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  1. #1

    Default How fast can you walk

    Anyone ever try speed/race walking?

    I’ve been trying it on my treadmill and it’s tough; I can get my HR just as high as when jogging. But what makes it hard is that it just feels unnatural, very hard to walk fast (as fast as you can) and not be tempted to start jogging. The typical non-professional race at between 8 – 16 minutes per mile, with most in the 11 – 13 minute-per-mile range.

    I’ve looked up some stats and was surprised at how fast some can walk.

    I don’t know if these records still stand, but it gives you an idea:


    • Denis Gennadyevich Nizhegorodov (Russian race walker and current world record holder in the 50 km (31 miles) racewalk, with a time of 3:34:14.

    • On September 29, 2007 Kanaykin set a new world record for the 20 km (12.4 miles) race walk. He walked a time of 1 hour, 17 minutes, 16 seconds.

    • The men's American indoor record for race walking a mile is 5 minutes and 38 seconds.

    • In setting the men's world racewalking record for 50 kilometers (31 miles), the record holder averaged walking faster than 7:08 minutes per mile for over 31 miles. At that pace one could complete a marathon in just over 3 hrs.

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    Last year on an inclined treadmill while taking a timed stress test, I topped out at just over 5 MPH before I decided to run instead.

    I was surprised I could walk that fast on a treadmill while hooked up to a bunch of equipment, can't imagine someone walking at the faster rates quoted above and would like to see it.

    I've wondered what the upper limits might be and expected they far exceed anything I've ever done. Thanks for posting the information.

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    Registered User Pacific Tortuga's Avatar
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    How fast can you walk ?

    Leaving NOC, slow and steady, 1 & 1/2 miles per

    Heading into Damascus, 4 to 5 miles per

    Going to a AYCE that closes in a half hour or Dot's, what's the fastest without breaking into a gallop ?

    Coming from one with, 'Tortuga' in the name, would be a good indicator too.

  4. #4

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    How fast can you walk?

    4.72 mph sustained on level established trail toting a 25 lb pack.

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    Considerably faster than I'm willing to.
    "It's fun to have fun, but you have to know how." ---Dr. Seuss

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    Getting out as much as I can..which is never enough. :) Mags's Avatar
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    I walk fast enough to get to the AYCE Indian food buffet after a long day of hiking.

    Saag never tastes so good....
    Paul "Mags" Magnanti
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    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    The typical non-professional race at between 8 – 16 minutes per mile, with most in the 11 – 13 minute-per-mile range.
    Minutes per mile or MPH? I think you might have flipped things around.

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    ME => GA 19AT3 rickb's Avatar
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    My bad. That makes sense for speed walking on a track. 7.5 MPH would be fast!

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    Super Moderator Marta's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by john gault View Post
    ...The typical non-professional race at between 8 – 16 minutes per mile, with most in the 11 – 13 minute-per-mile range.


    • Denis Gennadyevich Nizhegorodov (Russian race walker and current world record holder in the 50 km (31 miles) racewalk, with a time of 3:34:14.
    • In setting the men's world racewalking record for 50 kilometers (31 miles), the record holder averaged walking faster than 7:08 minutes per mile for over 31 miles. At that pace one could complete a marathon in just over 3 hrs.
    Quote Originally Posted by rickb View Post
    Minutes per mile or MPH? I think you might have flipped things around.
    No, I think he's talking minutes per mile. Nizhegorodov walked 6.9 minutes per mile in his 50k record, or 8.9 mph.

    A fairly rapid, but normal, walk around the neighborhood would net me about 4 miles in an hour, which turns into 4 mph, or 15 minutes per mile.
    If not NOW, then WHEN?

    ME>GA 2006
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    Instagram hiking photos: five.leafed.clover

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    It depends on what's chasing me

    With out a "heavy" pack (day hiking) i can clock around 4.5mph on decent ground.
    Take almost nothing I say seriously--if it seems to make no sense what so ever it's probably meant as a joke....but do treat your water!

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    Registered User John B's Avatar
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    "Running on the Sun," which is a documentary about the Badwater Ultramarathon, focuses on several of the participants, one of whom (Adam Bookspan) is a speed walker. He pointed out that he is quite competitive with runners in ultras -- the longer the race, the more competitive he is. While I don't know of any he's won, still he's ranked near the top in many. For those who have mastered the technique, they can certainly fly.

