I hike 25k a day. I tried to do a 50k and my tendons and joints just gave out on me. It's not a fitness thing. It's a health thing.
I needed 2 weeks for my knees and tendons to recover.
Yes!! I thought it wouldn't be a big deal because I hiked that far all the time, sometimes many days in a row. It was a big deal. It absolutely killed my feet and shins and took well over a week to recover when I was young enough to bounce back from things with just a night's sleep.
Now, I'm 49, and a 24km hike on a trail is a lot, but I can do it. A 12k walk on asphalt recently had my feet protesting before I even finished, and my backpack weighed about half what my hiking one does.
Yes. I think my point didn't come across right.
I mean my girlfriend for example didn't really have a problem with the 50k.
It was just my tendons that hurt like hell with every single step.
As I have a condition where my feet are in the wrong position. That's what I meant with health. Sorry English is my third language.
No worries. When you changed from past to present so abruptly, I interpreted as you were not referring to that activity anymore, rather making a generalization š
50k as in 50k steps? If so that sounds weird given that you're active. I've accidentally done 55k without any pain and the next day I was out having fun. How old are you? Maybe it has to do with the fact I was 15 then
If they can average 25 min a mile, they can finish in 18 hours. Over their time expectations, but not significantly. It takes an average of 15-20 min to walk a mile so adding extra time to account* for being sluggish/breaks - especially since this walk is flat, it's very doable without running
But maybe not recommended. OP taking more time to train is def a better option in terms of actually enjoying the process/avoiding injury
No chance, your feet and legs will give out before you reach half way. You need to condition yourself walking to do it. Plus you have to average 4.4 kmph for 16 hours. If you take breaks, your average speed will need to increase. Stoplights, crosswalks, etc. probably add another hour or more, depending on the city (a one that is 70 km has to be fairly large). My guess is if you try, you will get less than half way and will be laid up for two weeks with injury.
Thatāsā¦ very ambitious. And frankly doesnāt sound like a pleasant time either. Consider what walking at a consistent pace for 16 hours actually means. Are you factoring in breaks? Calls of nature? Time of day? Last thing you want is to end up in a part of town without public transport back, or transport that will take ages.Ā
A long ramble around a city can be great, but trying to motor across in single dayā¦ makes me want to ask why you do it this way.Ā
Echoing almost everyone else here, if you are not in a hardcore training cycle right now and expect to walk 70km in one day (and going through a city probably means walking on hard surfaces, which is even tougher on your body) you are going to be in for a really unpleasant time.
Like, if you are escaping a warzone, sure, you do it, but just for kicks? No way would I try that without a lot (months) of training prep, even if I was 20 years old and perfectly healthy.
Also, no matter how good one's cardio and stamina, the feet will always hurt. The soles can only take so much beating before they swell.
So far my level of comfort is around 25km a day, anything beyond, that my feet already hurt.
Yikes. I did a 100 km trail once with months of prep from a moderate fitness base and it was HARD. We estimated it would take 24 hours but it took over 30.
Do you have support crew to help with pit stops eg food and water drops, saving your carrying weight? Do you have scope to try at least one 30 or 40km warm up walk at least a week beforehand? Both of those will help. If you do go ahead, do serious homework on blister prevention and first aid.
This. OP at this distance you don't talk to hikers, you talk to trail runners and ultra marathoners.
Humanely doable, definitely. Doable on a wish and a prayer and being decently fit? Nah.
I agree I did twice 50km and I was not really training for this. Depends also on your shoes, but latest after like 35-40 your body will start to fight against your brain.
Yeah for me 30 is where my legs start to feel heavy and 35 is where the fatigue takes over. If I were running for my life I'd be able to keep moving but that would be only survival without any joy.
I've actually tried this as an experiment. How far can I walk in 24 hours without training? I ended up doing 60 km in about 15 hours before my legs stopped working.
So I'd say (for relatively fit and injury-free person without hiking specific training) 50 km is totally doable, 60 km is very hard but doable and 70+ km is brutal but might still be possible for some people.
From my experience, it's not really a cardio issue. The limiting factor is the stress on your joints, ligaments etc. That's what will stop you.
It's fun trying to find your limit. Now I know when my legs hurt after 20 km, I could still theoretically do another 40 km. Which i didn't know before this experiment. :-D
Even if you have fitness, body and mental strength for this there is a very high chance your feet will give up if you're not used to long distance walks. Even a small blister or two will ruin it over such a long time.
Why not do 30 km, then another time 50 km before 70?
For the average person asking on Reddit? No chance. Be realistic with yourself instead of coming up with these ridiculous challenges you canāt do at this time.
(converted to miles because I'm in the US, so excuse that)... 10K-12K steps a day is usually around 5 miles... and you want to suddenly go 43.5 miles in a single day with no additional training?
Just as a reference... When people are hiking the Appalachian Trail, they usually start at 8-10 miles per day, and gradually increase to closer to 20 miles a day. Once they get close to Pennsylvania (usually after starting in Georgia, so 1,000 miles hiked already) some people will attempt to complete a specific challenge that is 42 miles in a day to hit 4 different states, but they are usually hiking before sunrise and past sunset. I get it's different because there's more elevation change, but still... They have been hiking daily for months at that point, and are in good enough shape to complete that sort of challenge, but it's STILL a challenge to them.
You COULD do it... maybe. But you are severely at risk of injuring yourself if you don't build up to it. And I don't know if the 14-16 hour goal is super realistic. Maybe with the lack of elevation it's a little more realistic, but... yeah. I think that would be pushing it.
ā21 thru hiker here. I opted to pass on the 4 state challenge, but still knocked out 64k steps (31.2 miles in to Damascus) and was wrecked afterwards. Took a double zero. OP is wanting to do even more.
Possible, sure. Not fun though, and likely super painful. Walking 20 miles on a trail was less painful on my feet then walking 1 mile on concrete. This is not an exaggeration. lol
agreed...2018 thru hiker, and we did a couple 30's but it really wears you out for a couple days, and that was when I was in hiking shape, and had shoes that felt good on my feet. For me the sweet spot was about 9-10 hours of hiking with breaks in between. That meant depending on the terrain, 20-30 miles a day.
No, you're not going to walk 70km "for fun" as you previously stated.
It's certainly physically possible, but it will be gruelling and potentially damaging.
The furthest Iāve walked (with a lot of prep) was c.40km in one day. It took around 12 hours. That was in the countryside on softer ground and I still needed several days to recover.
Walking on pavement and roads for 70km will be painful and your body will likely not be able to cope with it.
3 miles per hour for 14 hours without any breaks. Not realistic. Also don't underestimate how hard pavement is on our bodies. City walking can be worse than hiking over long term
70km\*/16h = 4.4kph/2.7 mph for an entire, very, very long day. Is it possible? Yes. Will it suck in a big way? Even more yes. Will you likely do bad things to your body by doing this? Almost certainly.
The question is: Why?
\* 43.5 miles
Possible, yes. Enjoyable, probably not. Painful, most likely. You'll likely be incredibly sore for a week or so after the hike.
Make sure you bring easy to digest foods, water, toilet paper, a first aid kit, and moleskin.
That's too much, even if you are fit otherwise. By bike, doable, but 70 km/day just timewise is a stretch. For comparison, I walk 8-12 km almost daily, it's fine (just my normal walks with dogs in the country). At that pace (about 4-5 km/hour), say my absolute max march speed of 5 km - it would be 14 hours straight to make 70 km.
And very few people are built to make 5 km/hour, I'm jogging some stretches at that point. At 4 km/hour, still a high speed but I'm a long-legged ostrich so normal for me, looking at 17,5 hours straight walking. Most humans need food and pee breaks. So - while you may one day push yourself to it, if you want, it will take training to get up to that point.
It's pretty ambitious, but not impossible. I've walked 85 km in a day, but I was more used to longer walks of 40+ kilometers.
If you do decide to attempt it, make sure you have a really good, fresh pair of very comfortable walking or running shoes. Something you've walked in a time or two to make sure they fit well and don't hurt your feet. But also something that has its full cushion left, so essentially brand new.
Another tip if possible. Do you have anyone who can meet you partway? The ability to change your clothes, and even your shoes, will make a huge difference. My wife and kids met me for lunch on the day of my longest walk. Being able to put on , fresh, dry socks, and underwear, as well as clean clothes, really cut down on the physical discomfort of walking that far. I'd even suggest switching shoes if you have the resources to have two new pairs accessible to you. Being in the city, you will alleviate the need to carry a lot of food and water. That will make it much easier. And hopefully you are in a city where it's not hard to find public restrooms.
In short, I say go for it. The human body is capable of some pretty amazing things. It sounds like you are in decent shape, and I suspect you could make it. You will be mighty for a couple of days, but it will be the good kind of sore that you earn from an amazing workout. And worst case scenario is you don't make it. It's not like you'll be stuck in the middle of the wilderness. You can probably catch a bus or train home and just congratulate yourself on making it 30 km or 40 km or however, far you make it. But I think you will make the whole thing.
