How do you train for the Vierdaagse or a multi-day hike?
You have signed up for four days of walking in July. You can walk far for a day. The question is whether you can do that four times in a row, and where you need to start in March.
Why a multi-day hike is a different sport
One long walking day is a matter of endurance. Four long days in a row are a matter of recovery: can you get up on the second morning on yesterday’s legs, and on the third morning on the legs of two days? That is a skill in itself, and it does not come along by itself with one long hike a week.
On a multi-day hike, your heart is rarely the problem. Walking is low in intensity; your endurance grows faster than the rest. What sets the pace are your feet, your Achilles tendons, your shins, your hips and your skin. Blisters and tendon irritation stop more walkers than fatigue does. Your build-up should therefore be about legs, not about fitness.
Consecutive days, not just long days
The most important stimulus is the second day in a row. Two two-hour walks on Saturday and Sunday teach your body more about the hike than one four-hour walk on Saturday. Start there: first two ordinary days back to back, then two long ones, then three.
Build the series one day at a time and keep the individual days shorter than you think. A block of three consecutive days of two and a half hours each is heavier than it sounds, and it tells you exactly what you want to know: how your feet and tendons hold up on day three.
Between the blocks belongs rest. A series of three walking days asks for two to three easy days afterwards, and it is that alternation that makes the difference. Walking a little every day builds no series; doing a series every week and then recovering does.
The daily distance stays your own choice
At the Vierdaagse you choose 30, 40 or 50 kilometres a day, and that choice belongs to you and not to a schedule. The skill you train, walking on with legs that walked yesterday too, is the same for all three. What differs is how long you need that skill each day.
Do you need to reach the full distance in training? No. Anyone who walks three consecutive days at two thirds of the daily distance in the last weeks before the event has the series in their legs; the rest is the day itself. Four times 40 kilometres in training is a hike, not a preparation.
If you are torn between two distances, let your training blocks decide. If three days of 25 kilometres still feel good at the end, 40 is a defensible choice. If your feet are the talk of the day after day two, 30 is not a step back but the right event.
Eating, drinking and July
A long easy walk burns mostly fat, and that is fine, but after two to three hours a little carbohydrate helps to hold your pace and your mood. A guideline for long easy walks is about 30 grams of carbohydrate per hour: a banana, a couple of currant buns, a handful of dried fruit. More is rarely needed at walking pace, and the event itself is the wrong place to try something new.
Drinking depends on the weather, and the weather in July is the biggest unknown. Heat lifts your heart rate, costs fluid and makes the same distance harder. Anyone who deliberately walks in the warmth of the day in the last weeks before the event, rather than in the cool morning, adapts to it: the body adjusts within a week or two by sweating more and sooner. That is one of the few things you can train specifically for July.
Shoes, socks and your backpack are training too. Walk the last long blocks in exactly what you will wear on the event, with exactly the weight you will carry. A new insole on day one of the event is a blister on day two.
The last two weeks
Your last heavy block sits two to three weeks before the event. After that you taper: the walks get shorter, the series gets shorter, and the last week is light. You will not get any fitter in those weeks; what you gain is fresh legs and skin without damage.
That tapering feels unnatural, especially if the last long day went well and you want more. Still, the event itself is the hardest week of your year, and you would rather start it rested than well trained and tired.
What Trimetra does with this
If a multi-day hike is in your calendar as a dated event, the planner builds walking days back to back: one extra day per build-up step, starting from the longest series you have already walked yourself, and only on days you have made available. The length of the individual walks comes from your own walking history, not from a table.
There are dedicated session forms for it: a long hike, a second day in a row, a walk with a backpack, a hill or dune walk. In the last weeks before a goal of 10 kilometres or more the planner reduces the volume, and how you respond to that taper is something the app learns from your own earlier events.
Two things the app does not do. It does not take you to 40 or 50 kilometres in a day on its own; that distance stays your choice, and the app builds the series, not the hike. And it does not plan walking days on days you have not released, not even just before an event.
Frequently asked questions
How many weeks in advance should I start training for the Vierdaagse?
If you already walk regularly, three to four months are ample to build a series of three long days. If you are starting from little, count on six months, above all for your feet and tendons. They adapt more slowly than your fitness.
Do I need to walk 40 kilometres in a day in training?
No. What you need is the series: three days in a row at about two thirds of your daily distance, in the last weeks before the event. The full distance four times in a row is what you do at the event itself, rested.
What do I eat on the way during a long walking day?
After the first two hours, about 30 grams of carbohydrate per hour, in the form of something you have already eaten in training. More is rarely needed at walking pace. Drinking depends on the heat; on a hot day that is more than your thirst says.
Does the app help me choose the daily distance?
It shows you how your series of several days goes and how you recover between the blocks. The choice between 30, 40 and 50 kilometres stays yours; the app builds the skill of walking days in a row, not the distance of a single day.
Trimetra builds towards a multi-day hike with walking days back to back, from your own walking history and on your own available days. You can try everything for your first month; recording and collecting stay free after that.