Walking versus Running: How much Time do you Have?

 By Leehe Lev,
Photos by Natasha Gill and Leehe Lev
In January 2007, I quit running. People often find it an odd thing for a personal trainer to give up running. Often people assume that since I look fit that I must be a runner. Runners have a hard time understanding why I quit.
Quitting running wasn’t an easy thing to do. There are many benefits to running that made it hard to quit. It’s something that can be done anywhere. It’s a great cardiovascular endurance builder. It burns lots of calories and it produces the best endorphins high out of most exercises out there. For years I did it regularly for those very reasons but for days afterwards I’d have joint and back pain. I tried different shoes, different therapies, and I even had a runner check my form. On January 2007 after a beautiful, sunny January 1st run that ended in three days of back pain, I said it was quits.

What I did instead was double the time I spent running by walking. At first I would look in envy as runners past by me. But as time progressed, I started realizing how much more I loved walking. Just as running, it provided me with cardiovascular endurance, and I could do it anywhere/anytime. The one draw back was the added time. Mostly I enjoy the extra time because there’s much more of a connection with my surroundings as I walk. When I was running I was focused more on my internal surroundings. Within a year, I would look at the runner’s passing me and notice how much they were missing out. Most of them in tune with the thoughts in their head rather then the surroundings they were missing out on discovering. On Christmas day I went with a friend who is an avid gym goer for a hike along the lake. His concern was that the hike wouldn’t replace the workout he was missing. After we walked for three hours, he made the discovery that the walk was quite the workout! He was even more thrilled when he had found out the low intensity fat burning theory I explained to him.

I wasn’t trying to change his workout routine as I recommend variety. Don’t be afraid to slow down and lengthen a workout from time to time. You may discover something new you had the time to notice.

Leehe is the founder of Whole Self Fitness. She is a certified Personal Trainer and Nutrition and Wellness Coach. She teaches Cooking for Diabetes Prevention and Management classes at Whole Foods Market– Yorkville. (click here for class dates) Whole Self Fitness offers on-site functional strength training programs for all abilities and ages.  Whole Self Fitness also holds wellness workshops for corporate and non-profit organizations.