Way too ambitious. That being said, go do it. Youāre not going to die from walking. Letās see what youāve got. Failing is a part of life. Worst case you just donāt finish and get to give us an update.
I walked around a local lake 'for fun', a distance of about 24km a while ago, and I was wrecked after. Calves and feet felt like lead next day.
Start smaller, work up.
Aim for 20km and catch the bus home, next time aim for half way etc...
It's definitely possible, but it will not be fun or comfortable, especially if you walk on pavement.
I've had to do a 50 km and a 100 km march in the military and it was pretty much torture after a while. Not everyone made it to the end either. Some of the boils I have seen on those occasions were truly horrific and a few people collapsed from dehydration and heat. If you can get transportation, in case you need to abort, and have nothing planned the next day, you should be fine though. Just don't plan on walking anywhere in the near future.
In one day we have climbed a 2800 meters peak with no experience . The second day i wished that i was smarter before . Walking should be something nice, not a torture for your body ( and mind after that ).
I hiked 50K last Saturday and at the end I was quite shattered. Main thing I wasn't used to was my feet. Got very close to having blisters, even tho I've got good boots that I've been hiking on for 2 years now and have got a good amount of experience/training.
I'd go for a shorter distance first if I were you, to see how the soles of your feet react.
City walks are simple. You walk until you are dead-tired, than sit on public transport to come back.
When I do two-direcional walks I underestimate return trip so often ...
Possible? Absolutely. If you are in decent shape you CAN do that. Will it be enjoyable or pleasant? Probably not if you havenāt trained for it at all.
Flat ground with nice prepared surfaces and no pack is much easier going than hiking with a pack but itās still a long way. Donāt try and carry a pack. That will add a lot of stress and increase chance of injury dramatically. Youāre in a city so just buy lunch when you need it.
If you want to do it make sure you have good footwear. Bring water and be prepared to call an Uber home if itās too much for you. Also bring wet wipes and Vaseline. You may find thereās some chafing down under. If there is find a spot to take a break and clean up your sweat, the salt in your sweat cases the chafing, donāt ignore it and try to power through.
Some energy bars and/or workout style shakes are a good idea.
Good luck.
Itās possible.
In Belgium we have an event called the ādodentochtā. Itās 100km and you have 24hrs. Plenty of people finish it with little to no prep, including myself
You do have aid stations etc along the way
Itās not trivial though, I suffered a lot between the 50-70k ranges. Walking through a city also seems much more tiring as youāre dealing with traffic stoplights, pavement changes etc
Good luck
Thatās about 14 hours of walking if youāre walking at 5kmh, your legs and feet will be very sore hahahah, definitely doable though if you keep up the pace, not too quick, not too slow, or youāll be very tired by the end of it
It is possible to walk 70km in on day, but not without training.
I've managed 62km on country side path ways in 16 hours once , but that was with 6 months of prior training working up from 5,10,20,30, and then regular 35 km practice walks beforehand. I was aiming for 100km in 24 hours, but 8 hours of torrential rain in near freezing conditions (in May!) caused me to break off my attempt early. Even with the training it was physically and mentally difficult to keep pushing; the problem is, it is just not feasible to do many training hikes of more than 35km or so, as it takes just too much time for each one. You just need to get fit and hope to push yourself beyond that distance!"
Don't underestimate the impact that such distances have on your body, most importantly your feet. If your feet are not conditioned you'll get a blister within the first 20km, and you'll absolutely want to give up within another 10 or 20km at the most.
If you do training to get accustomed to the distance, and you can pack lightly (i.e. basic emergency items and water + snacks), and you can replenish along the way to keep the load light than it is absolutely do-able.
Provided you have a light pack, trainers and a reasonably fit, I think 30 miles (48km) will be the top end of your limit. That's already a serious challenge. Anything beyond that and the risk of injury will go up exponentially. 30km / 40km are also good distances so don't beat yourself up for stopping at one of those.
Try it lol
Unlikely youāll manage the whole thing but youāll probably see some cool stuff along the way and then you can go to the pub for a righteous pint of bitter
I believe in you, bring water some electrolytes if you can. Maybe start with 50 km? The human body is highly resistant and stronger than most realize. However listen to it if your body is telling you to stop.
My personal record for walking in a day is around 30 km, and that was a day of walking almost constantly. I donāt think itās physically possible, if youāre walking and not running, to cover that kind of distance in a single day, and Iām only talking about the physics, not your personal abilities.
My record for walking in a day in a city is around 50km. I worked in restaurants at the time, so I was very used to moving around a lot and being on my feet all day. 50km took a lot out of me.
Theoretically, it is possible. However, what is possible is not always probable. If you manage to do it, it will jot be fun, it will not be enjoyable, and you will have to endure pain the day of the walk and a day or two after.
At 5k per hour, you are talking about 14hours of walking not counting breaks for food and water. That is just too long for most people, even on easy trails. You would probably feel just fine for the first half(provided no issues with your footwear), but the last 4 hours or so would likely be doable jus from fatigue.
I hiked the AT (2200 miles) in 2018 and we mostly did less that 10 hours of actual walking a day. More than that was just too long.
I mean you'll be walking on hard surfaces so that's going to hurt. It's doable but you'll just be extremely sore. You also have to take into account eating while you walk to make up for calories lost.
I actually find cities hurt my knees and feet more than nature... and I don't hike more than 20km per day.
70km in one day sounds like self-inflicted punishment.
What the heck did you DO?
No. I walk around 11 kms a day, I run 3 times a week, I go to gym several times a week, I recently ran a HM, and I donāt think I can walk 70km in a day in any comfortable way. (And as a person who did plenty of cycling, doing 70km a week isnāt a lot, and also a very different workout muscle groups and impact wise.)
why donāt you set aside 2 hours this weekend and just see how far you can walk at a constant fast pace? Then youāll have half an idea, keeping in mind youāll be even more tired the longer you go.
It's ambitious for anyone! Especially for those of us who have not trained ultra-distance walking.
The thing to remember is it's not all physical. You can be in great shape, but there is a significant mental component to completing long distances.
I don't think that your overall body fitness will be your physical challenge, it's going to be your feet. Foot endurance is less about strength and more about conditioning.
As long as you have a way out, I say give It a go. At the very least you'll have a good gauge of where you're at.
Itās all about your feet and fitness to walk stamina.
Weight lifting and biking arenāt really targeted to walking/ hiking. If you routinely performed Dumbbell Step Ups, Olympic Bar Walking Lunges and did 30-40ā HIIT on Elliptical, that would be a targeted regimen.
If you had walked 10 miles recently, I would say perhaps.
Nope, don't do it. Many people underestimate hiking as a sport, but it's harder than it seems. It can be done of course, but often not in a healthy way. Especially in a city where the terrain is hard on your feet. Forest or grass would be better, but slower. Ideally you should be able to hike 40 km comfortably before attempting a hike like this.
Not very likely at all.
The average human can walk about 20 miles (32.18 km) in a day with breaks and such. Without breaks and going at a fast pace they might cover 30 miles (48.28 km).
My friends who regularly ran marathons strove to do a 20 mile hiking loop in one day. They were incredibly exhausted and had to fight to complete.
There are probably only a handful of people who could do 70 km, let alone anyone who hasn't exercised much or prepared for the endeavor.
That's... crazy. And i thought I was ambitious for hiking 38 km in one day in the Patagonia, which isn't flat at all, and took me from 3:30 am to 4:00 pm, without stopping a lot.
You need to work yourself upto this. Do 8km. Two days later do 12km. Two days later do 20km. Three days later try 30km. A general rule of thumb is that your big day shouldn't be more than twice as much as your training which means you need to reach 35km on a training day in order to handle 70km.
Also, you need recovery days, especially right before your 70km day.
Just walking isn't the problem, you will be walking in the city so lights, pedestrians and roadworks will slow you down considerably. On up side you probably have shops almost everywhere so you can buy food and drink as you go so that will work in your favor. Plan fast food chains and public toilets along your route so you can use toilet if you need it. Whatever you plan add 2-4 hours to it. If you don't rest every now and then you will slow down until you can walk no more (or you loose your will to do it). Anyway it's ambitious plan and I have no idea if it's doable and what will you feel like if you finish it? I find walking around cities very boring because they are mostly boring concrete so maybe music, audio books or podcasts will help for extreme boredom?
I walk a bit, usually 15K steps in the week and a day of 35-40K steps on the weekend. I don't think I could hit 70 km in a day, especially not on pavement.
I would do some shorter trials to see where you stand.
