How Long To Walk A Marathon

While walking a marathon is not easy, it is far less taxing on the body than running one. If you’ve always wanted to run the 26.2 mile distance but aren’t a lover of running, marathon walking might be a good option.

While walking a marathon is not as taxing as running one, it is still necessary to devote yourself to proper training in order to achieve this goal. So, learn what the experts say about how long to walk a marathon based on your goal time, training and fitness level.

With a reliable average walking pace in hand, the next logical step is to do some basic math: divide 26 (the total miles) by 3.1. (the average amount of miles a person covers in one hour of walking). This math shows that walking 26 miles at a constant pace and speed would take the “typical” person around 8.39 hours (about 8 hours and 23.4 minutes).

If you want to be more precise, a marathon is 26.2188 miles long, which is 8.46 hours or 8 hours and 27.6 minutes.

Of course, not everyone walks at that fast of a pace. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) recommends a 3 mph average walking speed, with 2 mph being “casual,” 3.5 mph being “brisk,” 4 mph being “extremely brisk,” and 5 mph being “rapid” (or what you might call power walking). With these speeds in mind, consider how a 26-mile walk may be broken down in terms of time while keeping running pace calculator in the mind :

• 13 hours for 26 miles at 2 mph
• 7 hours and 25.2 minutes for 26 miles at 3.5 mph
• 6 hours and 30 minutes for 26 miles at 4 mph
• 5 hours and 12 minutes for 26 miles at 5 mph

The importance of training cannot be stressed if you expect to walk a 26-mile marathon. Fortunately, Walk the Walk Worldwide, a UK charity that has been organising walking marathons to raise money for breast cancer research since 1996, has chimed in with a comprehensive training schedule.

The following is the 12-week walking marathon calendar recommended by the organization to answer to how long to walk a marathon which alternates walking days with relaxing or “other physical activity” days:

Week 1: Walk three days a week for three miles at a steady pace. For the last four, relax and stretch.

Week 2: For three days this week, walk four miles at a steady pace. For the last four, relax and stretch.

Week 3: Walk 5 miles at a steady speed one day, 4 miles at a faster rate the next two days, and 6 miles at a steady pace the third day. Relax and stretch for two days; on the third day, engage in any other physical exercise (for around 30 minutes).

Week 4: On two days of the week, walk 5 miles at a faster speed and 8 miles at a moderate pace. For two days, relax and stretch. On the other two, engage in any other physical activity.

Week 5: Walk 5 miles at a faster speed one day, 4 miles at a faster pace the next day, and 10 miles the following day. For two days, relax and stretch. For two days, engage in any other form of physical exercise.

Week 6: Walk 4 miles at a faster pace one day, 6 miles with intervals of increasing effort the next, and 12 miles the following day. For two days, relax and stretch. For two days, engage in any other form of physical exercise.

Week 7: Walk 6 miles at a fast pace one day and 6 miles with intervals the next. For three days, relax and stretch. For two days, engage in any other form of physical exercise.

Week 8: Speed walk 6 miles one day, 6 miles with intervals the next, 14 miles the next day, and 16 miles the following day. For three days, relax and stretch.

Week 9: On two days, speed walk 6 miles and on another, speed walk 7 miles. For two days, relax and stretch. For two days, engage in any other form of physical exercise.

Week 10: On two days, speed walks 7 miles and on one day, speed walk 16 miles. For three days, relax and stretch. On one day, engage in any other form of physical activity.

Week 11: On two days, speed walks 5 miles and on one day, speed walk 20 kilometres. For three days, relax and stretch. On one day, engage in any other form of physical activity.

Week 12: (marathon week): Speed walk three miles on two days and five miles on one day. Three days of stretching and relaxation (including the day before the marathon).

Before walking, the American Heart Association suggests stretching the inner thighs, calves, chest, hamstrings, and hip flexors for around five minutes. Wall pushes, palm touches, shoulder rolls, and toe touches appear to be particularly useful.

Depending on your existing fitness regimen, training to walk a marathon may be a logical next step or a completely new challenge. These guidelines will help you develop a marathon walking training plan that will set you up for success, no matter where you are today.

Although increasing walking distance is the primary aim of marathon training, you’ll also want to enhance your general fitness.

Include some type of cross training or strength training in your workout routine. The more cardiovascular fitness and muscle you have, the simpler it will be to walk a marathon. Incorporate various kinds of aerobics, weight lifting, yoga, and other exercises.

Although you won’t want to run 26.2 miles before your marathon, converting one of your longer training walks into a trial run can help you prepare for race day.

Setting up a trial run during training will allow you to test your clothing, equipment, nutrition plan, and other factors so that you may make adjustments before the big day.

You’ll undoubtedly have some aches and pains when you increase your walking miles throughout training. You may experience some discomfort as a result of your increased activity level, or you may notice localized tightness or muscle imbalances.

If you get aches and pains when exercising, make sure you address them appropriately so you don’t get hurt. Take some time to rest, stretch, and ice any sore spots. Taking a few days off while training won’t affect your overall aim but being hurt two days before the marathon will.

If you’re planning on walking a marathon, you should be considerate of people who are running around you. While marathon walking is totally allowed, if you’re not careful, you can easily get in the path of the runners on the route.

When walking a marathon, there are a few common politeness standards to keep in mind.

• Start from the far end of the starting corral.
• On the course, stay to the right.
• When possible, avoid walking in big groups.
• Encourage individuals around you by smiling, waving, and encouraging them.

To complete a marathon in seven hours, you must walk at a pace of 16:00 minutes per mile / 9:57 minutes per kilometre. It takes a lot of effort to walk a 7-hour marathon. At least once a week, ideally twice a week, you should include some speed work in your weekly workout. You may employ a variety of speed exercises to help you become a quicker walker.

Hill Repeats: Find a good-sized hill with an average inclination for hill repeats (not too steep). briskly walk up the hill and then briskly walk back down the hill For each interval session, repeat this 8-16 times. Begin with 8 repetitions and gradually increase by 2 each week.

Walk/Brisk Intervals: They are a type of speed work that you may do while walking. You may practise these on their own or include them into each walking training session. Instead of walking at a steady rate, you’ll alter your speed by a time interval, as seen in the example below:

Workouts on the Treadmill: You may use a treadmill to modify your interval speeds for you automatically. They all offer an interval training mode where you can choose how quickly you want to walk on the slow and fast sides.

Intervals and repetitions to increase/decrease intensity:

Repeat until you’ve completed your daily needed miles/kilometers by walking for 2 minutes, then brisk walking for 2 minutes. You may play around with the figures. If 2 minutes of walking/brisk walking is too easy, try 3 or 4 minutes. So you could go for a four-minute stroll, a vigorous four-minute walk. You could also just shorten the easy walking time interval to make a training session look like this. 30 seconds of walking, 5 minutes of vigorous walking you’ll have to experiment to determine what works best for you. Listen to your body, and if you start to become out of breath, slow down and alter your timings accordingly. This will surely help you in answering of how to run a faster marathon.

It’s advisable to train for a marathon if you’re intending on walking one. There’s simply too much that may go wrong while completing 26.2 kilometres to leave it to chance. However, walking a marathon may be an incredible experience regardless of how long to walk a marathon! Start walking towards the finish line once you’ve completed some training.