Ep. # 385: Why Walking is a Smart Running Strategy

Welcome to the Not Your Average Runner podcast. I’m Jill Angie, a certified running coach, and your running BFF here to help you start running. Feel confident and love the journey no matter your size. Now, if you’ve ever felt like you just weren’t meant to be a runner, think again. I believe that running is for all bodies, even yours.

This podcast is your warmup buddy, giving you tips, motivation, and the support you need to lace up and get moving. I’ve helped thousands of women become runners, and now I wanna help you. Let’s go. Hey runner, and welcome back to the show. I gotta apologize real quick, uh, for my voice today. I’ve had a nasty cold for the past week or so, and, uh, normally I would not record when this is the condition of my voice.

I usually record about a week in advance, but a week ago I was sick and I’ve been waiting every day hoping to get my voice back in time to record this podcast for Thursday. Today is Wednesday, and this is the best that we’re gonna get. So we’re just gonna roll with it. I also have not been able to walk or run for almost a week, and I am absolutely losing my mind because one of the best parts of my day is going outside and just exploring my neighborhood on foot, and I miss it.

So, uh, hopefully tomorrow I’ll be able to go for a run. My lungs are getting. Close to being normal again. So keep your fingers crossed for me anyway, today we are tackling a very common misconception that I hear all the time, and that is if I take walk breaks, I’m not really running. And we’re here today to bit to bust this myth and talk about why walking is actually a smart running strategy.

So let me be clear. Walking is not cheating. Okay? It is a smart, strategic way to build endurance, stay injury free, and actually enjoy your runs. So if you have ever felt guilty about walking during a run, stick with me because by the end of this episode, you’re gonna see why it is not only okay, but actually a game changer for your running journey.

Now the myth that real runners don’t walk, ugh, frustrating and I get it. I used to believe that myth because somewhere along the way, many of us got the idea that a real runner never stops running. Okay? That if you take a walk break, you have failed. That is actually not true. Even elite ultra runners take walk breaks.

Some of them even plan for it. And a great example is Jeff Galloway, who is a former Olympic runner. He is also a running coach and he’s built his entire training method around run walk intervals much as I have. I actually went running with him one time in Savannah, um, many years ago. And. Lo and behold, he did run walk.

He did it. He practices what he preaches. So I want you to know if Olympic runners can walk during their runs, you definitely can too. So here’s what you need to know. Walking isn’t just a break. Again, it is a strategy. When you incorporate walk breaks, you actually reduce muscle fatigue, lower your heart rate and delay exhaustion.

So that means instead of burning out after a mile, you can go a lot longer without feeling like you need to collapse at the end of it. Okay? It makes running sustainable and that is the whole point, right? It a run walk is something that you can do for any distance, right? I have seen people do it for half marathons, marathons, and ultra marathons, right?

In fact, the longer the run. The better that run walk intervals are for you during that event. Now, another important benefit of Run Walk is that it reduces injury risk, especially for new runners. One of the biggest mistakes that New Runners make. You’ve heard me say this is pushing too hard, too soon.

Running is high impact. That means it, it’s a higher impact to your body, to your joints than walking or cycling or something like that. So if your body’s not used to it, you’re more likely to get injured if you jump right in and do too much too soon. So using strategic walk breaks gives your joints and muscles a chance to recover while you are still moving forward.

Alright? It lowers your risk of overuse injuries like shin splints, knee pain, stress fractures, and that means you get to keep running for years and years instead of getting sidelined every few months. And it helps you enjoy running more. If you’ve ever noticed how some runners absolutely dread their runs, it’s because they’re making it so much harder than it needs to be.

So when you give yourself permission to take walk breaks. Running becomes less intimidating and a heck of a lot more fun. So instead of constantly feeling out of breath and exhausted, you actually have moments where you feel good, feel strong, and you feel in control. And the best part about Run walk is you get to think, all right, I just need to keep running for one more minute, which feels a lot more doable than I need to keep running for two more miles.

Right. It tricks your brain into thinking, yeah, I got this. I can do this. And here’s the big myth buster, my friend, walk breaks don’t slow you down. They actually don’t, at least not the way you think they do. A lot of people worry that walking is going to ruin their pace. That to get faster, you need to run more.

But strategic walk breaks using the run walk method actually helps many runners finish their, run, their race, whatever it is faster. Okay, so Hear Me, run, walk makes you faster. Here’s why. When you run continuously, most people will slow down naturally over time as they get tired, right? We start out really fast, and then we get tired, and we slow down and we slow down, and by the end we just feel exhausted.

But when you take walk breaks at regular intervals, you maintain a steadier pace over the whole run, and this means that you actually crossed the finish line faster than if you tried to run the whole way and burned out early. All right, so this is a very, very important thing to take home because I know so many people are like, well, I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna slow down, so I’m just gonna keep running.

And in fact, the keeping running is what is slowing them down. So all of this being said, what is the takeaway? Walking during a run doesn’t mean you’re weak. It doesn’t mean you’re not a real runner. It means you’re smart. You are using a proven strategy that helps you go longer, stay injury free, and actually enjoy running.

So the next time you head out for a run, I want you to ditch the guilt and embrace the walk breaks and run in a way that works for you. Now I have coached thousands of women to use the run walk method, and I have a very specific way that I teach it that helps my clients figure out the exact ratio of running to walking that works for them.

So if you wanna learn how to incorporate, run, walk into your practice, or you just wanna get started running. And you’re like, this run walk method sounds like the right way to do it. Make sure to join up and running. Now, this is my 30 day beginners program. It is designed specifically for plus-size women.

The next one kicks off on April 1st, and in this class I’m gonna show you how to use run walk intervals to start running safely and get the best result possible. All right, so if you wanna join. To register, you just go to not your average runner.com/up and running. That’s not your average runner.com/up and running, or you can just go over to the link in the show notes and click it.

All right, my friend. That is it for today. Thanks for bearing with me with my voice. I know it probably hasn’t been super easy to listen to, which is why I kept this episode on the shorter side. But if this episode spoke to you, take a screenshot, share it on Instagram, tag me on at not your, not your average runner, because I wanna cheer you on.

All right. And if you haven’t already, make sure that you subscribe, so you never miss an episode Until next week. Happy running. Real quick before you go, I’ve got a fun challenge for you. Take my exerciser personality quiz to find out exactly what kind of exerciser you are and how to make running feel easier and more enjoyable.

Just head over to not your average runner.com/quiz to take it and get your results. That’s not your average runner.com/quiz.