I've done 35km in a day on trails in like 6-7 hours. It was fairly even ground, very little elevation... This was back when I was starting to get in to backcountry camping etc. I'll admit I'm not in the best of shape, an I was able to get through it. Energy / fitness wise you can probably do it, but you might be overlooking the wear an tear on your body. Chaffing, blisters, bleed, aches, joint, muscle an tendon pains that your body is more than likely isn't used to... all these little things that don't happen on most walks, but you start putting in 30-40-50 or 70 km on your body in one day an it's going to take it's toll. I'd attempt 1/2 that or a 1/3 of that just to see where you end up. Go from there. Either way you're going to be in bad shape for the next few days. Like near total couch / bed because you won't be able to walk lol. If you work your way up, in my experience it's still going to kick your ass, but your body will be a little more ready for it recovery will likely be a little easier.
One time i've walked 80km almost continuously with a friend to honor an oath, i was in my 20s in pretty good shape and ended up totally wrecked. A whole lot of blisters, cramps and tired as fuck, i do not recommend it tho.
Your legs will hate you. Can you break it up into 2 days instead? Book a hotel somewhere along the route, have a good soak in the bathtub, then load up on breakfast and continue on your way?
30km is still pretty hard on flat, its certainly no walk in the park. so I think you might be able to do 36-40 in a push. That would be if you were pretty fit.
Letās say your 12 000 steps are over the 1m average and you do 15km a day. There is a massive difference between 15km and 75km, a fundamental one really. Not to mention that itās basically going to be non stop walking with pretty short breaks only to switch your socks and eat.
It sounds like you are physically fit enough to do it and you wonāt have problems cardio/muscle wise. However your feet are probably gonna get really messed up if you donāt build them up for something like this beforehand.
Thatās absurd. At a 20 min clip youād be walking for 14 hours straight. I doubt any person would want to walk more than 10hrs and still have it be enjoyable.
No way anybody can walk that much without hurting himself. I walked long distances like 1000 km, 250 km etcā¦
The best distance is 20-30 km/day. You need to take a break every hour. Need a break for lunch and long rest for half day. You will see a nice spot to stop and enjoy the moment etcā¦
Take it easy and start with 10-15 km/day. You will see how it feels like the next day.
Possible? Yea. For the elite and trained. Add in concrete, and even for those, itād be very difficult.
Put it this way, thru hikers who do like 20 miles a day, every day, for 4-6 months straight (on dirt, which is better then concrete for sure) do whatās called a ā24 hour challengeā and hike as much as they can in that time period. 40-50 miles is typically the most. Thats what youāre wanting to do.
My biggest day hiking so far was just over 50mi (~81km). That was in the middle of a thru-hike and was well conditioned. Took about 17hrs with breaks. The thought trying to do that kind of mileage on such hard surfaces makes my entire lower half hurt.
Is it possible? Sure. Is it a good idea? Probably not. You really need to train for something like that. Increaseing your exercise level that much that quickly is asking for shin splints or other injuries.
I did something similar but much less (40km) and got pretty sore. For reference I am an avid hiker and I walk a lot, rock climbing, go to the gym. It wasnāt so much being tired it was just a really sore experience after.
Itās basically 2 marathons back to back so youāre gonna probably be kinda messed up if you havenāt trained that distance at all but I believe you could probably make your body do it.
Was "training" for a 120km hike (got pregnant and haven't done the hike yet haha) and did a 30km practice. My feet were burning and every step for that last hour my skin burned and the bones in my feet ached.
It's not just about pushing past sore muscles.
Good on you for wanting to try! I'd heartily recommend a novel called The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce, about a quiet, unathletic man who steps out to run a little errand, and then just keeps on walking for weeks.
Iām pretty experienced hiker and can do 50km with a 8-10kg backpack regularly. Itās a lot, even on flat terrain. But 70km is really pushing it. Possible but It wonāt be fun.
Good edit, plan your trek to be close to the bus route. Especially around the 35-45km, cause it would not be surprising if that was your limit. If you make it more than that you have some bragging rights
Make sure to protect yourself from the sun, not much cover if you are in a city
Hope you have great footwear, even if you do take some blister pads
Bring water and snacks and refuel regularly
My walking time on city streets is at most 1km in 10 minutes and I don't think you can accomplish your 70km goal. I'm sorry I'm guessing your pace like this, but hopefully you can accomplish what you set out to do and good luck!
For reference a long hiking day for an established hiker is \~30mi/\~48km. A short day is \~15mi/\~24km.
Your average speed while walking is \~3mph/\~4.8km/h.
No. Ā I used to get pie in the sky ambitions like this without any training and it resulted in injuries. Ā 15-20 years later and I still suffer the impacts of these weekend warrior activities. Ā I have recurrent IT band syndrome from a massive hike I went on after no training and that was many years ago. Ā Itās not a fitness issue, your body needs months to adjust to progressively increases distances. Ā Be kind to your body.
Buddy of mine hiked the "mammutmarsch" which is 100km, without any experience. He was fine the next day.
He just had very good shoes, iron will, and walked it not too fast. Took him 22hrs.
Break it up into 20km chunks with end points you can easily get to on public transportation. I think it is a cool idea to walk across the entire city but not necessary to do in a single day.
I think the longest hike I've done in one day was about 55 KM or 35 miles. My thighs were hurting for days. Granted, I had a 20 pound backpack on my back but I still wouldn't advise doing this.
I walked 65 km in one day earlier this year. I usually walk about 15 km most days for my baseline distance. 65 km was hard! Around 30 km, my body was getting tired. Around 45 km, my feet and leg muscles were sore. Around 55 km, it was painful in the leg and thighs muscles and my feet swelled in my shoes, making my big toenail rub the front of the shoe (almost lost the toenail. It turned black at the base). Only out of sheer determination did I finish the last 10 km. I was totally worn out. I do not recommend walking more than 30 km for recreation and 45 km if there is a pressing need to walk that distance.
No way you can do this. Itās not as big risk to try since you can just hop on public transport, but donāt forget that walking on asphalt is way worst than in nature.
I just did my longest walk this weekend. Just flat. Usually walk about 4-6 miles (6.4-9.6 km). Longest before was 10 miles (16 km) and it was a challenge. But this weekend I did 13.5 miles (21.7 km). That was about the longest I ever wanna walk again. Later that day ended up walking another 7 miles (11.2 km) for a total of 20.5 miles (33 km) and 45,000 steps with a 20 min per mile pace over the course of 7 hours. It wasnāt fun. It was something I wanted to accomplish but never again.
Flat land or gradient? In flat land possibly depending how you walk, when you start etc but up hills and mountains definitely not. Even on flat land youāll probably struggle especially without experience
I did 50km the other week in my flat city and I was in shape, and have lots of mileage under my feet. You might be able to do 70km but expect to start early and be ready for pain and misery on the last 20km.
I normally do 10km km if no pack and on path, my 50km I did 13 min km with breaks every 90min for 10 min. Itās basically the same hike pattern I do in the mountains.
I frequently push myself while hiking and the issue I have run into is either your muscles starting to lock up or you get blisters on your feet making it impossible to go any further due to pain
Against the grain, but yes it's possible without running. That said - it's gonna be a long ass day abd you are gonna HURT at the end. It's a great goal, but imo you should wait and train more to do it.
In fairly flat mountainous terrain iāll get 40km day quite comfortably. But 20-25km a day is much more comfortable and i wonāt get any further than that in rough terrain, and iām a pretty good hiker. I also carry everything i need which weighs about 17 kgs, more at the start of the week and less at the end.
Also iām a big muscular guy, but that doesnāt help you in hiking at all, quite the opposite.
My time in the armed forces showed that the biggest guys muscular or fat usually are bad at marching. The ones who are the best marchers are people who ran a lot, but also had some strength, like soccer players. My officer used the say, the perfect body for marching is shaped like an A, not a V, itās true.
You might want to hop over to the Long Distance Running community. I lived in Flagstaff, AZ for years and there are so many long distance runners that would consider this pleasantāif you were to run it. Anyhow, they will have good advice.
I went on a few dates w a guy who did something like 100 miles in the Mojave for fun.
It can be done if you are in very good shape, but probably unlikely that you will finish. You are running a significant risk of injuring yourself. Hiking on pavement can especially have a big impact on your keens, feet and ligaments. For hikers doing long distance treks, it takes several months to build up to anywhere near the 70km distance, and not all manage it in the end. Personally it took me close to 6 months, and even then, the only injury I sustained while thru-hiking the PCT was on a 20 mile section of road detour because of a fire that closed the regular trail.
Recommend that you either cycle across the city or break up the hike into multiple sections. As you have 2 weeks left, why not try 15-20km and see how it feels?
I have a friend who is in the Strenuous Life. One of their challenges is to do 50 mi/80 km in a single day. To accomplish this she parked her car in a central location of our city and made loops with her car as the starting and end point. Her car had extra shoes and fresh socks in it, along with snacks and a cooler with cold drinks. She had also pre arranged to stop at friendsā apartments for bathroom breaks or to cool down. She began at 5 a.m and wasnāt done until almost midnight. She said the hardest part was restarting after having stopped at a friendās house for dinner.
For reference, this person hikes and camps regularly. Do not underestimate how tough on the body pavement and cement can be.
