Walking & running question?

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soldiergrl_101
soldiergrl_101 Posts: 2,205 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So I'm not a runner by any means. However now that I have lost 20lbs I feel like its a good time to start. I have ran 3x this week. Day 1, ten min @ 4.8mph on the treadmill, day 2 ten minutes 4.2mph, but day three I could only make it 7 minutes so I decided to do an additional ten minutes alternating each min between walking at 3.2mph and sprinting at about 6.2mph finishing up for a total of 20min.

My question is did I hurt myself by walking in between each sprint or will this help me to improve on my running in the long run. Should I strive to just run the twenty minutes straight next time or stick between the walk/sprint intervals

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  • naturenurture
    naturenurture Posts: 8 Member
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    No, you didn't do anything wrong by walking in between your runs. Run/walk intervals are an accepted training strategy and a great way to increase both the speed and distance that you are able to run.

    Since you're just getting started with running, you might want to check out one of the walk/run 5k training programs. "Couch to 5k" is a good one (google it) that a lot of people use. It starts you off with shorter intervals of running and walking, then gradually increases the amount of running and decreases the walking until you are running for 30 minutes straight.
  • wilsoje74
    wilsoje74 Posts: 1,720 Member
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    I wouldn't start out sprinting. Try starting slow and doing the couch to 5k program.
  • tlacox1
    tlacox1 Posts: 373 Member
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    I would also suggest the C25K (couch to 5K) program. If you start off straight sprinting, then you could end up with shin splits and those are painful! Start slow and build up you endurance and speed. When I run, I actually run at a slower pace than I speed walk.

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