Website WednesdaY: complete Walking

Evening scene of personal water craft, tucked in for the night after a long day of wave jumping on the lake.

THERE ARE MANY DIE-HARD FANS OF WALKING who would rather not take up other activities or sports but simply love to walk. There’s no other more convenient or accessible form of exercise. It’s also a reliable mode of transportation over short distances!
 
But, some wonder, can just walking alone as an exercise help with weight loss? What training activities contribute to a COMPLETE and SUCCESSFUL walking program? How does walking fit into an exercise plan that includes other activities?  Jessica Smith writes an article for MyFitnessPal.com “Is Just Walking Enough To Lose Weight and Get in Shape?” that addresses these issues and pumps up the excitement for those who wish to get serious about walking for fitness and weight loss as well.

She stresses that by incorporating strength, stretching, and flexibility work into your walking routine you will see greater total-body, long term gains and fewer setbacks related to overuse injuries. This is EarnedRuns philosophy for running!  Read her article and be energized. Yes, Ms Smith says, walking can complete you!

You might seriously consider walking competitively and train for a walking marathon, half marathon, or shorter distance race. The RESOURCES page and WALKERS RESOURCES page have links to walker training plans developed by Hal Higdon, the Walking Company, and PBS America's Walking (see links below).

Also NEWLY POSTED is the finalized EarnedRuns 2016 Turkey Trot with Track Day 5K Beginner Training Plan, in it's original form developed by Mario Fraioli, can be adapted to walkers. In place of running the parts of the plan that call for a "run", walkers can increase their walking pace and, over the course of their training,  build endurance for covering longer distances at higher speeds. You'll want to do this in order to participate in RUNS that welcome WALKERS and finish within the time-frame set by race organizers in  order to receive an official finish time and finisher medal.  A 15 minute mile walking pace is a good initial goal. You can use your EarnedRuns bibs to train or set up a personal walking competition.
 
RUN AND WALK HAPPY!
 
http://blog.myfitnesspal.com/just-walking-enough-lose-weight-get-shape/

EarnedRuns 2016 Turkey Trot with Track Day 5K Beginner Training Plan

EarnedRuns 2016 Turkey Trot with Track Day 5K Beginner Training Plan Track Day Schedule

Hal Higdon Walking Training Programs 5K, 10K, Half
http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51238/Fitness-Walking-Training-Program

The Waking Site™ 12 week walking plan (free)
http://www.thewalkingsite.com/12week.html

PBS America's Walking 22week marathon plan (free)
http://www.pbs.org/americaswalking/health/health22week.html