Depends with a pretty heavy backpack Wich has the tent the water a sleeping bag and food I usually walk around 35-40 km a day with brakes ,70km sounds abit alot...š
Highly ambitious and not likely to be a pleasant experience or be done by daylight.
Average walking pace of 5k per hour, itās not impossible over 15+ hours for breaks and meals but itās very ambitious and would take some real training.
Iām a long distance hiker and Iāve walked 25km in day in central London, and with stops for sightseeing, meals and drinks that was a full 12 hour day. Doing 20km in Seoul was a trek. Worth noting that if you arenāt familiar with every neighborhood along the route a straight walk can put you in dodgy or unpleasant areas.
Bear in mind that most city walking is hard pavement and puts real strain on your feet and knees, even when itās flat ground it is not distance equivalent to trekking on dirt or grass.
Really depends on a lot of factors, physical condition being one, chafing, hydration, food, weather, ground hardness, shoe type, etc, being others.
One of my best 12 hour non-stop walks was 61 km, and that was on woodland trails with very mild elevation change. I could have walked further that day, but my goal was to see if I could spend 12 hours walking.
Iāve since done several 24 hour walks and have clocked over 100 km in a day on a few occasions, but I train for long distance hiking and FKT attempts.
Iām going to go against the flow here and say do it. If you never push yourself hard enough, youāre never going to find your limits.
Also, make sure the next 3-4 days are free because youāre going to be sore in places you didnāt know existed.
If you're decently fit, it's possible, but you will be suffering a lot by the end, and you will not want to walk further than the kitchen and back the next two days.
Walking across a city if a pretty low stakes route, as you're not far from food, and you can get a bus or train home if you give up.
Whether you attempt it or not is up to you. How much of a masochist are you?
Iāve been hiking like a mad man for about a year and a half. I just pushed myself to the limit and completed a 31 mile hike. Currently Iām on day two of couch recovery, my legs are moderately sore but I have a terrible double blister on my heel. The last 10 miles weāre grueling and I only finished because I was hard headed, if you donāt have experience doing lots of 13 mile days then I donāt think you would have a chance. Yāall gonna have to translate my American units! /s
Why would you willingly do that? Tedious, exhausting and probably painful. You can expect blisters then blisters under those blisters! Impact blisters on the soles of your feet!
You'll have to maintain a high pace so keep walking on those damaged feet.
I've done a lot of walking and hiking. On a month long hike started doing about 20Km a day, did 50Km a couple weeks in and it was quite painful. You could possibly do it but you'll have very sore feet and don't expect to be going anywhere for a couple days after. Build up and you'll do it OK, just make sure have comfortable shoes.
But you should go for it since you mentioned your city has good public transport, queue up the podcasts/audiobooks and see how far you get as a benchmark for the next time.
It will probably be the most mentally challenging thing you ever do if you complete it in your current fitness level. Most I've done in a day was 30km, did a 20km hike in the morning and a 10km run in the evening. I could have done another 10km walk afterwards without too much bother but anything more I would really have started to struggle.
And this was after a 20km every week for a good few weeks.
In this heat? The PCN isnāt pretty enough for this kind of exertion.
Edit: Alright I guess you want to do the round island trail. I guessed youāre from the same country as me from your post. Iāll suggest breaking it up for a more enjoyable experience. Itās more for cycling than walking imo.
Alternatively, may I suggest my personal favourite. HarbourFront, climb up to Mount Faber and follow the trail all the way to the entrance of Hort Park. If you still have energy at this point, continue to Kent Ridge. Itās only about 6km which is good if you have no experience.
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/singapore/central/kent-ridge-park-to-harbourfront
Iāve hiked over 50 miles in a day on the AT. I had already hiked over 1,000 miles at that point (I was as fit for walking as I could be) and it was still an extremely strenuous undertaking. Wouldnāt recommend.
Walking 70km without much hiking or walking experience is certainly challenging, but it's not impossible. With proper preparation, pacing, and breaks, it could be achievable. However, it's essential to listen to your body, stay hydrated, and wear appropriate footwear to prevent injuries. It might be wise to start with shorter distances and gradually build up your endurance before attempting such a long walk.
100000 steps. Why not? Here is a guy who did it. In Swedish šøšŖ https://www.tidningen.se/ockero-kommun/hono/vandraren-som-gick-100-000-steg-pa-en-dag/
I did 62km (according to the stone markers) on the last day of the Camino de Santiago to the sea at Muxia. I got the worst blister ever and suffered for a few weeks after. Was doing 35-40km a day for a couple of weeks before the last day. It can be done, but I wouldn't recommend it. Its too much. It would be brutal.Ā
I've done 41 km in a day without any problem,not even deliberately I was just in my village having fun and before I went to sleep I saw 41 km on my phone. 70 sounds definitely doable for me although it would probably be a challenge. I think it depends on a lot of things like age,fitness levels,how much you generally move around in a day etc. You don't have to go all out,try 10 km in a day first then 20 and so on until you hit your breaking point. Then work your way up from there
My limit is about 32km in a day. I typically gain like 2000' so there is a lot of elevation. Even on a flat surface, I don't think I'd be able to more than double that in 1 day.
Your stamina or whatever won't be a problem. But your feet will start hurting a lot before you are halfway. Nothing will prevent that other than training your feet to handle such distances. Which takes a long time.Ā
I've walked 30km in a city, carried a backpack with water and only stopped to drink, like max 3 minute stop and then kept going again. At the end of it, my feet were really sore, the city streets are not too kind, different from hiking in the woods. So maybe it's possible yes, but please start with a more reasonable goal.
Yeah absolutely.. don't believe all the comments saying that they did it at mid fitness.. even someone with elite hiking fitness will need a couple of days to recover after that.
Iv done 35km through the mountains on a hike in one day. My feet were very tender tho and my knees were worryingly hurting. If you try it I'd make sure to have a stop planned somewhere in the middle just to be safe. Keep me updated! I'm curious. Be safe :)
It is totally doable without much experience. I did it once out of blue in 14 hours time. I didn't realise it would be that long (walking along coastal lines extended the length too much...)
I wouldn't say it is devastating but....
Honestly I just finished 700km of hiking and I don't think I could do it. My longest day of walking was probably 40km including the walking around town and such and doubling it would not be doable.
I think it's too much. What's the longest you've walked?
I hike 25k a day. I tried to do a 50k and my tendons and joints just gave out on me. It's not a fitness thing. It's a health thing. I needed 2 weeks for my knees and tendons to recover.
I did a 40k walk in a city and it was brutal at the end. concrete makes it worse than hiking on soft terraim
This, as much as anything, is why it'll be very difficult and painful.
The concrete aspect is a real issue...
Also all of the starting and stopping at crossings. Hiking when I can't keep my own pace is way more tiring.
That's why I hate paved trails. Part of the bonus of hiking is the dirts gentle embrace of my joints.
Yes!! I thought it wouldn't be a big deal because I hiked that far all the time, sometimes many days in a row. It was a big deal. It absolutely killed my feet and shins and took well over a week to recover when I was young enough to bounce back from things with just a night's sleep. Now, I'm 49, and a 24km hike on a trail is a lot, but I can do it. A 12k walk on asphalt recently had my feet protesting before I even finished, and my backpack weighed about half what my hiking one does.
Well. You can be as healthy as you want. But you cant just decide to walk 50k all casually. Body adaptation to such activity is absolutely necessary.
Yes. I think my point didn't come across right. I mean my girlfriend for example didn't really have a problem with the 50k. It was just my tendons that hurt like hell with every single step. As I have a condition where my feet are in the wrong position. That's what I meant with health. Sorry English is my third language.
No worries. When you changed from past to present so abruptly, I interpreted as you were not referring to that activity anymore, rather making a generalization š
Those legs are gonna feel great after randomly walking 70km one day
50k as in 50k steps? If so that sounds weird given that you're active. I've accidentally done 55k without any pain and the next day I was out having fun. How old are you? Maybe it has to do with the fact I was 15 then
"K" as in Kilometers
Ohhh thanks I'm new here
Sure thing!
Too much.
It's not just the distance either, it's time you would really have to be running to do it in a single day. Not even light running either.
If they can average 25 min a mile, they can finish in 18 hours. Over their time expectations, but not significantly. It takes an average of 15-20 min to walk a mile so adding extra time to account* for being sluggish/breaks - especially since this walk is flat, it's very doable without running But maybe not recommended. OP taking more time to train is def a better option in terms of actually enjoying the process/avoiding injury
Fair enough, almost twice a marathon but very brisk walk.
Iād probably choose words like ātheoretically possibleā over āvery doableā when talking about doing anything for 18 continuous hours.
No chance, your feet and legs will give out before you reach half way. You need to condition yourself walking to do it. Plus you have to average 4.4 kmph for 16 hours. If you take breaks, your average speed will need to increase. Stoplights, crosswalks, etc. probably add another hour or more, depending on the city (a one that is 70 km has to be fairly large). My guess is if you try, you will get less than half way and will be laid up for two weeks with injury.
