Training Topics

Training Walk Ideas
Training Fatigue
Plan a Great Training Walk Route
Using Our Training Walk Search Tool
Start Your Training on the Right Foot

Training Walk Ideas

Incorporate different types of terrain and weather conditions. The Susan G. Komen 3-Day^® event may include various surfaces and experiences (asphalt, trails, hills, rain, heat, cold, etc.) and you want to be prepared for anything.
You can build endurance by fitting in small walks throughout your day. Get up a little earlier in the morning and fit a training walk in before work. Walk to work. Walk on your lunch hour. On the weekends, walk your errands instead of driving around.
If the weather is a concern, remember that you can get going on training walks indoors, in a gym or the local mall. Or brave the elements (within reason) with weatherproof clothing and plenty of layers to keep you warm and dry.
Take one day off per week to rest in order to avoid injury.
When you’re walking with others, don’t push yourself beyond your ability. Listen to your body - and keep yourself healthy.
As you build up endurance, do a back-to-back longer walk (15+ miles on one day, followed by 15+ miles on a second day). Your body reacts differently at the end of Day 1 than it will at the end of Day 2.
Drive your walking route to determine the mileage. Or use a tool such as Google Map Pedometer (www.webwalking.com/googlemap.htm) to look up the distance online.
Plan a “Fundraising Roundtable” walk and ask people to bring their fundraising ideas and letters to share.
Arrange a day with a local tour guide and explore what your city has to offer. Cities offer many different types of tours, including historical tours, underground tours, downtown tours and more.
Plan a walk in a different town or neighborhood. Take a boat trip to a local island and explore. This is a great way to explore your surrounding communities and hidden treasures while getting yourself prepared for the Komen 3-Day.
Plan a training walk through botanical gardens, a state park or other local gardens in your area.
Invite your team to meet you at a local museum and take your training indoors for the day.
Have your team members meet at a central location, and walk the distance in a local mall. Remember to bring your donation form with you. You can create a lot of awareness and support by walking in your 3-Day^® gear.

Training Fatigue

The 3-Day may seem like a long way off. If you've been training for a while now, you may be hitting a wall. Here are some tips to combat training fatigue:

Vary your training route. You're probably tired of the view of your own neighborhood. Get in your car and drive to another neighborhood or town. When's the last time you walked around your nearest big city? You'll see a lot more on foot than you do from the window of your car during your morning commute. Prepare for a training walk in a new area by planning a safe route and knowing where you’ll be able to stop for breaks; always stay alert to your surroundings whether in a new area or your own neighborhood.
Find a new training partner. Search for a training walk or use the 3-Day Friend Finder to find a new group to train with. Nothing makes the miles fly by like a conversation with a new friend.
Get some new gear. Suddenly, a training walk may be the perfect reason to try out (and break-in) those new walking shoes or show off that new shirt.

Plan a Great Training Walk Route

As you begin your training walks, start out with easy walks (low mileage and on flat surfaces) and gradually increase difficulty. It is critical to train on all types of terrain over the months leading up to the 3-Day. Walking strictly on crushed limestone paths or dirt trails will not give your body a realistic expectation of walking on concrete or tar, for instance. If you’re planning a longer route, scout out available restroom and hydration stops.

Visit the Training Walk search page to find a 3-Day training walk near you. If you are having trouble finding a walk route, contact your local park district or community center for local path information. You can also use websites such as Google Map Pedometer (www.gmap-pedometer.com) or www.mapmywalk.com to determine how long your planned route is or find route ideas from other walkers.

Once you've found a great route, consider sharing it with your fellow participants and becoming a training walk leader. If you’d like to lead your own training walks, edit the interests in your online profile to check “I am interested in becoming a training walk leader.”

Using Our Training Walk Search Tool

As official 3-Day training walks get into full swing, here are some helpful hints:

To see the most results possible in the training walk search, widen the dates of your search. For example, if you are looking for a walk taking place on the weekend of March 19-20, use March 18 and 21 as the start and end dates for your search.
Please submit the RSVP form for each training walk you plan on attending. If you decide not to attend, please cancel your RSVP. To do this, find the training walk through the search tool and view the event details again to find the "cancel my RSVP" link, or call us at 800-996-3DAY to cancel your RSVP. Your volunteer training walk leaders are depending on an accurate list of how many walkers will be attending in order to plan a safe walk.
If you don't find any training walks through the search, you can find other walkers in your area to train with using the 3-Day Friend Finder. Click this link to go to the 3-Day Friend Finder, then enter your zip code and select whether you are looking for training walk leaders, team captains or all participants in your area.
If you’d like to lead your own training walks, edit the interests in your online profile to check “I am interested in becoming a training walk leader.” A local Training Walk Coordinator will contact you shortly to invite you to a meeting (either in person or via conference call) that will get you the information you need to get started leading and posting training walks to our website.

Start Your Training on the Right Foot

Aristotle said, “Well begun is half done.” You can ensure your future training success by taking some key steps now. The first is getting the right equipment. Visit a 3-Day outfitter or another specialty running/walking shoe store. Ask the salesperson to analyze your gait and fit you with shoes designed for an endurance walking event. Once you find the perfect fit, you’ll want to buy two pairs of shoes, so you can alternate while training and won’t wear any one pair out. Click here for more shoe shopping tips.

Once you have the proper shoes, buy a fitness tracker (a simple pedometer is very inexpensive) and measure how many steps you take during the course of a day. On average, it takes about 1700-2000 steps to travel one mile, depending on your stride length. To measure your stride, mark a distance of 50 feet. Now walk this distance and count your steps. Divide 50 by the number of steps and that is your stride length. Now, divide 5280 by your stride length to find your average steps per mile.

View our suggested 24-week or 16-week training schedule. If you can currently walk three miles comfortably, you can follow the schedule as it appears. If you cannot currently walk three miles then start with one mile, build up over the next two weeks to a three-mile walk and then join the program. If you can walk much further than three miles then you can skip down the program or wait until the program catches up with you.