Tips on How to Transition from Walking to Running

Walking and running are part of many people's workout routines. If you have been walking during your workout routine and wish to transition to running, then this article is for you. This article will explore how to transition from walking to running in a workout routine. Walking is on a whole different level than running. When you walk, your feet don't pound the ground, and so you don't have as much chance of hurting your knees. This downward force on your body when running also can impact other parts of your body, such as your neck and back. When you walk, you can pick up a fast pace, but your heartrate doesn't beat as fast as when you run. You also are still considered to be in a low level exercise, as compared to running which puts you into a high cardio type of workout routine. If you are going to transition from walking to running, there are some key things you should keep in mind. Here are the things you should consider, and steps for how to make the transition.

1. Always be aware of your heartrate. You don't want your heartrate to get too high, and cause you problems. This is especially true if you are older or have had heart problems in the past. When you start running, you want to periodically check your heartrate, by using a watch and taking the pulse on your neck.

2. If you have any type of joint problems, or problems with your knees or back, this should influence your choice of where to run. For example, you may want to run on a cushioned surface that can normally be found on indoor running tracks at gyms. The pavement and roads are your worst choices. Even grass and artificial turf offer more cushioning than road surfaces.

Here are some steps for making the transition:

1. Start by walking a mile. Believe it or not, this may be difficult for some people. You want to walk the mile at a steady pace without stopping.

2. Start timing your mile. The best way to do this is to use a treadmill. This will give you your pace in miles per hour. A good walking pace to start with for a true beginner is 2 miles per hour. You can start with 3 miles per hour if you're already in relatively good shape. If you don't have a treadmill, you'll need a timer, and you'll need a way to determine how far you need to go to walk a mile. Time your mile and divide 60 by this number. For instance, if you walked a fifteen minute mile, then your pace was 60 divided by 15, which equals four miles per hour.

3. Practice the three mile per hour walk until you can do it with no problem on a consistent basis. Then, work towards a four mile per hour walk. This will be a fast paced walk. You can try a very gradual approach, where you increase very slowly over weeks. Or, you can try two walking sessions where you go to 3.5 miles per hour and then 4 miles per hour. Use what is comfortable for you. If you're not in great shape and you tire easily, you want to be more gradual with your approach.

4. Once you are comfortable with the four mile per hour pace and you can consistently walk a four mile per hour mile, you're ready to start running. The first time of running, you will warm up by walking one half mile at the four mile per hour base. Then, try running at the slowest pace you can that is still running, and continue this for about two minutes. Don't run faster than you can without running out of breath and having to stop. After about two minutes, transition back to the four mile per hour walking pace. If you are using a treadmill, the slowest running speed for most people will be about five miles per hour.

5. Your first goal is to transition from walking one mile at four miles per hour to running half of the mile to running the full mile. Do this over a few workout sessions. If you find this to be difficult, give yourself up to ten workout sessions to accomplish the task. Get to the point where you can run a full mile at a five mile per hour pace.

6. Now that you have the mile down, you're ready to increase your running pace and endurance skills. You have made the transition to running and you're ready to kick things up a notch. The best way to go about this is to slowly increase the distance you run, from one to two miles and then on to three, and to slowly increase the pace up to six or seven miles per hour.

For me, the five mile per hour pace seems like a good one. I am rather short at five foot three inches, so if you're taller, a faster pace may work for you. You have to be in pretty good shape, or get to that point, to be able to maintain anything over five or six miles per hour. I personally stay at the five mile per hour pace and increase the distance. Endurance is my goal. You may choose to increase both the distance and pace, or whichever one you choose.