Brisk Walk?

[yamiskoi]

Hello everyone!

I'm on week 2 of the program and despite never enjoying sports at school, I'm actually enjoying myself when I'm out on my runs! I am even looking forward to getting out again tomorrow evening.

One quick question though - about the 'brisk walk' Laura talks about in the podcasts. I know she gives advice on what this should be like, but sometimes I worry I'm walking too slowly. I'm basically walking faster than I normally would, often trying to match the beat of the music as best I can. Does this sound about right? Sorry I can't give any more specific information - I don't use a speed or mph tracker when I'm out there to keep tabs on this sort of thing. Anyway, any indication that what I'm doing is on the right lines would be much appreciated =]

Thanks again!!

[Coddfish Graduate]

Hi yamiskoi, well done on getting started. I don't think you need to worry if you are walking faster than you normally would, the purpose is to make sure your muscles are warmed up before you start to run, to help prevent injury. In very cold weather it might be worth walking a bit before you start the 5 minutes.

[yamiskoi Graduate in reply to Coddfish]

Thank you for your reply! It's so nice to come onto a community where graduates of the program want to help out us newbies =] I did W2R2 tonight, felt really good!

[Oldfloss Administrator Graduate]

I found the same thing... and never felt that I had walked 'briskly' enough...because when Laura said that "by now your muscles are warmed up" mine never felt that they were..but, it did improve as the weeks went on... and I got to love the words.."brisk walk".

Don't worry about it.. just maybe do a few warm up exercises before you start..as Coddfish suggests!

[yamiskoi Graduate in reply to Oldfloss]

Thank you for your reply! I always do a few basic stretches before I leave the house anyway, as I didn't on my very first run and suffered with aches and pains for almost two days afterwards (oops!).

[davelinks Graduate]

Sounds like you're doing it OK, but. If you think you've not warmed up enough, walk a tad longer.

I tend to do the odd very short sprint when warming up, like when I have to cross a road, I have a thing about lingering on roads even though I've checked it's safe to cross I tend to sprint across a tad sharpish..

[yamiskoi Graduate in reply to davelinks]

Thank you! That's really good advice. There's nothing stopping me from pausing for a moment or two to extend my warm-up =]

[runswithdogs Graduate]

I'm a very slow walker and there was nothing brisk about any of my walks ( in fact, walking at the pace of a shorter colleague that runs slower than I do gave me shin splints!). It never seemed to hamper me.

[yamiskoi Graduate in reply to runswithdogs]

That's very reassuring coming from a graduate of the program! Thank you for taking the time to reply to me =] This seems like such a lovely community!

[KayFitz Graduate]

I am presuming that I should walk as if I'm in a particular hurry to get somewhere and swing my arms to help the warm up. Seems to work.

[yamiskoi Graduate in reply to KayFitz]

Thank you! I had this in mind as I did my run this evening =]

[Old_trout Graduate]

You walk as briskly as you can. What LAURA doesn't want is you stopping to bend over gasping for breath, flaking out on a park bench and therefore seizing up your muscles causing immense pain the following day, and a disinclination to do it ever again. As with everything else on the programme, the walks will get quicker and the time to catch your breath will get shorter. It's all good, you're doing well!

[yamiskoi Graduate in reply to Old_trout]

Thank you for your encouragement! Tonight was really nice actually, which I thought I'd never say about any form of exercise whatsoever. I know I'm only on week 2 but I feel very positive and reassured by everyone's kindness on here. Thanks again!! =]