Training plan

The trail this plan is for

The basis is the planned route in Router/NPL_Plan (track “Peter_120days”).

The first twenty days (Finnmark) have less ascent than the south. Wind, open ground, bog and rock stand in for the metres of climb. From the second half of the first month the ground gets hillier.

The 110 days in a row happen on the trail. That chain cannot be rebuilt beforehand. Training has a narrower job: on 12 June, be able to walk a 24 km day with trail kit, set off normally the next morning, and have already used the systems (feet, shoulders, food, wet weather, poles).

Assumed pack weight on the trail after resupply: 12–16 kg. If the real base weight is higher, the checkpoints use the real kilos, and the figure in this plan stays a reference.

With a history of heart, joint or back trouble, check the start of training with a doctor first.

If the 12 km walk in week 1 only works by dragging through it, repeat week 1 until that walk is ordinary, then rejoin where the long outing matches the current level.

Rules

1. Pain that changes the gait ends the session. Walking on cements the limp. Strength work on pain-free exercises stays in.
2. Distance and pack weight never rise in the same week. When the table shows more weight, the long outing stays the same or gets shorter.
3. Every fourth week is easier (weeks 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32). Fewer kilometres, strength as two light sets. These weeks belong to the plan.
4. If the long outing is not clean, the week is repeated. The calendar shifts, the start date stays.
5. The trail shoes are in use from February. After 16 May, nothing new goes on the feet and nothing new goes into the carry system.
6. From week 9, poles belong on every outing over 10 km. Shoulders and arms need the same months as the legs.
7. Glare ice is a fall risk. In Oslo, from November to March, cross-country skiing and the indoor trainer stand in for the walking kilometres. The table stays in walking kilometres; the swap is by duration.

A normal week

Time at the peak: about 12–15 hours a week, plus the fixed PT hour on Wednesday and two multi-day weekends in April and May.

Training pace: fast enough that talking still works. On the NPL, 24 km on the ground is often 7–9 hours including breaks. From phase 3, duration counts as well: the long Saturdays should grow to 6–7 hours, and once at the peak to 7–8 hours.

When walking in Oslo is not possible

From November to March the kilometres in the table stay walking kilometres. The substitute is by duration, at conversational pace. Classic cross-country skiing in Nordmarka or Østmarka is the closer substitute: poles, cold, hours on the feet, and a second day on Sunday already feels like the trail. Skating works for an easy Tuesday when the track is set that way. The indoor trainer holds the endurance, and it loads neither the feet nor the pack.

Ski kilometres are longer per hour than walking kilometres. The number in the table is not chased on the track or on the trainer. As soon as a path is safe, walking with the planned pack is the Saturday session again. The multi-day walk in April is on foot at the latest.

When time is short

Tuesday and, if needed, Friday may be a very easy jog. About half the walking time, at conversational pace, in running shoes. On ice in Oslo, use the treadmill. Saturday and Sunday stay walking, skiing or the trainer: there, hours on the feet, the pack and the second day are what count. At most two runs in a week. If the shin, Achilles tendon or knee speaks up, that session is walked again.

Strength

Wednesday morning stays the hour with the PT, focused on core and balance. Monday and Thursday are the two added sessions, right through to the easier week before the start. The end of a set means the last repetitions get demanding and the form stays clean. Add load when 3×8 is under control.

In easier weeks: two sets, clearly lighter. After long walks, ten minutes moving hip, calf and ankle.

Downhill with a pack is the part that loads knees and toes. From phase 3, Friday or Saturday includes a real descent: short steps, poles in front of the body, weight over the feet.

Phase 1 — Base

28 September to 22 November 2026

Habit, strength, first hours with a pack. Load 4–7 kg (water, jacket, something to eat). Long day 3 to 4.5 hours.

Phase 2 — Winter

23 November 2026 to 17 January 2027

In Oslo this is ski season, not a walking winter. Long days become classic cross-country skiing of the same duration; short days are skiing or the indoor trainer. Pack 8–9 kg on days when a path is actually walkable, or on the treadmill with a pack. Long day 4 to 5.5 hours.

Phase 3 — Specific

18 January to 28 March 2027

Tour rhythm: a long Saturday, a usable Sunday, pack weight moving toward the trail load. Until the paths around Oslo are clear, Saturday stays classic cross-country skiing of the same duration. Once the ground will take it, those become walking days with 400 metres of ascent and more. Long day 6 to 7 hours. From this phase the trail shoes are in use whenever the session is outdoors. Break in a second pair as well if it is coming north.

Phase 4 — Peak

29 March to 16 May 2027

Two multi-day walks with the system that comes along in June: pack, sleeping bag, stove, food, rain gear, socks. Between the two trips, one quiet week and one easier week. One day of the dress rehearsal has 600–800 metres of ascent. Elevation on individual GPX stages can run a little high because of the elevation model; for training, this range is enough for a hard day.

Phase 5 — Taper

17 May to 13 June 2027

Volume comes down, one kit check remains, the legs get fresh. The fitness built up to here carries these three weeks.

Feet, wet weather, food

On the route, wet feet for hours are normal, especially in bog. In training, from November, at least one longer session a month in the rain, and from phase 3 one long day in deliberately wet shoes on safe ground. Afterwards: dry, look, tape what rubs, change socks. Keep toenails short before every long day.

Blisters are dealt with in training, not sat out: stop, dry, tape, walk on. Use the kit that will be in the first-aid pouch in June.

On walking days over four hours, eat every 60–90 minutes, drink to thirst, and on long, warm or very windy days a bit beyond that. On both multi-day walks, use the food that will later travel with the stages, so the stomach and the packaging are familiar.

Small, known fords (knee-deep, a clear way in and out, no current that takes the stance) may be practised: hip belt open, poles as a third point, shoes by a scheme decided beforehand. Unknown floodwater stays out.

If a week drops out

• One week lost to a cold or to overload: repeat the last week that went well, then continue in the plan.
• Two weeks off: one step back (the long outing about 20% shorter, the pack one step lighter) and build up again from there.
• A single missed Tuesday lapses. Do not lengthen Saturday to make up the kilometres.

To see another week, add ?datum=2027-02-03 to the address. The figures come from Router/NPL_Plan, track “Peter_120days”, 110 stages, 2,689 km.