You Don't Have To Be A Runner!!!!!

[windwalker]

I was a runner for most of my adult life. Then I stopped after retiring from the Air Force in 1994. At the time I was running 7 min miles for a 10K and just under 7 min miles for a 5K. I also had heel spurs on both feet. I wasn't a warrior anymore so super fitness was no longer a requirement of the job.

When I turned 50 in 2001 I had become very very out of shape and decided it was time to get my act together again. I started walking in the mall in the mornings and graduated to walking outside as the weather got pretty. After a year of walking I felt I was ready to run again.

I ran for about 2 years getting better and better all the time till I was racing at an 8 min pace again. Then While on a training run I got a small tear in my left achillies going down a steep hill to fast. I let it heal, did PT and tried to run again. For over a year I woud be off and on run slowly for a few days and then need days to rest my achillies before I could do more slow running. Every race was worse than the last.

Finally after a 5k on a grass country country course, in lots of pain, I decided to switch to walking.

I was self concious at first about walking, I was a runner and walking was for whusses. The unusual technique that a fast walker (racewalker) uses felt stiff and weird. As I got more into it though and my walking muscles got stronger I started feeling better. Other fast walkers helped me refine my technique with tips like keeping my arm swing more to the back.

I've been a walker now for a couple of years and find it just as satisfying as running used to be. The difference is that I can do this without pain. I had problems with my achillies again after the Goofy but I believe that was because I didn't stretch regularly.

This post is for every "RUNNER" who is like I was and running with pain. If you have knee problems or any concerns that make running painful give walking a try, walkers are athletes just like runners. Walking is a sport all it's own and one that is being more and more accepted as an alturnative for people who find running doesn't work for them.

Walking Panda

 

[princessrunner]

Dave, what truly amazes me is that you fast walkers pass us slow runners during races!!!! What an inspiration you are for us all!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SamSam]

Dave, thank you for sharing your story. It really helps us 'wanna be' runners realize it is perfectly okay to be a walker.

 

[monte]

Dave I saw you walking during the marathon and you're a speed demon! I'm a walker, always have been, but I am trying to increase my speed so that during the next marathon I can catch up to you and chat.

 

[windwalker]

Monte, I look forward to you joining us in our races. You will get there quickly if you keep improving like you have.

SamSam yes it's ok to be a walker without having to make the transition to running.

A lot of people look at walking as just a step in the road to be a runner. That is fine to think that, since the walking will build and stregthen the running muscles so your chance of being injured are much less. A walker turned runner has a better chance of success than someone who just starts running from a non exercise lifestyle.

You hear all the time about people who go from couch to 5K or couch to marathon as a runner. What you don't hear about are the thousands and thousands of out of shape people who never made it because "running" is so easy to do if you follow this or that training plan.

Please don't think I'm anti running I'm not I wish I had the ability to do both and compete both as a runner and a walker. I just want to be a small voice from the dark that says it's ok to be a walker, it doesn't have to be a bridge to running. I think walking is going to be the sport of this Mellinium.

Walking and running are different sports, and just as there are fast runners and slower runners, there are faster and slower walkers. Most of us on here are endurance athletes. We have athletes like Robert who has blazed a trail of ULTRAs, for a lot of us to follow, as a walker.

Walker Panda

 

[ultramickeymouse]

Yes, we are all athletes

They didn't give us a different colored medal for walking the Goofy the last 3 years!

 

[windwalker]

Yes, we are all athletes

They didn't give us a different colored medal for walking the Goofy the last 3 years!

Yep, the victory beer after it's over is just as sweet.

Heck we not only went the distance in the required time but we did it under pretty brutal conditions.

Walking Panda

 

[bubba73]

Thanks Dave! I appreciate that.


Bryan

 

[escape]

Hey! I'm all for that victory beer! LR marathon did a good job in that department.

What you don't hear about are the thousands and thousands of out of shape people who never made it because "running" is so easy to do if you follow this or that training plan.

You are absolutely right and I'm proof of that. For years I never wanted to do a 5k because I couldn't run. Well, at first I could run to the end of my driveway which is about 2 car lengths but that was it. And, I still can't run more than a minute or two at a time now. Had it not been for the DIS boards, I might not have known that you can walk at these events and therefore, I never would have partipated in anything.

 

[windwalker]

Hey! I'm all for that victory beer! LR marathon did a good job in that department.



You are absolutely right and I'm proof of that. For years I never wanted to do a 5k because I couldn't run. Well, at first I could run to the end of my driveway which is about 2 car lengths but that was it. And, I still can't run more than a minute or two at a time now. Had it not been for the DIS boards, I might not have known that you can walk at these events and therefore, I never would have partipated in anything.

Now you are wonderfully strong and fast. I've seen you walk Susie, you can really move lady.

Walking Panda