Anyone who claims walking breaks don’t make you a “real” runner not only is he a weird asshole, but just plain wrong. The walk/run combination is a legitimate strategy used by runners of all levels. Whether your goal is gradually building distance, or conserving energy to finish a race strong, or convincing yourself to get out the door in the first place 😛lent of runners walking is allowed. Here’s why you should incorporate walking breaks into your running regimen, as well as the best time to do it.
Walking allows you to recover without losing too much time
Pauses to walk are not a sign of weakness, but of strategy. Incorporating walking breaks has been a popular practice among athletic trainers and mountain runners for years. In addition to the mental relief that walking provides, it also gives your body a break without drastically compromising your fitness or race times. In fact, research in Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport found that a combined run-walk strategy allows non-elite runners to achieve similar finish times, with less discomfort compared to the strain of running the full distance.
Even if you’re not sure about incorporating walking breaks throughout your run, at least consider switching gears during everyone’s favorite challenge: hills.
The hills are perfect for walks
not only does walking uphill requires less overall aerobic effortbut in some cases, you can even be faster than trying to run upload them
Plus, even if your goal is simply to run as long as possible, hills are a great opportunity to blur the lines between what counts as walking and running. Look at it this way: the real difference between walking and running is whether you have one foot on the ground at all times or whether you’re airborne during each stride; as the incline gets steeper and steeper, the difference between walking and running becomes thinner and thinner. If you don’t buy it, check your heart rate and see how you can still stay in your target range while walking fast uphill.
Whether or not it’s “better” to walk or run uphill depends on your goals, your overall fitness levels, and the slope of the hill. If nothing else, hills are a lot less mentally overwhelming when you reframe them as walking breaks.
Some considerations
The run/walk strategy is a legitimate tool for runners of all levels. Of course, there is a limit to the time and fitness benefits of walking breaks. You can’t walk faster than you can run and expect to finish faster than running the full distance. You also shouldn’t incorporate your walking breaks every few minutes. A study demonstrated how the more you change pace, the more energy you expend in all transitions compared to if you had run one pace continuously.
If you want to constantly change pace, you better fartlek well. And if you need a walk break every five minutes, you should probably be run easier miles overall.
Tips for walking uphill
Here are some reminders for proper form as you tackle that hill.
- Shorten your step. Even more than running on flat ground, it is more efficient to take small, quick steps than to take long, quick steps.
- Lean forward slightly, but not too much. Leaning on a hill is your body’s natural instinct, but if you’re hunched over with your hands on your knees, try straightening your back to bring it closer to upright.
- Whatever effort you are using, make sure it is sustainable for the entire hill so that don’t get burned on the way up.
There is no doubt about the benefits of incorporating the hill repeats in your training, but that’s a training for another day. Whether you’re saving energy to finish strong in a race, or trying to improve your fitness as an occasional runner, walking uphill might be the right strategy for you.
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