windwalker
I need an Adventure
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2006
- Messages
- 6,477
I know there are a lot of walkers on here as well as runners and run walkers. I'm a walker now since an injury to my achillies ended my running. I thought it would be nice to have a section for walkers since there is tons of information out there for runners but not much for walkers.
Training for walking is very similar to run training: There are three core elements to a good well rounded walk training program;
1. The weekly long slow distance walk (LSD), for half and full training this is the most important. But it builds endurance for walks of all distance. Erica and I are doing the Goofy next year so we are doing an LSD of 10 miles on monday and a progressively increasing walk on tuesday till we get to a 10/20 combo, then we will do the 10/20 every second week. We try to stay in half marathon shape all the time and then just need to ramp up aq bit before a marathon but the Goofy is going to require some targeted training.
We are part of a walking site that has a few ultra walkers and a personal trainer for advice so we had their advice to help us put our Goofy plan together. We are having a hard time right now because of the record freezing weather. The weather will break soon and we will get on with it.
2. Speed work: There are lots of ways to get faster in your walking. Going to a track and doing interval training is a good way to do it. Dave McGovern who has a racewalking site recommends doing intervals from 200m on up to 1600m. Basicly interval training is going faster than you normally go for a half (200m) or full (400) circle of a track then going slower than normal for the same distance. Then repeating the process till you have your workout done. I usually do 4 to 6 fast 400s with a 400 recovery walk between, but the combination you do should fit your fitness level at the time. Your body will tell you when you have had enough.
3. Tempo walks: These are walks where you start out slower till you warm up (when you begin to sweat) then speeding up to a comfortable but challanging pace for a couple of miles, then a slower walk again till you cool down abit. You don't want to go right from brisk to sitting down. You want some easy walking till you feel relaxed aqgain.
My racewalking mentor told me that the most important thing I can do to get faster is to stretch regulary. I still haven't gotten into a good routine of that but I know I need to work on that.
Arm swing is important to a walker also. When you run your stride is out front so your arms should pump forward. With walking the stride is more to the back so your arm swing is more to the back. Imagine trying to put your elbows back as far as possible as you walk fast.
When you walk try to walk a straight line. Walking duck footed is not very good. I like to walk on a line at the track to help me concentrate on keeping the stride in a straight line. In walking just like running you want all motion to be forward, any side to side motion slows you down.
A strong stomach will keep you from having back pain from training. Your back is usually much stronger so you start with an imbalance. Regular stomach exercises help correct this imballance. I hate crunches so the exercise I do is to tighten my stomach and hold it for a few seconds then relax, repeat for a few minutes. This works well for me.
Please share your thoughts and experience here on this thread. Please feel free to comment, there are lots of good ways to train so please add your thoughts.
Dave
Training for walking is very similar to run training: There are three core elements to a good well rounded walk training program;
1. The weekly long slow distance walk (LSD), for half and full training this is the most important. But it builds endurance for walks of all distance. Erica and I are doing the Goofy next year so we are doing an LSD of 10 miles on monday and a progressively increasing walk on tuesday till we get to a 10/20 combo, then we will do the 10/20 every second week. We try to stay in half marathon shape all the time and then just need to ramp up aq bit before a marathon but the Goofy is going to require some targeted training.
We are part of a walking site that has a few ultra walkers and a personal trainer for advice so we had their advice to help us put our Goofy plan together. We are having a hard time right now because of the record freezing weather. The weather will break soon and we will get on with it.
2. Speed work: There are lots of ways to get faster in your walking. Going to a track and doing interval training is a good way to do it. Dave McGovern who has a racewalking site recommends doing intervals from 200m on up to 1600m. Basicly interval training is going faster than you normally go for a half (200m) or full (400) circle of a track then going slower than normal for the same distance. Then repeating the process till you have your workout done. I usually do 4 to 6 fast 400s with a 400 recovery walk between, but the combination you do should fit your fitness level at the time. Your body will tell you when you have had enough.
3. Tempo walks: These are walks where you start out slower till you warm up (when you begin to sweat) then speeding up to a comfortable but challanging pace for a couple of miles, then a slower walk again till you cool down abit. You don't want to go right from brisk to sitting down. You want some easy walking till you feel relaxed aqgain.
My racewalking mentor told me that the most important thing I can do to get faster is to stretch regulary. I still haven't gotten into a good routine of that but I know I need to work on that.
Arm swing is important to a walker also. When you run your stride is out front so your arms should pump forward. With walking the stride is more to the back so your arm swing is more to the back. Imagine trying to put your elbows back as far as possible as you walk fast.
When you walk try to walk a straight line. Walking duck footed is not very good. I like to walk on a line at the track to help me concentrate on keeping the stride in a straight line. In walking just like running you want all motion to be forward, any side to side motion slows you down.
A strong stomach will keep you from having back pain from training. Your back is usually much stronger so you start with an imbalance. Regular stomach exercises help correct this imballance. I hate crunches so the exercise I do is to tighten my stomach and hold it for a few seconds then relax, repeat for a few minutes. This works well for me.
Please share your thoughts and experience here on this thread. Please feel free to comment, there are lots of good ways to train so please add your thoughts.
Dave
I really think it is needed. While I'm SO PROUD of ALL our teammates I was feeling a little i don't know, left out maybe, with everyone reporting such long runs with unbelievable times. I hope this is going to be a comfortable place to get to know the walkers better. Sorry I don't have much to report on the training aspect. With the pregnancy I'm just trying to get some steps put in each day. That's a big enough goal for me! But I can't wait to hear what events other walkers are training for. It's hard for me to find races that are walker friendly. Gosh, I could go on jabbering all day. I'm so excited about this thread! 
I'll definitely be back often!
. Since I just bought the ones I am wearing, I will stick with them and look for a lower heel next time. 
I was strolling around looking for info about the 5K next year and found you
)
