With Coach Kelvin, offering Online Running Coaching for We Run and the We Run Virtual Running Club, and 1:1 Running Coach for Leeds and surrounding areas.
Introduction – Why Talk About Fastpacking?
In this little video, I’m gonna talk about fastpacking. I suppose it’s a slightly different topic because fast packing is walking rather than running.
The reason I decided to do this video is I’m actually just packing for a trip – packing to go away where I’m gonna be doing something that’s probably somewhere between fastpacking and ultra running. There’s gonna be some long days, and to a certain degree, there’s gonna be a little bit of multi-day action in there as well.
What is Fastpacking?
Fastpacking is going for a walk, but wearing your running kit and fuelling and hydrating like you would more on a training run than you would on a walk.
Why Fastpacking Is Beneficial for Runners
This can be really beneficial for runners.
One, it can just be really good fun. You know, if somebody’s usual long run is 10 miles, you might be able to do maybe 15, 18, maybe even 20 miles. So you could set yourself out a route that you wouldn’t normally do when you are running.
Put all your running gear on, make sure that you’ve got kind of essential gear for moving a little bit slower. Make sure you’ve got your waterproof jacket, trousers, maybe a base layer, make sure you’ve got plenty of hydration and nutrition for the day.
And essentially go for a really long walk at a slightly brisker pace than you would on a normal walk. You might even find that you end up running very slowly on some of the flats and downs.
The Training Stimulus of Doing Something Different
This can be really beneficial as a training stimulus because what the body responds well to is stuff that the body doesn’t normally do.
I don’t normally do six to eight hour days running. A long run for me will be more three to four hours. At an absolute pinch, occasionally in big training blocks, it might be four to five. But there isn’t really that much benefit in terms of run-specific training beyond that.
But for general aerobic capacity, it allows someone to do something that’s much longer – maybe in the region of six to twelve hours even. If the body’s not used to that, it’s just different. So the body just does that thing where it goes, hang on a minute, if we keep doing things like this, we’re gonna have to build back stronger.
A new stimulus is quite often a good call.
Got Questions?
If you’ve got any questions about fast packing, please pop them in the comments below.
