
Drink LOTS of water, and ideally, rotate water and sports drinks.
If your area is experiencing hazardous heat levels, or you just don’t feel right out in the high temperatures, stop. There will always be other times to walk, and risking your health and comfort are not worth it.
For ALL training walks, remain alert and aware of your surroundings. Try not to walk alone, or if you must, be sure someone knows where you’ll be.

Okay, on to the hacks!

Fill a water bottle halfway and freeze it on its side. That way, when you fill the rest with water, it’ll cool the water more uniformly, so you’ll get refreshing cold with every sip.
Fact: outside temperatures are typically coolest right before the sun rises. If possible—especially for longer walks—get out and start moving close to dawn. You’ll beat the heat and also finish early enough to still have a productive day (or a long and lazy day if that’s what you want).
Remember that an important part of your 3-Day training is cross-training (i.e., exercise that isn’t walking), and summer is the perfect time to throw some swimming, water aerobics, stand-up paddleboarding or rowing into your fitness routine.
When dressing for a warm weather walk, synthetic materials that draw moisture away from the body are better than 100% cotton. Also, light colors will deflect sunlight, keeping you cooler. (More info about best practices for what to wear is here.)
Did you know that bra coolers were a thing? They’re basically little cold packs that fit snugly into the underside of your bra, keeping your “girls” cool in warm conditions. Search online for several options.
Get a cooling wrap to wear on your neck. You can even make these wraps fairly easily; a Pinterest search of “cooling neck wrap” will show you dozens of how-to’s. Online retailers and drug stores also sell them.
Looking for a well-shaded route to walk? A quick internet search of “shaded walk [city name]” will come back with some good results that you may have never considered.
If you can’t walk in natural shade, you can make your own by carrying a sun umbrella.
Pick a route that has lots of places to stop and rest. Remember, when you’re walking in the heat, you should be drinking more water (and sports drinks, if possible) than usual, so plan your route to pass places where you can use the bathroom and refill your water. Convenience stores or coffee and fast food chains are good for this.
If you plan to take a long training walk in hot conditions, see if you can recruit a friend or family member to be your personal support vehicle. They can drive to meet you at points along your route with drink refills, fresh socks and sunscreen, and a cool car to sit in for a few minutes. Seeing those friendly faces can also help rally you onward when the heat may be tempting you to call it quits.
For no more than a few bucks, you can get a hand-held, battery-powered personal fan to carry. It won’t be quite the same as stepping into an air conditioned building, but if you’re out in the heat and there’s no natural breeze, that little bit of moving air from a fan can really feel nice on sweaty faces, arms and necks. Any drug store or superstore with a summer section will carry these, or you can easily find them through online sellers (is there anything you can’t get online?).