How far is too far to walk to work?

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  • JamBlaze
    JamBlaze Posts: 90 Member
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    danielasaur wrote: »
    Madwife2009 wrote: »
    I wouldn't walk that distance twice a day but I'd happily cycle it.

    Man, I've never been a very good cyclist, but maybe I should give that a shot too! My poor bike has been gathering dust :P

    I have never been a good cyclist either, it just doesn't come naturally to me. Having said that, I cycle to and from work at least 3 times a week, about half an hour each way. It really helps! Just don't be too tough on yourself. Don't worry about going fast, or if people overtake you... Try to enjoy the fresh air. Take some short test ride cycles near where you live, and build up from there. And buy a good cycle helmet! :)

  • danielasaur
    danielasaur Posts: 63 Member
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    JamBlaze wrote: »
    danielasaur wrote: »
    Madwife2009 wrote: »
    I wouldn't walk that distance twice a day but I'd happily cycle it.

    Man, I've never been a very good cyclist, but maybe I should give that a shot too! My poor bike has been gathering dust :P

    I have never been a good cyclist either, it just doesn't come naturally to me. Having said that, I cycle to and from work at least 3 times a week, about half an hour each way. It really helps! Just don't be too tough on yourself. Don't worry about going fast, or if people overtake you... Try to enjoy the fresh air. Take some short test ride cycles near where you live, and build up from there. And buy a good cycle helmet! :)

    I'll ride around near my house tomorrow, see if I can't get a little more comfortable biking! I'll definitely need a helmet though; cars and cyclists do not get along very well in Montreal :P
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    danielasaur wrote: »
    Madwife2009 wrote: »
    I wouldn't walk that distance twice a day but I'd happily cycle it.

    Man, I've never been a very good cyclist, but maybe I should give that a shot too! My poor bike has been gathering dust :P

    I have a 75 minute train journey. At the moment it's only then a couple of km at the other end but I used to have about 8km after getting off the train. It's about a 20 minute walk now but at the other client I used to use a folding bike. Carry on the train, and it took about half an hour at the other end to get to the office.
  • veggiecanner
    veggiecanner Posts: 137 Member
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    My problem would be I'd be soaked from sweat. When I do my walks now I get home soaked , and it's only 50F on most days. And as my metabilism gets better it gets worse.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    danielasaur wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    I'd compare the walking time to the public transit time.

    For me, I'm about 6.5 miles away (more than 10K) and it takes 45-55 minutes on public transit. I often bike (which takes less time than transit, although if I add extra miles, as I commonly do, it's more) or run (about the same or not much more, although again I often add extra miles so it takes longer) or walk part way (normally I walk about 3 miles and hop a train, although if pressed I might just walk the final mile or 1.5 miles).

    At the moment I don't put much stock in the Google Maps estimation of the walking time, which is about an hour and a half, just because I'm pretty heavy and well as short, and thus a slower walker than average! But the cycling time is about the same as the public transit time (36 min v. 33 min) so maybe I'll try that if I find that walking there isn't for me in the long run!

    Hopefully one day I'll be able to run it! I would really love to become a jogger or runner, but like I said earlier, I'm very much overweight, and running with all that extra weight is hard!!!

    I started losing in winter '14 and was still quite fat by spring/summer '14 (there's a photo of me riding a 30 mile ride in May '14 on my page, I'm about 180), that's when I started running regularly (like 3-5 miles at first, mostly not to commute) and walking a ton and riding to commute. The riding was great as I'd end up with 600 or more exercise calories without any time beyond what I'd otherwise spend to commute and it would be (mostly) fun.

    I feel the same way when I walk or run, listening to podcasts or music.
  • angf0679
    angf0679 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    I take the bus to work as it's way to far to walk (I used Google maps once, it said it would take over 4 hours to walk!) Unless it's down right down pouring rain or frigidly cold (like this past winter), I stay on the same bus all the way. (On bad weather days I get off at one stop and catch another bus that gets me within feet of my office.) I get off at a stop on a street that runs parallel to my work and walk down a side street to where my work is. It's exactly 1k from where I get off the bus to work. I do that before and after work.
  • danielasaur
    danielasaur Posts: 63 Member
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    angf0679 wrote: »
    I take the bus to work as it's way to far to walk (I used Google maps once, it said it would take over 4 hours to walk!) Unless it's down right down pouring rain or frigidly cold (like this past winter), I stay on the same bus all the way. (On bad weather days I get off at one stop and catch another bus that gets me within feet of my office.) I get off at a stop on a street that runs parallel to my work and walk down a side street to where my work is. It's exactly 1k from where I get off the bus to work. I do that before and after work.

