Jerry's Sevenoaks circular report with the walkers has me thinking about my upcoming race strategy. I think I will need to walk a significant amount at Umstead but would like to not loose too much time because of it. I have recently started to try to see how fast I can walk and if I really concentrate I have been able to go about 10 minute/mile pace. This pace however is not sustainable for a long distance and is actually more difficult for me than running at the same pace. Do you guys work on walking fast? Any tips for proper form? Suggestions on how to incorporate it into a 100 miler?
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I do work on walking fast, but I'm not good at it.
For me, the goal is just to become accustomed to walking faster so that my default, mindless, restful, walking pace increases.
Liz
pace sera, sera
I do work on walking fast, but I'm not good at it. For me, the goal is just to become accustomed to walking faster so that my default, mindless, restful, walking pace increases.
Thanks, this makes sense. The walking I did in my 100k was of the slow restful, mindless variety. I did it on uphills and when I was too exhausted to run. I think what I'm looking for is a deliberate, fast walking pace to save me from trashing my legs early on and be able to finish.
Steve, I was running with a lady for part of the journey yesterday and we naturally started to walk on an incline and her gait was completely different to mine up the hill. I mentioned she must be a strong walker to which she said that was her preferred discipline.
It was really obvious because the strength of her stride whilst us runners have a totally different technique. I do practice a walking technique of sorts where I lengthen my stride and use much more of my arms, I have to admit I probably look at absolute tit but it works for me. I prefer to run and only practice the walking technique for up hills by the way
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When I was running a lot (for me), I practiced walking fast. Actually, it takes concentration... a lot of it... until it comes naturally. We tend to think of walking as a break, but I challenge you to think of it more as another gear. "Walk with purpose" is something I think of.. be aware of posture... more upright, think of a rope attached to your chest with something pulling you forward at a pace a bit faster than you want to go... Also, the upright posture will help open up the air flow for less labored breathing. Don't over stride, but do get your arms into the action. I find that when my upper body and core strength are where they need to be, I can achieve all of this much better than when I am not as strong.
Also, during the race, don't wait until you need to walk to start walking... put some walk breaks in early. An old veteran of ultra running once told me to "walk early so you can run late"... I could run circles around him, but I couldn't stay with him walking!!!
Good luck
""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)
Also, during the race, don't wait until you need to walk to start walking... put some walk breaks in early. An old veteran of ultra running once told me to "walk early so you can run late"... I could run circles around him, but I couldn't stay with him walking!!! Good luck
Good words of advice about posture, I will look at that in times to come.
I know that adage as I was heard to shout to a show pony friend of mine once "If you want to be running at 50 miles you have to be walking at 5"
Consistently Slow
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The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
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When I was running a lot (for me), I practiced walking fast. Actually, it takes concentration... a lot of it... until it comes naturally. We tend to think of walking as a break, but I challenge you to think of it more as another gear. "Walk with purpose" is something I think of.. be aware of posture... more upright, think of a rope attached to your chest with something pulling you forward at a pace a bit faster than you want to go... Also, the upright posture will help open up the air flow for less labored breathing. Don't over stride, but do get your arms into the action. I find that when my upper body and core strength are where they need to be, I can achieve all of this much better than when I am not as strong. Also, during the race, don't wait until you need to walk to start walking... put some walk breaks in early. An old veteran of ultra running once told me to "walk early so you can run late"... I could run circles around him, but I couldn't stay with him walking!!! Good luck
Thanks Lynn, The rope thing is helpfull. I tried it this evening and was able to go a little faster. It still feels awkward and I look like an idiot but seems pretty effective. It definitly takes concentration.
Think of it the same as running - You may train you muscles to walk @ 10:00 pace, but if you backed off to 11:00 or 12:00 pace you will be able to hold it for much longer. The great thing about walking is that is uses the muscles in a different way than running.
In preparing for a 24 hour race, I will practice walking the last 6-8 weeks. I will walk 2-6 miles before bed at a fastish pace. I usually work for a period of that time at high end speed and a period at a quick, but comfortable race.
Come race day - I use a mix of running and walking - Mostly running. The idea isn't that walking has to be as fast as running, but that walking you do not lose a bunch of time. Here are some scenarios:
1) 56 minutes @ 10:00 and 4 minutes @ 12:00 = 5.933 miles versus 6 miles running all @ 10:00 = 98.9% as fast
2) 50 minutes @ 9:00 and 10 minutes @ 13:00 = 6.32 miles versus 6.67 miles all @ 9:00 = 94.9% as fast
If you feel you have to walk a fair amount to complete the 100 - I would invest the time to walk from the start. If you wait and try to run the 1st 3-5 hours you will do much worse. So come up with a run walk ratio plan and stick to it. I personally would run the 1st 56-57 minutes and walk 3 minutes. But with you saying you think you need to walk a lot, there are a lot of plans and opinions out there on the right ratio.
If I thought I needed to walk a lot. I would jog 15 minutes and walk 5 or jog 12 and walk 3. I would pick something that is easy to follow and you can always look at the time and know its time to walk or run. So in the 1st example: I know at 8:00 I run and 8:15 I walk at 8:20 I run and 8:35 I walk at 8:40 I run and 8:55 I walk - repeat for 9-10-11 etc.
I do the same thing with s-caps and food.
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Imminent Catastrophe
For me, the terrain (hills) dictate when I walk so planning on a walk/run ratio is less useful, unless it's on a flat course.
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Very good info here about walking. I'm about to tackle my second 50 miler, but for a long time have practice a run/walk ratio even in 50ks, and especially utilize power walking when ascending a hill. I stuck to power walking the hills this past weekend at the Pirate's Cove 50k in the Marin Headlands and ended up with a much better race than 4 weeks prior on the same course. At the end, even though I was tired, I felt I could have kept going.
We're lucky in that where my friend and I train, not only are there plenty of hills, but there's a 5+ mile fairly flat stretch where we can practice power walking. Posture and keeping the arms fully involved are key for me.
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I agree completely - But Umstead is a pretty flat course
In 50 milers - It seems to me a hill is either a walker or a runner ... but what ever criteria I set for the 1st 25 miles - I use for the last ... no matter how much it hurts ... unless I am running hills that were walkers in the 1st 25. I do catch myself day dreaming at time and ... ooops - I should be running.
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Thats some great info there Dopple - thanks for that.
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Well, after reading this thread I set the treadmill at a high incline and high (walking) speed and very quickly realized, that's really hard!
Here is a picture of me in January this year, I labelled it:
I had indeed walked the majority of that climb but about 200 yards away was a check point and a nice cup of tea set me up for the last 5-6 miles