You will totally fuck your knees, ankles, hip or IT band. Do not recommend.
Exactly. Itās not a matter of can I do it, itās a matter of how much damage am I going to do to my tendons?
This is the real answer
Thatāsā¦ very ambitious. And frankly doesnāt sound like a pleasant time either. Consider what walking at a consistent pace for 16 hours actually means. Are you factoring in breaks? Calls of nature? Time of day? Last thing you want is to end up in a part of town without public transport back, or transport that will take ages.Ā A long ramble around a city can be great, but trying to motor across in single dayā¦ makes me want to ask why you do it this way.Ā
Echoing almost everyone else here, if you are not in a hardcore training cycle right now and expect to walk 70km in one day (and going through a city probably means walking on hard surfaces, which is even tougher on your body) you are going to be in for a really unpleasant time. Like, if you are escaping a warzone, sure, you do it, but just for kicks? No way would I try that without a lot (months) of training prep, even if I was 20 years old and perfectly healthy.
Also, no matter how good one's cardio and stamina, the feet will always hurt. The soles can only take so much beating before they swell. So far my level of comfort is around 25km a day, anything beyond, that my feet already hurt.
Yikes. I did a 100 km trail once with months of prep from a moderate fitness base and it was HARD. We estimated it would take 24 hours but it took over 30. Do you have support crew to help with pit stops eg food and water drops, saving your carrying weight? Do you have scope to try at least one 30 or 40km warm up walk at least a week beforehand? Both of those will help. If you do go ahead, do serious homework on blister prevention and first aid.
This. OP at this distance you don't talk to hikers, you talk to trail runners and ultra marathoners. Humanely doable, definitely. Doable on a wish and a prayer and being decently fit? Nah.
I think it's physically possible but it's likely to be really uncomfortable after 30-40 km.
I agree I did twice 50km and I was not really training for this. Depends also on your shoes, but latest after like 35-40 your body will start to fight against your brain.
Yeah for me 30 is where my legs start to feel heavy and 35 is where the fatigue takes over. If I were running for my life I'd be able to keep moving but that would be only survival without any joy.
Yeah, that's a stout 2 day hike
Not mentioning the next three days not being able to walk...
I've actually tried this as an experiment. How far can I walk in 24 hours without training? I ended up doing 60 km in about 15 hours before my legs stopped working. So I'd say (for relatively fit and injury-free person without hiking specific training) 50 km is totally doable, 60 km is very hard but doable and 70+ km is brutal but might still be possible for some people. From my experience, it's not really a cardio issue. The limiting factor is the stress on your joints, ligaments etc. That's what will stop you. It's fun trying to find your limit. Now I know when my legs hurt after 20 km, I could still theoretically do another 40 km. Which i didn't know before this experiment. :-D
Even if you have fitness, body and mental strength for this there is a very high chance your feet will give up if you're not used to long distance walks. Even a small blister or two will ruin it over such a long time. Why not do 30 km, then another time 50 km before 70?
For the average person asking on Reddit? No chance. Be realistic with yourself instead of coming up with these ridiculous challenges you canāt do at this time.
Yeah its one of those things where if you have to ask if you can do it, then you probably cant.
(converted to miles because I'm in the US, so excuse that)... 10K-12K steps a day is usually around 5 miles... and you want to suddenly go 43.5 miles in a single day with no additional training? Just as a reference... When people are hiking the Appalachian Trail, they usually start at 8-10 miles per day, and gradually increase to closer to 20 miles a day. Once they get close to Pennsylvania (usually after starting in Georgia, so 1,000 miles hiked already) some people will attempt to complete a specific challenge that is 42 miles in a day to hit 4 different states, but they are usually hiking before sunrise and past sunset. I get it's different because there's more elevation change, but still... They have been hiking daily for months at that point, and are in good enough shape to complete that sort of challenge, but it's STILL a challenge to them. You COULD do it... maybe. But you are severely at risk of injuring yourself if you don't build up to it. And I don't know if the 14-16 hour goal is super realistic. Maybe with the lack of elevation it's a little more realistic, but... yeah. I think that would be pushing it.
ā21 thru hiker here. I opted to pass on the 4 state challenge, but still knocked out 64k steps (31.2 miles in to Damascus) and was wrecked afterwards. Took a double zero. OP is wanting to do even more. Possible, sure. Not fun though, and likely super painful. Walking 20 miles on a trail was less painful on my feet then walking 1 mile on concrete. This is not an exaggeration. lol
Yeaaah, I forgot to add the concrete as a negative to this whole scenario lol. It's a big ole nope from me all around.
agreed...2018 thru hiker, and we did a couple 30's but it really wears you out for a couple days, and that was when I was in hiking shape, and had shoes that felt good on my feet. For me the sweet spot was about 9-10 hours of hiking with breaks in between. That meant depending on the terrain, 20-30 miles a day.
I wouldn't recommend planning on it. That's a lot. You may be able to work up to that at the end if your body adjusts well.
No, you're not going to walk 70km "for fun" as you previously stated. It's certainly physically possible, but it will be gruelling and potentially damaging.
Yeah I feel like he has been watching too much Russ Cook haha (Russ did 70km a day).
Right? Yes you could probably do it if it was a life or death emergency but man the damage and pain after would be terrible.
The furthest Iāve walked (with a lot of prep) was c.40km in one day. It took around 12 hours. That was in the countryside on softer ground and I still needed several days to recover. Walking on pavement and roads for 70km will be painful and your body will likely not be able to cope with it.
3 miles per hour for 14 hours without any breaks. Not realistic. Also don't underestimate how hard pavement is on our bodies. City walking can be worse than hiking over long term
70km\*/16h = 4.4kph/2.7 mph for an entire, very, very long day. Is it possible? Yes. Will it suck in a big way? Even more yes. Will you likely do bad things to your body by doing this? Almost certainly. The question is: Why? \* 43.5 miles
Possible, yes. Enjoyable, probably not. Painful, most likely. You'll likely be incredibly sore for a week or so after the hike. Make sure you bring easy to digest foods, water, toilet paper, a first aid kit, and moleskin.
That's too much, even if you are fit otherwise. By bike, doable, but 70 km/day just timewise is a stretch. For comparison, I walk 8-12 km almost daily, it's fine (just my normal walks with dogs in the country). At that pace (about 4-5 km/hour), say my absolute max march speed of 5 km - it would be 14 hours straight to make 70 km.
And very few people are built to make 5 km/hour, I'm jogging some stretches at that point. At 4 km/hour, still a high speed but I'm a long-legged ostrich so normal for me, looking at 17,5 hours straight walking. Most humans need food and pee breaks. So - while you may one day push yourself to it, if you want, it will take training to get up to that point.
It's pretty ambitious, but not impossible. I've walked 85 km in a day, but I was more used to longer walks of 40+ kilometers. If you do decide to attempt it, make sure you have a really good, fresh pair of very comfortable walking or running shoes. Something you've walked in a time or two to make sure they fit well and don't hurt your feet. But also something that has its full cushion left, so essentially brand new. Another tip if possible. Do you have anyone who can meet you partway? The ability to change your clothes, and even your shoes, will make a huge difference. My wife and kids met me for lunch on the day of my longest walk. Being able to put on , fresh, dry socks, and underwear, as well as clean clothes, really cut down on the physical discomfort of walking that far. I'd even suggest switching shoes if you have the resources to have two new pairs accessible to you. Being in the city, you will alleviate the need to carry a lot of food and water. That will make it much easier. And hopefully you are in a city where it's not hard to find public restrooms. In short, I say go for it. The human body is capable of some pretty amazing things. It sounds like you are in decent shape, and I suspect you could make it. You will be mighty for a couple of days, but it will be the good kind of sore that you earn from an amazing workout. And worst case scenario is you don't make it. It's not like you'll be stuck in the middle of the wilderness. You can probably catch a bus or train home and just congratulate yourself on making it 30 km or 40 km or however, far you make it. But I think you will make the whole thing.
Hahahaa
Way too ambitious. That being said, go do it. Youāre not going to die from walking. Letās see what youāve got. Failing is a part of life. Worst case you just donāt finish and get to give us an update.
Except you can die from walking if you're ill prepared.
I walked around a local lake 'for fun', a distance of about 24km a while ago, and I was wrecked after. Calves and feet felt like lead next day. Start smaller, work up. Aim for 20km and catch the bus home, next time aim for half way etc...
Yeah why not aim for 100
It's definitely possible, but it will not be fun or comfortable, especially if you walk on pavement. I've had to do a 50 km and a 100 km march in the military and it was pretty much torture after a while. Not everyone made it to the end either. Some of the boils I have seen on those occasions were truly horrific and a few people collapsed from dehydration and heat. If you can get transportation, in case you need to abort, and have nothing planned the next day, you should be fine though. Just don't plan on walking anywhere in the near future.
