Training To Thru-Hike The Bibbulmun Track

In this episode of the Training for Trekking podcast, I chat with Mark, a Summit Strength graduate from Melbourne, about his training and experience thru-hiking the Bibbulmun Track - a 1,000 kilometre walk through Western Australia.

Inside we chat about the strength and conditioning he used from this long distance hike, managing a calf strain early in training, the mental grind of weeks on trail, and practical advice for anyone planning a thru-hike.

How To Train For The Bibbulmun Track 

Episode Transcript:

Q: Can you give us a little bit of background about yourself, who you are, where you're from, and your background in hiking?

I'm Mark, from Melbourne, Australia, 47 years old. I work in finance technology, so it's a pretty office-based, stay-at-home sort of job.

In terms of hiking background, I've been hiking for over 40 years, started off at Scouts. Over the years I've done various hikes, some highlights being the Overland Track, Annapurna Circuit and Everest Base Camp in Nepal, a little bit of the Lycian Way in Turkey, and more close to home I try to get down to Wilson's Promontory whenever I can for a quick overnight hike.

Q: Before we started working together, what was your typical approach to preparing for hiking trips?

Training is probably the wrong word for what I used to do. I grew up playing a lot of tennis so I had an okay base of fitness, but generally speaking my preparation before decent-sized walks was a couple of extra gym sessions that weren't really targeted to hiking, a little bit of legs but just overall sessions. And generally speaking I'm a bit of a crammer in life. In the last month before a trip I'd try to do a couple of overnight hikes, but they were probably more focused on making sure my gear was okay than on fitness. So I'd class myself as winging it, to be honest.

Q: What was the big goal you set for yourself, and what was the instigator for this particular trip?

I've always read about the American thru-hikes and the various Australian ones. The Bibbulmun Track is known as probably the most accessible long-distance walk in Australia because of the facilities, so it's something I'd been researching for a couple of years. With a young family, I knew it was something I'd have to plan a few years in advance to get the time.

The goal was to do a 1,000 kilometre thru-walk, and I chose the Bibbulmun because of the infrastructure and because I wasn't sure whether a seven or eight week walk was for me. That led me to do some research on the training side, because I knew I couldn't just wing it this time, which led me to reaching out to you.

Q: When you decided to reach out, were there specific things you felt you needed help with?

I knew it wasn't going to be a year-long training block, because that's not really how I work. But I knew I'd never covered that kind of distance continuously over multiple days, so I was interested in things like walking more efficiently, which led me to a couple of your videos online. I also just tend to work better with a plan, because without one I could do the same gym session for 20 weeks and stay at exactly the same level. And on top of the fitness, I was looking for gear guidance, particularly around lightweight options, which was a bit of a whole new world for me.

Q: Tell us a little bit about the training you did through Summit Strength. What did your program look like?

A typical week included a couple of strength sessions, which were not what I was used to from a gym. They were more tailored to someone without a lot of equipment at home, using things like loaded packs. There was also a weekly mobility and recovery session, which was pretty foreign to me other than some tennis-specific stretching. Then there was tempo walking, including nose breathing, which I definitely wasn't familiar with. And then a fortnightly dedicated hike, which was good because weekends are typically taken up with kids' sport, so having those placeholders with guidance on distance and pack weight was really helpful.

Q: Was there anything in the program that was particularly different from what you'd done before?

The stretching was very different. I remember the knee-to-wall stretch, and the world's greatest stretch, both completely foreign to me. And I'd never thought to carry a weighted pack around the suburban streets, which might look strange to some people, but I'd use a coffee shop as my halfway point. It made absolute sense after doing it, and I noticed a gradual difference as the pack got heavier each week. The real focus on ankles and knees was also new territory for me, but really valuable.

Q: Were there any roadblocks along the way in your preparation, and how did you deal with them?

I think it was around the second or third week when I managed to do a grade one calf strain playing pickleball, which I'd only recently started. I was really worried and thought I'd have to delay the walk, though it was still 30 weeks out at that point. I ended up giving up the pickleball. Between the two of us we decided to delay training by a week and then tailored some exercises around what my physio was recommending, so I could gradually catch up over time. I was lucky it was only a grade one, but it was a timely reminder that having a structured program matters, because I'd have hated to pick up that calf strain on day one of the actual walk.

Q: Preparation done, training done, tell us how the trail went. Walk me through it.

I should mention that the education videos were something I got a lot of value from in the lead-up, including realising I'd been using hiking poles wrong for years. On the trail, the anticipation was definitely there and the weather was really good to start. Walking northbound on the Bibbulmun, the coast near Albany down to Denmark is probably some of the prettiest section but also some of the hardest with the sand dunes.