    I would do the same, but since my job and classes are at a major university, all buses that run anywhere near it make a stop very close to it, so the only way to add more walking with transit would be to get off a few stops before! The weather is finally above 0 so I can finally go out and not die from the cold. After all, every Canadian knows that at spring time 10 degrees is officially tshirt weather :P
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    I'd say any distance that makes you late.
  • danielasaur
    danielasaur Posts: 63 Member
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    47Jacqueline wrote: »
    I'd say any distance that makes you late.

    That's some solid advice right there!
  • meritage4
    meritage4 Posts: 1,441 Member
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    I like the bike idea. It wouldn't be a long ride.

    I had a friend who used to rollerblade to work. Again that would take less than an hour.

    But meanwhile getting off a stop early is a good way to add steps.
  • pomegranatecloud
    pomegranatecloud Posts: 812 Member
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    I'd run or bike instead.
  • plantgrrl
    plantgrrl Posts: 436 Member
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    In Chicago I walked a mile to and from work everyday, it felt like nothing with podcasts and stuff to look at. Here in Lynchburg, I walked about 2.5 miles to and from work, it was a little hazardous--narrow shoulders and no sidewalks. I didn't have much choice (one car in the house and my job had odd hours), but it was good exercise. My choice would be to walk home at that distance. You can shower when you get back. Getting off a few stops early on the way in can't hurt, but being sweaty at work all day wouldn't be my first choice.
  • Dominicj569
    Dominicj569 Posts: 30 Member
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    I walked 3.6 miles to college each way (although that was to save money for beer rather than excercise, although I was super skinny and ate everything), 2.8 miles to work each way.
  • Sweet_Heresy
    Sweet_Heresy Posts: 411 Member
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    Funny story, I used to walk 5 miles to work every day, work 8 hours, and walk home. Took me about an hour 15-hour and a half. I had no choice because I got into an accident and totaled my car.

    Rain, snow, heat, cold. It sucked. I wouldn't recommend it.
  • danika2point0
    danika2point0 Posts: 197 Member
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    I would definitely second the suggestion of getting off public transport earlier OR maybe you could do just one way walking and public transport back. I cycle to-from work everyday but sometimes if it's nice or I want to work, I'll walk in and get a public bike back. Or vice versa! I would also support making sure to not wear yourself out doing too much, too fast. Another idea...if you're working in the university in a major city (I also work in one!) - I go out during my breaks and on lunch hour to run errands. You clock up a lot of steps going to the pharmacy, grocery store, and other various errands (hello H&M! okay, it's not good for your bank account but steps...). Good luck x
  • nordlead2005
    nordlead2005 Posts: 1,303 Member
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    Personally, I'd walk up to 2 miles, that would be a 30 minute walk. If you can't do it in 30 minutes you can build up to it pretty quick. At your distance though, I'd bike. I'm contemplating biking to work myself, but it is a little further than you have to go and I'd have to buy a bike, which isn't a priority at the moment.

    Anyways, it is the same reason I live 15-20 minutes from my work by car. I'd rather not waste all of my day commuting.
  • ise311
    ise311 Posts: 107 Member
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    12-13km from my place to work. Even just brisk walking to the train station, I'm already sweating. And that's an issue since I definitely do not want turning up at work in the morning drenched in sweat and stink.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
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    I fairly routinely walk 4.2 miles home from work in the summer, when the kids are out of school and don't need a ride home. . (hubby drops me off on his way to work in the morning.)
  • _kingbooble
    _kingbooble Posts: 25 Member
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    Thats how I started, got off one stop early and then that built up to 5miles quite quickly and in Summer did both ways. When I first started walked really slowly as didn't want to sweat but then as got more into it was going around 4mph..
  • liftsalltheweights
    liftsalltheweights Posts: 73 Member
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    2 hours is a long time to walk and I don't know about you but after putting in a full days work I'm exhausted and walking 2 hours home would be the last thing I'd want to consider doing.

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