The Ultra Walk – How To Turn Up The Speed

For runners, walking is…well…slow. Why walk, when you can run?

The reality is, most of us will walk at some point (or many points) during an ultrarunning event. With some subtle (or less subtle) technique changes, that sluggish walk can actually feel a bit spunky.

Over the weekend, as Patton and I were walking alongside Lisa during the Texas edition of RHTA, she still had enough energy to teach us how to increase our walking speed. 35 miles on the day and 1100+ miles into her a adventure, Lisa is still giving…amazing and inspiring.

Here is the tip she shared to speed up the ultra walk:

Hands positioned with thumbs pointing up
Exaggerate the forward arm-swing such that your hands swing up to shoulder height.
This motion will help align the upper body and engage the core.
You will sense that the core is guiding your forward movement which BAM – helps increase your ultra walking speed.

Give it a try and see if it works for you.

Another obvious but not always practiced tip is to actually incorporate some focused specificity walking/hiking into your training (maybe in the final four weeks before an ultra), to get the body ready to efficiently incorporate this type of forward movement in a race.

What other tips have you used to speed up the ultra walk?

Be active – Feel the buzz!

David – EnduranceBuzz.com

(Photo: Courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/paleontour/ / CC BY 2.0 )

About the author

David Hanenburg is the passionate dirt-lovin' creator of Endurance Buzz and has been playing in the endurance sports world since 2000 after knockin' the dust off of his Trek 950 hardtail thanks to a friend asking to go ride some local dirt. In 2007 he ran his first ultra on the trails and fell in love with the sport and its people. For more information on David's endurance sports journey, check out the About page.

2 Responses to “The Ultra Walk – How To Turn Up The Speed”

on 19 May 2010 at 1:43 pm 1Dave

Take walk breaks early….I like to run 10 minutes….walk 2 minutes right out the gate….and I train as such…but then again….I am slow and steady…

on 20 May 2010 at 3:32 pm 2David Hanenburg

Dave – Thanks for sharing…we are talking about running without the 35 pound pack.