Can You Still Call Yourself a Runner, If You Walk During Your Runs??

By the end of this video, you’ll be totally fine walking during your runs AND still fine calling yourself a runner! 

Walking Has a Bad Reputation… and I’m Here to Change That!

Are you considered ‘a real runner’ if you walk during your runs? For some reason, walking has a bad reputation for those who want to be ‘runners’. I’ve known people who actually stop their Garmin watches when they take walk breaks. I’ve also known people who say they label people who walk, ‘not real runners.’ But, you know what??? Excuse my french, but that’s bull%&*!!  

First of all, I’m not going to win the race, okay? So, for me, personally, it really doesn’t matter when I get to the finish line, if I have no goals to have a personal record at a race. I’m not going to win the race or get a special medal for not walking, so honestly it’s just an easy decision for me. Now, unless I’m trying to have a personal record at an event, or I am running a race for speed, which is a whole different situation. 

But honestly, who cares if I walk or if I’m running? It doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter, so just get that out of your head right now and know that it’s totally okay to walk sometimes. Sure, I might get there a little faster if I run (lol or maybe not!), but it really doesn’t matter in the long run. Actually,  there’s a method called ‘The Galloway Method’ that is called ‘a run/walk system’ and I absolutely love that system! I do things a little bit differently, but they’re actually planned interval walks in the middle of your run, and you’ll see different types of times that you would do this. So maybe you run for 30 seconds and then you walk for 30 seconds, but they’re basically timed intervals and it’s actually a great way to do a run. I don’t personally use The Galloway Method, because I’m a Chi Runner and a Chi Walker. The way that I go about doing it is I do it strictly by body-sensing. For example, I’ll be in the middle of my run and, if I start thinking that I might want to walk, then what I might do is to go through a couple of form focuses to see if I really need to walk. Maybe I’ll slow my run down just a little bit more, but IF I decide I need to take a walk, then I’ll take a little walk break. I always say you know I stop running when I’m tired or whenever I feel like I need to stop. And then when I feel guilty from walking too long or too far, then I just start running again. In this way, I try to keep those walk breaks short, for sure, but basically, that’s how I do it.  As soon as my heart rate comes back to normal, or as soon as I maybe see the pole that I said I was going to start running again – I’ll do that sometimes… I’ll look ahead and I’ll say, “Okay. I’m going to start running again at that pole,” and so I gave myself a quick break between here and there. 

Another reason why I love putting walk breaks in the middle of my run is just because it feels good! It just feels easier on my body. Running does have a high injury rate (of course, if you’re a Chi Runner or a Chi Walker, your chances of getting injured are going to be way less 😉😁 ), so I just like to include the walking in there. 

I love walking! It feels good to walk, so why would I NOT just choose to walk a little bit in the middle of my runs?? 

Another reason why you might decide to walk (and maybe even walk MORE than running in your runs) is maybe you’re coming back from an injury. Maybe you’re starting back running again. Maybe you’re a beginner runner and it takes a while to get used to that aerobic capacity? So just go ahead and just say that you’re going to walk during your runs. It’s OK! It really is, I swear! Sometimes, planning ahead to walk for a bit really helps me look forward to that little walk that I’m gonna take, so it’s just something that’s  gonna make me feel good. I might be in the middle of my run doing intervals or whatever, and I decide to take little walk breaks. I really just gives me something to look forward to. 

Walking also changes things up a little bit, right? I’m an ultra runner, so honestly, there’s no way that I would run an entire ultra WITHOUT walking part of it! I very rarely even run 5Ks without some walking. It just depends on what works for you, but, for me, taking quick walking breaks breaks up the monotony a bit for me. 

I’m on the trail a lot, so there are definitely times during during my run where, maybe I’m going up a hill, so if I decide that it’s easier for me to Chi Hike really fast up the hill (which might even be literally faster than me running up the hill! lol), I’ll choose to do that instead. It’s definitely necessary to add walk breaks the longer you go! I find that it’s a great way for me to better manage my energy. I don’t want to get to the finish line puking and uncomfortable. I want to get to the finish line feeling super good and still having some energy left, so maybe now I can have that beer at the beer garden. 🍻🍺🍻  

Another great reason is because, when you’re walking, you’re actually building your aerobic capacity! There’s a lot of evidence that shows when you’re in that Zone 2 or Zone 1 in your aerobic capacity, you’ll actually lose more weight, since you burn more body fat that way. Now there are a lot of other things that play into that, so I’m just listing that as one potential reason. Another thing for me is that I do also just like to bring my heart rate down once in a while and walking during a run is a great way for me to do that. 

Honestly, walking just makes you a better runner. It really does! I don’t know why it has such a bad reputation and common misconception that walking is not for runners, but, hey, take it from me……

I’m an ultra runner… I’m a coach… Walking… is totally… OK.