When does walking become running?

alizesmom

I hate the cadence of running. It's always felt awkward to me so I walk by choice. Today I finally hit a 4 mile per hour pace and am hoping to get faster. Is there a limit to how fast a person can walk? FWIW I'm only 5 ft 1 inch.

dewd2

Walking becomes running when both feet are off the ground at once. As long as one foot is always making contact with the ground it is walking.

There's no limit on how fast you can go. I've seen power walkers that go faster than my slow jog.

middlehaitch

@alizesmom, I don't run either. And don't feel the need to.
I can average 4.2 over 10k and 4.5 over a 5k.

I don't remember working out any faster time than 4.5 over any distance, but may go slightly faster if I do intervals.

I find 4 is fast enough for a regular workout.

As you can guess I have short legs too.

I think to get much faster you may have to learn to do actual race walking (don't know the correct name for it) where you have to lock your knees and wiggle your hips a lot.

4mph is a great speed, well done.

Cheers, h.

lorrpb

Great job walkers!