Runners do walk...
Thursday May 12, 2005
In several recent conversations and online comments, I've had lots of talk about walking breaks while running. I worked with a trainer on Monday and he had run three marathons in 6 months last year, so I think he is credible. His comments were something like, if you plan to walk and build it into your run, than walking is a good thing. However if you have NO thought of walking in a race (or workout) and are forced to walk, that you mentally might not be able to start running again.
My running partner last year (maybe this year again, Sara?) "couldn't" walk during a run. She claimed that she couldn't start running again after stopping. Something about her legs getting heavy and once she walks, it is over. On the other hand, several marathon (and shorter) training programs tell you to walk for 1 minute every 10 minutes of running (adjust to suit your needs). A bit of walking doesn't really increase your time a ton.
I have found that I have no middle gear. I ran 4 miles this morning and probably walked about 2 minutes or so during that stretch and averaged a 8:40 pace. This included the walking and the walking allowed me to run harder when I was running.
Last year while running some local 5 milers and 10k's, there was a guy that Sara and I called "walking man". He would blow past us in the beginning of the races, we would pass him while he was walking and this would happen once or twice during the race and he was always at the finish line when we got there. He was one of those folks that wore really short neon yellow running shorts and shouldn't have... But the walking breaks seemed to work for him and I think that they are working for me. Runners do walk.
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