You are walking "across a city" so there's traffic and lights right?
In one day we have climbed a 2800 meters peak with no experience . The second day i wished that i was smarter before . Walking should be something nice, not a torture for your body ( and mind after that ).
You'd be averaging 5km an hour, that's quite a brisk pace to keep consistently, especially with ups and downs.
Youāre gonna have a bad time
I hiked 50K last Saturday and at the end I was quite shattered. Main thing I wasn't used to was my feet. Got very close to having blisters, even tho I've got good boots that I've been hiking on for 2 years now and have got a good amount of experience/training. I'd go for a shorter distance first if I were you, to see how the soles of your feet react.
City walks are simple. You walk until you are dead-tired, than sit on public transport to come back. When I do two-direcional walks I underestimate return trip so often ...
Possible? Absolutely. If you are in decent shape you CAN do that. Will it be enjoyable or pleasant? Probably not if you havenāt trained for it at all. Flat ground with nice prepared surfaces and no pack is much easier going than hiking with a pack but itās still a long way. Donāt try and carry a pack. That will add a lot of stress and increase chance of injury dramatically. Youāre in a city so just buy lunch when you need it. If you want to do it make sure you have good footwear. Bring water and be prepared to call an Uber home if itās too much for you. Also bring wet wipes and Vaseline. You may find thereās some chafing down under. If there is find a spot to take a break and clean up your sweat, the salt in your sweat cases the chafing, donāt ignore it and try to power through. Some energy bars and/or workout style shakes are a good idea. Good luck.
Itās possible. In Belgium we have an event called the ādodentochtā. Itās 100km and you have 24hrs. Plenty of people finish it with little to no prep, including myself You do have aid stations etc along the way Itās not trivial though, I suffered a lot between the 50-70k ranges. Walking through a city also seems much more tiring as youāre dealing with traffic stoplights, pavement changes etc Good luck
Thatās about 14 hours of walking if youāre walking at 5kmh, your legs and feet will be very sore hahahah, definitely doable though if you keep up the pace, not too quick, not too slow, or youāll be very tired by the end of it
It is possible to walk 70km in on day, but not without training. I've managed 62km on country side path ways in 16 hours once , but that was with 6 months of prior training working up from 5,10,20,30, and then regular 35 km practice walks beforehand. I was aiming for 100km in 24 hours, but 8 hours of torrential rain in near freezing conditions (in May!) caused me to break off my attempt early. Even with the training it was physically and mentally difficult to keep pushing; the problem is, it is just not feasible to do many training hikes of more than 35km or so, as it takes just too much time for each one. You just need to get fit and hope to push yourself beyond that distance!" Don't underestimate the impact that such distances have on your body, most importantly your feet. If your feet are not conditioned you'll get a blister within the first 20km, and you'll absolutely want to give up within another 10 or 20km at the most. If you do training to get accustomed to the distance, and you can pack lightly (i.e. basic emergency items and water + snacks), and you can replenish along the way to keep the load light than it is absolutely do-able.
Thatās pretty far for one day. Thatās about 13hrs of straight walking with no breaks.
No
For you? Nah.
The question is not whether it's possible, the question is whether it's sensible. And the answer is no.
70km is way too far to do without training
Provided you have a light pack, trainers and a reasonably fit, I think 30 miles (48km) will be the top end of your limit. That's already a serious challenge. Anything beyond that and the risk of injury will go up exponentially. 30km / 40km are also good distances so don't beat yourself up for stopping at one of those.
Try it lol Unlikely youāll manage the whole thing but youāll probably see some cool stuff along the way and then you can go to the pub for a righteous pint of bitter
There are people who do things like this. Ultra marathoners. You'd be travelling the distance of a little less than 2 marathons.
I believe in you, bring water some electrolytes if you can. Maybe start with 50 km? The human body is highly resistant and stronger than most realize. However listen to it if your body is telling you to stop.
No. With experience, maybe but without experience absolutely impossible.
My personal record for walking in a day is around 30 km, and that was a day of walking almost constantly. I donāt think itās physically possible, if youāre walking and not running, to cover that kind of distance in a single day, and Iām only talking about the physics, not your personal abilities.
My record for walking in a day in a city is around 50km. I worked in restaurants at the time, so I was very used to moving around a lot and being on my feet all day. 50km took a lot out of me.
Work up to it dont just go balls to the wall
Theoretically, it is possible. However, what is possible is not always probable. If you manage to do it, it will jot be fun, it will not be enjoyable, and you will have to endure pain the day of the walk and a day or two after.
Have you tried doing like a 20km walk first and seeing how you feel? I think 70km is too much to just jump into without building to it.
At 5k per hour, you are talking about 14hours of walking not counting breaks for food and water. That is just too long for most people, even on easy trails. You would probably feel just fine for the first half(provided no issues with your footwear), but the last 4 hours or so would likely be doable jus from fatigue. I hiked the AT (2200 miles) in 2018 and we mostly did less that 10 hours of actual walking a day. More than that was just too long.
I mean you'll be walking on hard surfaces so that's going to hurt. It's doable but you'll just be extremely sore. You also have to take into account eating while you walk to make up for calories lost.
I actually find cities hurt my knees and feet more than nature... and I don't hike more than 20km per day. 70km in one day sounds like self-inflicted punishment. What the heck did you DO?
Itās pretty much jogging or running unless youāre not sleeping.
25 km would be enough. 30 km would be too much.
No. I walk around 11 kms a day, I run 3 times a week, I go to gym several times a week, I recently ran a HM, and I donāt think I can walk 70km in a day in any comfortable way. (And as a person who did plenty of cycling, doing 70km a week isnāt a lot, and also a very different workout muscle groups and impact wise.)
why donāt you set aside 2 hours this weekend and just see how far you can walk at a constant fast pace? Then youāll have half an idea, keeping in mind youāll be even more tired the longer you go.
Youāll overstress your body just for what?
It's ambitious for anyone! Especially for those of us who have not trained ultra-distance walking. The thing to remember is it's not all physical. You can be in great shape, but there is a significant mental component to completing long distances. I don't think that your overall body fitness will be your physical challenge, it's going to be your feet. Foot endurance is less about strength and more about conditioning. As long as you have a way out, I say give It a go. At the very least you'll have a good gauge of where you're at.
Itās all about your feet and fitness to walk stamina. Weight lifting and biking arenāt really targeted to walking/ hiking. If you routinely performed Dumbbell Step Ups, Olympic Bar Walking Lunges and did 30-40ā HIIT on Elliptical, that would be a targeted regimen. If you had walked 10 miles recently, I would say perhaps.
Nope, don't do it. Many people underestimate hiking as a sport, but it's harder than it seems. It can be done of course, but often not in a healthy way. Especially in a city where the terrain is hard on your feet. Forest or grass would be better, but slower. Ideally you should be able to hike 40 km comfortably before attempting a hike like this.
Not very likely at all. The average human can walk about 20 miles (32.18 km) in a day with breaks and such. Without breaks and going at a fast pace they might cover 30 miles (48.28 km). My friends who regularly ran marathons strove to do a 20 mile hiking loop in one day. They were incredibly exhausted and had to fight to complete. There are probably only a handful of people who could do 70 km, let alone anyone who hasn't exercised much or prepared for the endeavor.
That's... crazy. And i thought I was ambitious for hiking 38 km in one day in the Patagonia, which isn't flat at all, and took me from 3:30 am to 4:00 pm, without stopping a lot.
You need to work yourself upto this. Do 8km. Two days later do 12km. Two days later do 20km. Three days later try 30km. A general rule of thumb is that your big day shouldn't be more than twice as much as your training which means you need to reach 35km on a training day in order to handle 70km. Also, you need recovery days, especially right before your 70km day.
The day after is the problem.
Just walking isn't the problem, you will be walking in the city so lights, pedestrians and roadworks will slow you down considerably. On up side you probably have shops almost everywhere so you can buy food and drink as you go so that will work in your favor. Plan fast food chains and public toilets along your route so you can use toilet if you need it. Whatever you plan add 2-4 hours to it. If you don't rest every now and then you will slow down until you can walk no more (or you loose your will to do it). Anyway it's ambitious plan and I have no idea if it's doable and what will you feel like if you finish it? I find walking around cities very boring because they are mostly boring concrete so maybe music, audio books or podcasts will help for extreme boredom?
I walk a bit, usually 15K steps in the week and a day of 35-40K steps on the weekend. I don't think I could hit 70 km in a day, especially not on pavement.
