There's nothing sadder than the spectacle of an injured runner--chronic hamstring strain, in my case--trying to make do with regular walks. Nevertheless, that's where I am. I haven't run a step in two months. I have hopes that ART, recently begun again after a break for other (failed) healing modalities, may bring me back, but until then, it's about.....walking!
My baseline morning walk is 3 miles, completed in 46-49 minutes, at a pace ranging from 16:20/mile on the slow end to 15:09/mile on the fast end. That's all on sidewalks. Did 4.25 miles this morning on varied terrain in 69 minutes--just under 16:20 pace. No aches or pains. So I can do this, and it is keeping me marginally sane. All my walking is done with relatively unmodified "regular" walking technique: the way you would stride quickly across a parking lot, but without any exaggerated swishy hip movements or arm swings. Just regular armswing.
But this has me wondering what serious pedestrian racers consider training paces and recovery paces. I met a woman in NYC several weeks ago, a race walker, and she said that she averaged about 13-minute miles.
It feels to me as though the fastest unmodified walk I can do is about 14:45 pace. Anything beyond that would require modifications that would immediately morph me from "somebody out for a brisk morning walk" to "race walker in training," with the hip-thing in full flower. Or at least that's what it feels like to me.
If you're a runner who has been forced by injury into making do with walking, and if you've explored this Dark Web of training-paces-to-make-a-serious-runner-weep, please weigh in. Please weigh in if you're a competitive race walker, too. What range of training paces do you use? And what's your race pace at, say, 5K or 10K. I'm just curious.