I was very conscious of not doing double hut days early on, except that on day two the adrenaline got the better of me and I pushed too far, which was a good reminder to slow down. I was really stoked to be out on trail, my gear was good, my supply boxes were where they should be, and I felt quite confident.

In the first two weeks I was really dedicated to looking after my body, rubbing lotion on my legs each night, doing the mobility and recovery work at camp. Then it got a bit looser after that as I started feeling part of the hiker community, making friends along the way at a similar pace.

I was genuinely taken aback by the range of ages on the track. The first person I met was a lovely 77-year-old woman doing it for the fourth time, which put a few things in perspective. The first half had all the wow moments I'd hoped for, the big karri trees, the coastline. The second half became more of a mental grind, what people call the green tunnel effect, lots of enclosed similar scenery. The mindset content I'd watched beforehand helped, and I kept myself going with badly practised singing along the way.

I had some great animal encounters too, snakes, emus, kangaroos, feral pigs. I was really lucky with the weather at Lake Maranup, which was a campsite I'd been looking forward to, and the famous canoe crossing on the Bibbulmun was a highlight, though it also happened to be one of my hardest days because of bad weather and sand dunes. Some lovely people called Wombat and Donkey helped get canoes back across for me and took photos while I paddled, which was incredibly kind. They also gave me my trail name — Jack Black, because I had music blaring as I walked into camp.

The last couple of days I deliberately slowed down to reflect on the experience and ease into thinking about normal life again. By and large the walk was absolutely amazing.

Q: What about body issues along the way?

I got blisters on day two, started taping my feet every day after that and had no further issues. The main physical challenge was around halfway through when I started getting really sore big toe joint pain, which turned out to be inflammation. It would flare up reliably once I ticked past 23 kilometres in a day. I managed it with ice and soaking in water at the huts where I could, and I ended up taking an extra unplanned rest day near Karrion Resort, which is a beautiful spot if anyone ever gets into trouble around there. I was a bit worried heading into the Donnelly River section after that because the downhill sections were punishing on the toe, but I managed it.

Q: Were there any challenges on trail you hadn't really anticipated before you set off?

I was surprised by how bored I got some days, especially towards the north. There were stretches of six or seven days where I'd only see three people, and conversations were brief. I found myself having a bit of an internal debate about whether to just head to Perth and call it done, which I was surprised by because I'd always thought any struggle would be physical rather than mental. The mindset content I'd read and watched beforehand helped more than I expected.

I also realised I'm not a fan of road walking. There was one stretch, Dog Pool Road, about 12 kilometres of straight gravel road walking, and there were some colourful words used that day. Music got me through it.

Q: When you got to the end, how did you feel and did you do anything to celebrate?

The last day is actually quite rocky and uphill for most of it going northbound, which I wasn't expecting. I took a video of myself walking up the final hill, which I watched back later, though I couldn't remember what I'd said at the time. My wife and three young boys were at the finish line, which they came down to a little early to walk the last bit with me, and I was really stoked to see them after 46 days.

I'd given myself a 50-50 chance of finishing, so I was genuinely proud. There was actually a small part of me that didn't want it to end, I could see a service station across from the finish line and briefly considered restocking and walking back the other way. We had a quick meal in Kalamunda and then spent a week in Perth for a family holiday, seeing the quokkas and the Rockingham area. I deliberately didn't fly straight back to Melbourne because even arriving into Kalamunda felt strange with all the cars and the noise. It took some adjusting.

Q: What's next on the hiking list for you?

I've got a bit of a wish list. The Heysen Trail in South Australia has moved up it, that's a bit longer than the Bibbulmun and goes through the Flinders Ranges down towards Adelaide. Beyond that, I've never been to the Dolomites and a lot of people I've met have strongly recommended hiking there. I've also had the Fan Mountains in Tajikistan and the Hunza Valley in Pakistan on my list for a long time. More immediately, I'm hoping as the boys get a bit older they'll want to come along on some of these.

Q: For anyone considering the Bibbulmun Track or a long-distance thru-hike, what advice would you give them?

One of the biggest mistakes I made was around food variety. I was very meticulous about hitting my calorie targets but basically had the same snacks every single day, and by week two or three I was giving them away to other hikers and raiding hiker boxes for anything different. If you're human and not a robot, you can't eat the same thing every day for seven weeks. Be realistic about variety.

The other thing is to allow some slack in your itinerary. I know that can be hard if you're travelling interstate or overseas for a thru-hike and are restricted by timing, but the Bibbulmun in particular is known for prescribed burns and section closures. Having a buffer means that if you're not feeling well one day, or want to slow down and enjoy somewhere, you can do it without stress.

And don't underestimate what the training beforehand can do for your enjoyment on trail. You just feel more mentally confident knowing you've done the work. On the Bibbulmun especially, with the huts, water, and toilets taken care of, you can really just focus on the walking itself — but the fitness still matters a lot.

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