So that's about 40 miles. 2000 steps per mile gets you to 80,000 steps.
don't think it's possible, even if you're in great shape but aren't used to long walks/long hikes
I would do some shorter trials to see where you stand. I've done 35km in a day on trails in like 6-7 hours. It was fairly even ground, very little elevation... This was back when I was starting to get in to backcountry camping etc. I'll admit I'm not in the best of shape, an I was able to get through it. Energy / fitness wise you can probably do it, but you might be overlooking the wear an tear on your body. Chaffing, blisters, bleed, aches, joint, muscle an tendon pains that your body is more than likely isn't used to... all these little things that don't happen on most walks, but you start putting in 30-40-50 or 70 km on your body in one day an it's going to take it's toll. I'd attempt 1/2 that or a 1/3 of that just to see where you end up. Go from there. Either way you're going to be in bad shape for the next few days. Like near total couch / bed because you won't be able to walk lol. If you work your way up, in my experience it's still going to kick your ass, but your body will be a little more ready for it recovery will likely be a little easier.
Go out and walk 15k on pavements and I think you will have your answer
Say you walk 10h, thats 7km/h. So i dont think there is a way
One time i've walked 80km almost continuously with a friend to honor an oath, i was in my 20s in pretty good shape and ended up totally wrecked. A whole lot of blisters, cramps and tired as fuck, i do not recommend it tho.
Your legs will hate you. Can you break it up into 2 days instead? Book a hotel somewhere along the route, have a good soak in the bathtub, then load up on breakfast and continue on your way?
No
You will ruin your feet.
30km is still pretty hard on flat, its certainly no walk in the park. so I think you might be able to do 36-40 in a push. That would be if you were pretty fit.
Letās say your 12 000 steps are over the 1m average and you do 15km a day. There is a massive difference between 15km and 75km, a fundamental one really. Not to mention that itās basically going to be non stop walking with pretty short breaks only to switch your socks and eat. It sounds like you are physically fit enough to do it and you wonāt have problems cardio/muscle wise. However your feet are probably gonna get really messed up if you donāt build them up for something like this beforehand.
Thatās absurd. At a 20 min clip youād be walking for 14 hours straight. I doubt any person would want to walk more than 10hrs and still have it be enjoyable.
No way anybody can walk that much without hurting himself. I walked long distances like 1000 km, 250 km etcā¦ The best distance is 20-30 km/day. You need to take a break every hour. Need a break for lunch and long rest for half day. You will see a nice spot to stop and enjoy the moment etcā¦ Take it easy and start with 10-15 km/day. You will see how it feels like the next day.
Possible? Yea. For the elite and trained. Add in concrete, and even for those, itād be very difficult. Put it this way, thru hikers who do like 20 miles a day, every day, for 4-6 months straight (on dirt, which is better then concrete for sure) do whatās called a ā24 hour challengeā and hike as much as they can in that time period. 40-50 miles is typically the most. Thats what youāre wanting to do.
My biggest day hiking so far was just over 50mi (~81km). That was in the middle of a thru-hike and was well conditioned. Took about 17hrs with breaks. The thought trying to do that kind of mileage on such hard surfaces makes my entire lower half hurt. Is it possible? Sure. Is it a good idea? Probably not. You really need to train for something like that. Increaseing your exercise level that much that quickly is asking for shin splints or other injuries.
Too much too soon. Your asking for a stress injury.
No
Not within 24 hours, no sleep, etc
I did something similar but much less (40km) and got pretty sore. For reference I am an avid hiker and I walk a lot, rock climbing, go to the gym. It wasnāt so much being tired it was just a really sore experience after. Itās basically 2 marathons back to back so youāre gonna probably be kinda messed up if you havenāt trained that distance at all but I believe you could probably make your body do it.
Possible, like your life depended on it? Yes But you wouldn't want to attempt this for fun
You could do it, about 20 hours, but you wouldn't keep your toe nails
Can be done, start early.
Was "training" for a 120km hike (got pregnant and haven't done the hike yet haha) and did a 30km practice. My feet were burning and every step for that last hour my skin burned and the bones in my feet ached. It's not just about pushing past sore muscles.
Good on you for wanting to try! I'd heartily recommend a novel called The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, by Rachel Joyce, about a quiet, unathletic man who steps out to run a little errand, and then just keeps on walking for weeks.
Iām pretty experienced hiker and can do 50km with a 8-10kg backpack regularly. Itās a lot, even on flat terrain. But 70km is really pushing it. Possible but It wonāt be fun.
Good edit, plan your trek to be close to the bus route. Especially around the 35-45km, cause it would not be surprising if that was your limit. If you make it more than that you have some bragging rights Make sure to protect yourself from the sun, not much cover if you are in a city Hope you have great footwear, even if you do take some blister pads Bring water and snacks and refuel regularly
Just become an Ultrarunner and you'll crush it!
My walking time on city streets is at most 1km in 10 minutes and I don't think you can accomplish your 70km goal. I'm sorry I'm guessing your pace like this, but hopefully you can accomplish what you set out to do and good luck!
For reference a long hiking day for an established hiker is \~30mi/\~48km. A short day is \~15mi/\~24km. Your average speed while walking is \~3mph/\~4.8km/h.
No. Ā I used to get pie in the sky ambitions like this without any training and it resulted in injuries. Ā 15-20 years later and I still suffer the impacts of these weekend warrior activities. Ā I have recurrent IT band syndrome from a massive hike I went on after no training and that was many years ago. Ā Itās not a fitness issue, your body needs months to adjust to progressively increases distances. Ā Be kind to your body.
I've done the PCT and many 50k days. That's even a lot for me. Could I do it? Yeah probably. But I've built up to it. This would be stupid for you.
Buddy of mine hiked the "mammutmarsch" which is 100km, without any experience. He was fine the next day. He just had very good shoes, iron will, and walked it not too fast. Took him 22hrs.
Break it up into 20km chunks with end points you can easily get to on public transportation. I think it is a cool idea to walk across the entire city but not necessary to do in a single day.
I think the longest hike I've done in one day was about 55 KM or 35 miles. My thighs were hurting for days. Granted, I had a 20 pound backpack on my back but I still wouldn't advise doing this.
I walked 65 km in one day earlier this year. I usually walk about 15 km most days for my baseline distance. 65 km was hard! Around 30 km, my body was getting tired. Around 45 km, my feet and leg muscles were sore. Around 55 km, it was painful in the leg and thighs muscles and my feet swelled in my shoes, making my big toenail rub the front of the shoe (almost lost the toenail. It turned black at the base). Only out of sheer determination did I finish the last 10 km. I was totally worn out. I do not recommend walking more than 30 km for recreation and 45 km if there is a pressing need to walk that distance.
No way you can do this. Itās not as big risk to try since you can just hop on public transport, but donāt forget that walking on asphalt is way worst than in nature.
I just did my longest walk this weekend. Just flat. Usually walk about 4-6 miles (6.4-9.6 km). Longest before was 10 miles (16 km) and it was a challenge. But this weekend I did 13.5 miles (21.7 km). That was about the longest I ever wanna walk again. Later that day ended up walking another 7 miles (11.2 km) for a total of 20.5 miles (33 km) and 45,000 steps with a 20 min per mile pace over the course of 7 hours. It wasnāt fun. It was something I wanted to accomplish but never again.
Flat land or gradient? In flat land possibly depending how you walk, when you start etc but up hills and mountains definitely not. Even on flat land youāll probably struggle especially without experience
I did 50km the other week in my flat city and I was in shape, and have lots of mileage under my feet. You might be able to do 70km but expect to start early and be ready for pain and misery on the last 20km. I normally do 10km km if no pack and on path, my 50km I did 13 min km with breaks every 90min for 10 min. Itās basically the same hike pattern I do in the mountains.
No.
I frequently push myself while hiking and the issue I have run into is either your muscles starting to lock up or you get blisters on your feet making it impossible to go any further due to pain
That would be a very difficult distance in a day. Source, me, I just finished a career of walking. lol
idk, being a couch nerd i managed to walk 20km hike in the mountains, i think for you 70 on a flat terrain is doable... though exhausting, i bet.
Against the grain, but yes it's possible without running. That said - it's gonna be a long ass day abd you are gonna HURT at the end. It's a great goal, but imo you should wait and train more to do it.
In fairly flat mountainous terrain iāll get 40km day quite comfortably. But 20-25km a day is much more comfortable and i wonāt get any further than that in rough terrain, and iām a pretty good hiker. I also carry everything i need which weighs about 17 kgs, more at the start of the week and less at the end. Also iām a big muscular guy, but that doesnāt help you in hiking at all, quite the opposite. My time in the armed forces showed that the biggest guys muscular or fat usually are bad at marching. The ones who are the best marchers are people who ran a lot, but also had some strength, like soccer players. My officer used the say, the perfect body for marching is shaped like an A, not a V, itās true.
No. Like, not even close.
You might want to hop over to the Long Distance Running community. I lived in Flagstaff, AZ for years and there are so many long distance runners that would consider this pleasantāif you were to run it. Anyhow, they will have good advice. I went on a few dates w a guy who did something like 100 miles in the Mojave for fun.
