How to Run-Walk: Suggestions From a Half-Marathon Run-Walker

Run-Walking is exactly what it sounds like. You run for a little while and then walk for a little while. So why should you Run-Walk? Why not just run, jog or walk? In my opinion, there are basically 4 reasons why you should Run-Walk.

1) To get in shape. You want to run full-time, but you are not in good enough shape. In this situation, you begin running for a short time and walking more. You gradually begin running more and walking less until you reach the point of running full time.

2) You are lazy. Maybe you are in good enough shape to run full-time, but you just don’t want to. There’s nothing wrong with this. In my opinion, as long as you are out and moving, you are doing more than what a lot of people are.

3) To save your joints. This is one of the reasons that I Run-Walk. It takes some of the stress off of your joints if you are walking part of the time. Running puts constant pressure on your knees, ankles and hips with each stride. If you back off and walk a little bit. That eases the constant pounding.

4) Frustration. I tried walking for a couple of years and participate in several 5k’s. I became frustrated under two circumstances. First, near the end of races I would see someone just ahead of me. I knew if I ran that I could pass them, however, since I was signed up as a walker, I would be disqualified if I ran. The second frustration was walking down steep hills. It is very tempting to start running. You have the slope of the hill in your favor and you can pick up speed pretty quickly. It’s fun running downhill…it sucks running uphill. Which is another reason to Run-Walk. You can run downhill and walk uphill.

So next you may ask, how do I Run-Walk? What is the most effective way? Are there any rules that I should follow? I am going to speak from my personal experience. I have been Run-Walking for many years. I Run-Walk about ten 5k’s per year, I have done a quarter marathon and a couple of half marathons. I also have begun Run-Walking 5 miles every Saturday morning with a group from our local running club.

My suggestion is that you time yourself. Don’t just run until you are tired and then walk for a little while and then run again. If you do that, you will find that the more miles you go, the more you will walk. In my opinion, it is much better to have a set time. Figure out what increments you want to use. I have done 2, 3, 4- and 5-minute increments. Currently I am doing 2-minute increments.

I am not very fast, however, when I posted my fastest 5k ever, I ran for 2 minutes and walked for 1 minute. I finished in 30:42 which is under a 10-minute mile pace. These days my 5k pace is usually in the 35-36-minute pace, which is still under a 12-minute mile pace. I don’t want to brag because there are many my age and older that complete a 5k in faster time, but for a 62-year-old man I am fairly pleased with that time.

By the way, my fastest half-marathon was at age 53. I ran 2 minutes and walked 3 minutes, so I was doing 5 minutes increments for the entire race. I finished in 2 hours 38 minutes. My pace was 12:05.

If you are Run-Walking in order to get to the point where you are running full-time, you should slowly increase your running time. For example, if you start out running for 1 minute and walking for 2 minutes, you should slowly increase that. After a couple of weeks, start running for 1:05 and walk for 1:55. Then go 1:10 and 1:50. Slowly work your way up to where you are running 2 minutes and walking 1 minute, then running 2:30 and walking 30 seconds and eventually running the whole time. As you go along, you may want to adjust your increments. Once you get to the point where you are running 2 or 2:30 on a 3-minute increment, you may want to change to a 4-minute increment and run 3 of the 4 minutes.

You will need to try and find what works best for you. The most important thing is that you are out and being active. Whether you run, jog, walk or run-walk. Being active is a key to a healthy life.