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    I'm not sure what's worse: AYCE Indian food or the thread I just read about spam.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mags View Post
    I walk fast enough to get to the AYCE Indian food buffet after a long day of hiking.

    Saag never tastes so good....
    Pain is a by-product of a good time.

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    Registered User ShelterLeopard's Avatar
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    Hmmm- how fast can I walk? That all depends... On a group hike in the hundred mile wilderness, (as a somewhat noveau hiker) I did about 2 miles per hour, but when it was time for our midpoint resupply, my friend and I did six miles in 1 hour, 5 minutes. But, I was unusually energized, hungry, and had no food in my pack to weigh me down. We booked it. But, my pack was still heavy.

    So I was durned proud of that!

    Of course, after gorging and filling our packs with food, we might have average 1.5 miles and hour. Might.

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    Registered User ShelterLeopard's Avatar
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    "averaged", not might have average.

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    Getting out as much as I can..which is never enough. :) Mags's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fredmugs View Post
    I'm not sure what's worse: AYCE Indian food or the thread I just read about spam.

    I see you live in the mid-West. May explain why you like boring food.
    Paul "Mags" Magnanti
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    The true harvest of my life is intangible...a little stardust caught,a portion of the rainbow I have clutched -Thoreau

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    Registered User A-Train's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fredmugs View Post
    I'm not sure what's worse: AYCE Indian food or the thread I just read about spam.
    If you ever find yourself in Burlington VT on a Sunday go directly to Shalimar of India. You can thank me later
    Anything's within walking distance if you've got the time.
    GA-ME 03, LT 04/06, PCT 07'

  17. #17
    avatar= bushwhackin' mount kancamagus nh 5-8-04 neighbor dave's Avatar
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    tandori, yum!

  18. #18

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    I’ve noticed that as I practice speed walking other muscles in my body are being stressed like never before. Which got me thinking that if I continue to speed walk will that improve my running time? In the same way that you strengthen back muscles if you want to increase the amount of weight you can bench press. Which is kind of counter-intuitive, because when you bench press you feel it primarily in the triceps and chest muscles.

    When I run I feel it primarily in the quads, but after walking (at an uncomfortable pace), I feel it in the calves (which is strange because I got really strong calves from running on soft sand). However, mostly I feel it in the back of the legs, since I’m kind of pulling my body forward, vice bouncing forward.

    Too soon to tell, but I can say now that there’s a world of difference between walking as a form of exercise, vice speed walking. The two activities seem to be completely unrelated and I still struggle with maintaining a fast walk without switching to a comfortable jog -- it just seems so natural to start jogging.

    Fast walking just seems to be so unnatural. By fast I mean much faster than your natural pace, but not so fast as to get your HR near redline and maintain that for a good time.

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    About 5mph before I really need to break into a run.

    Its fun to play around with a heart-rate monitor over a measured distance, to compare the effort of walking and running at different speeds. Over smooth level ground there seems to be a gap in the transition from walking to running, where both walking and running are inefficient. For me, at my current weight, it is somewhere between 10 and 13 minutes per mile. I am not sure if weight matters so much as height. Where weight does matter is how this transition gap translates to the duration of a run/walk. At 200 pounds I can maintain 10 minutes per mile for maybe 15/20 miles, flat sooth ground. On trails it would be considerably less. So depending on my body weight, plus stuff carried, and terrain, there is a distance, of up to say 2 hours, where I might be able to run continuously, and another distance, say beyond 10 hours, where I might have to do it all walking, and so in between I should, in theory, be able to mix it up a little.

    For what its worth, I use my heart rate monitor as follows:
    Energy expenditure = (MaxHR - HR) / ((MaxHR - RestingHR)

    It really only applies to speeds slower than your 12 minute pace.
    Also, it gets thrown off if you do some hard running, or hard hills, then slow down.
    Also, beyond an hour of slow running, of 2 hours of walking, the HR creeps up some.
    Still, I think its fairly accurate for a steady 30-60 minute walk or run over flat ground.

  20. #20
    Registered User Graywolf's Avatar
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    I only walk as fast as my legs will go, and run only as fast as my legs will go, no faster, no slower...

    But since I really do not run that much, my walking speed averages 4 miles an hour...

    If that helps...

    Graywolf
    "So what if theres a mountain, get over it!!!" - Graywolf, 2010

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