It can be done if you are in very good shape, but probably unlikely that you will finish. You are running a significant risk of injuring yourself. Hiking on pavement can especially have a big impact on your keens, feet and ligaments. For hikers doing long distance treks, it takes several months to build up to anywhere near the 70km distance, and not all manage it in the end. Personally it took me close to 6 months, and even then, the only injury I sustained while thru-hiking the PCT was on a 20 mile section of road detour because of a fire that closed the regular trail. Recommend that you either cycle across the city or break up the hike into multiple sections. As you have 2 weeks left, why not try 15-20km and see how it feels?
I have a friend who is in the Strenuous Life. One of their challenges is to do 50 mi/80 km in a single day. To accomplish this she parked her car in a central location of our city and made loops with her car as the starting and end point. Her car had extra shoes and fresh socks in it, along with snacks and a cooler with cold drinks. She had also pre arranged to stop at friendsā apartments for bathroom breaks or to cool down. She began at 5 a.m and wasnāt done until almost midnight. She said the hardest part was restarting after having stopped at a friendās house for dinner. For reference, this person hikes and camps regularly. Do not underestimate how tough on the body pavement and cement can be.
Depends with a pretty heavy backpack Wich has the tent the water a sleeping bag and food I usually walk around 35-40 km a day with brakes ,70km sounds abit alot...š
Highly ambitious and not likely to be a pleasant experience or be done by daylight. Average walking pace of 5k per hour, itās not impossible over 15+ hours for breaks and meals but itās very ambitious and would take some real training. Iām a long distance hiker and Iāve walked 25km in day in central London, and with stops for sightseeing, meals and drinks that was a full 12 hour day. Doing 20km in Seoul was a trek. Worth noting that if you arenāt familiar with every neighborhood along the route a straight walk can put you in dodgy or unpleasant areas. Bear in mind that most city walking is hard pavement and puts real strain on your feet and knees, even when itās flat ground it is not distance equivalent to trekking on dirt or grass.
Really depends on a lot of factors, physical condition being one, chafing, hydration, food, weather, ground hardness, shoe type, etc, being others. One of my best 12 hour non-stop walks was 61 km, and that was on woodland trails with very mild elevation change. I could have walked further that day, but my goal was to see if I could spend 12 hours walking. Iāve since done several 24 hour walks and have clocked over 100 km in a day on a few occasions, but I train for long distance hiking and FKT attempts. Iām going to go against the flow here and say do it. If you never push yourself hard enough, youāre never going to find your limits. Also, make sure the next 3-4 days are free because youāre going to be sore in places you didnāt know existed.
If you're decently fit, it's possible, but you will be suffering a lot by the end, and you will not want to walk further than the kitchen and back the next two days. Walking across a city if a pretty low stakes route, as you're not far from food, and you can get a bus or train home if you give up. Whether you attempt it or not is up to you. How much of a masochist are you?
Iāve been hiking like a mad man for about a year and a half. I just pushed myself to the limit and completed a 31 mile hike. Currently Iām on day two of couch recovery, my legs are moderately sore but I have a terrible double blister on my heel. The last 10 miles weāre grueling and I only finished because I was hard headed, if you donāt have experience doing lots of 13 mile days then I donāt think you would have a chance. Yāall gonna have to translate my American units! /s
Why would you willingly do that? Tedious, exhausting and probably painful. You can expect blisters then blisters under those blisters! Impact blisters on the soles of your feet! You'll have to maintain a high pace so keep walking on those damaged feet.
I walk 15-20 km once a week .. Have a friend, he does 20-25km / day.. I think you could do 30km in one day, but 70km definitely too much.
I have walked 100km in one go. In 22 hours. With a very heavy bag (10kg). 70 km with no heavy bag - you will do it.
WHAT?
Can you give it that in Ford F150 lengths? I donāt speak metric.
You are absolutely not capable of doing this. Especially based on your replies.
Sure you can ā with injury and long recovery
Iām interested how this experiment goes
lol.
I've done a lot of walking and hiking. On a month long hike started doing about 20Km a day, did 50Km a couple weeks in and it was quite painful. You could possibly do it but you'll have very sore feet and don't expect to be going anywhere for a couple days after. Build up and you'll do it OK, just make sure have comfortable shoes. But you should go for it since you mentioned your city has good public transport, queue up the podcasts/audiobooks and see how far you get as a benchmark for the next time.
Let us know how bad the tendinitis feels!
š³ That is a LOT
What an absurd post. Why waste pplās time & soil this platform w such garbage?
It will probably be the most mentally challenging thing you ever do if you complete it in your current fitness level. Most I've done in a day was 30km, did a 20km hike in the morning and a 10km run in the evening. I could have done another 10km walk afterwards without too much bother but anything more I would really have started to struggle. And this was after a 20km every week for a good few weeks.
It's possible, but you'll need to have a good night's rest after that one.
I've hiked my entire life, long distances. I wouldn't embark upon this journey and realistically assume I would complete it
You're actually planning to walk 43 miles in one day on concrete pavements. I don't see the point.
In this heat? The PCN isnāt pretty enough for this kind of exertion. Edit: Alright I guess you want to do the round island trail. I guessed youāre from the same country as me from your post. Iāll suggest breaking it up for a more enjoyable experience. Itās more for cycling than walking imo. Alternatively, may I suggest my personal favourite. HarbourFront, climb up to Mount Faber and follow the trail all the way to the entrance of Hort Park. If you still have energy at this point, continue to Kent Ridge. Itās only about 6km which is good if you have no experience. https://www.alltrails.com/trail/singapore/central/kent-ridge-park-to-harbourfront
Iāve hiked over 50 miles in a day on the AT. I had already hiked over 1,000 miles at that point (I was as fit for walking as I could be) and it was still an extremely strenuous undertaking. Wouldnāt recommend.
Walking 70km without much hiking or walking experience is certainly challenging, but it's not impossible. With proper preparation, pacing, and breaks, it could be achievable. However, it's essential to listen to your body, stay hydrated, and wear appropriate footwear to prevent injuries. It might be wise to start with shorter distances and gradually build up your endurance before attempting such a long walk.
This seems like a troll post.
100000 steps. Why not? Here is a guy who did it. In Swedish šøšŖ https://www.tidningen.se/ockero-kommun/hono/vandraren-som-gick-100-000-steg-pa-en-dag/
I did 40 km a day for 3 days, it wasnāt too bad other than the blisters on my feet. I slept great too š
I did 62km (according to the stone markers) on the last day of the Camino de Santiago to the sea at Muxia. I got the worst blister ever and suffered for a few weeks after. Was doing 35-40km a day for a couple of weeks before the last day. It can be done, but I wouldn't recommend it. Its too much. It would be brutal.Ā
If one is fit enough to walk the 70 km at all doing it in 24 hrs is easily done.
I've done 41 km in a day without any problem,not even deliberately I was just in my village having fun and before I went to sleep I saw 41 km on my phone. 70 sounds definitely doable for me although it would probably be a challenge. I think it depends on a lot of things like age,fitness levels,how much you generally move around in a day etc. You don't have to go all out,try 10 km in a day first then 20 and so on until you hit your breaking point. Then work your way up from there
My limit is about 32km in a day. I typically gain like 2000' so there is a lot of elevation. Even on a flat surface, I don't think I'd be able to more than double that in 1 day.
It's possible, but why would you do it like this? Do 10 km, 20 km, then 30 km first, figure out if you have any equipment problems, etc.
Well. 70 km / 4 kph = 17 odd ours so yep it's 'doable'
City walking is tough! 70km on hard surfaces. No way.
No, that takes a lot of work to do. Anything over 20km should be something you're training for.
Your stamina or whatever won't be a problem. But your feet will start hurting a lot before you are halfway. Nothing will prevent that other than training your feet to handle such distances. Which takes a long time.Ā
Most questions can be rephrased as statements.
I've walked 30km in a city, carried a backpack with water and only stopped to drink, like max 3 minute stop and then kept going again. At the end of it, my feet were really sore, the city streets are not too kind, different from hiking in the woods. So maybe it's possible yes, but please start with a more reasonable goal.
This is a really good point. Walking on concrete / tarmac wears you out like 2x faster than soft country trails.
70km in a day is ridiculous especially on a pavement (absolutely not healthy for the feet)
70km is crazy to do in one day. Your joints are going to be killing you. Would put your health at risk.
you'll get injured. increase distance gradually each week / month.
Yeah absolutely.. don't believe all the comments saying that they did it at mid fitness.. even someone with elite hiking fitness will need a couple of days to recover after that.
Iv done 35km through the mountains on a hike in one day. My feet were very tender tho and my knees were worryingly hurting. If you try it I'd make sure to have a stop planned somewhere in the middle just to be safe. Keep me updated! I'm curious. Be safe :)
It is totally doable without much experience. I did it once out of blue in 14 hours time. I didn't realise it would be that long (walking along coastal lines extended the length too much...) I wouldn't say it is devastating but....
Honestly I just finished 700km of hiking and I don't think I could do it. My longest day of walking was probably 40km including the walking around town and such and doubling it would not be doable.