Can Walking Count Toward Your Weekly Mileage During Marathon Training?

While training for the Sydney Marathon, I missed a few of my weekday runs. Of course, coaches say that no one is perfect when it comes to following any training plan, nor do we need to be, but I know how important it is to try to get as close as possible to checking off workouts. My only goal going into Sydney was to enjoy the experience, and I wanted to feel trained enough that it wouldn’t result in a total suffer-fest.

When I fretted over a missed run one evening, a friend said something that really got me thinking: “Didn’t you walk like five miles today?” I checked my Apple Health app, and indeed, I had. I actually often rack up around that total walking mileage (or more!) just living and commuting in New York City.

But is walking five miles throughout the day equivalent to running five easy miles? And on the flip side, if I walk five miles and do my five-mile easy run, is that too much? To find out the answers—and to understand how walking and running differ—I spoke to a run coach and an exercise physiologist.

How Walking and Running Differ Physiologically

“Each zone of training is trying to maximally elicit a certain adaptation,” says Jason Machowsky, RD, CSCS, a clinical exercise physiologist, registered dietitian, and strength coach who cofounded MasterMyRun, a one-on-one coaching program.

Zone 2, which is typically a brisk walk or easy run, focuses on building your aerobic capacity. Zones 3 and 4 go above that, and you start to go beyond your lactate threshold, he says. Zone 1, which is an easy walk, is more like a warmup and may not be sufficient to promote significant aerobic adaptations, he adds. (Walking in zone 2 is a more potent way to improve your aerobic capacity compared with zone 1.)

While both easy and brisk walks are still good for you, they’re not going to have the same effect on your physiology as a run—even an “easy” one.

You can’t get high-intensity exercise by walking, and that’s a big miss because you need that type of work to improve fitness: Indeed, a study published in the European Heart Journal found that moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was three times as efficient as walking alone at improving fitness.

There are also differences when it comes to form. If you’re going to run, you have to practice actually running, if for nothing more than strengthening your stride mechanics. That’s the principle of specificity: “You need to do something directly to a certain extent to get better at it,” Machowsky says. “Practice allows you to see what works best for you and improve.”

Can You Substitute Walking Miles for Running Miles?

Because running is more efficient at building the fitness you need for the marathon, Machowsky doesn’t typically advise swapping runs for walks too often. However, there are a few cases when it does make sense, such as the following:

Your Total Training Mileage Is High

Running 40-plus miles per week is different from running closer to 20 miles, Machowsky points out. If your mileage is on the higher end, swapping some of your easy runs for walks—especially if you’re feeling particularly fatigued—won’t necessarily affect your progress, he says.

In other words, four miles of walking out of 40 total miles (rather than 20) “is a much smaller percentage of your overall training volume that’s not going toward the intensity level that you want to be doing,” Machowsky says.

Your Goal Is to Conserve Energy for Quality Workouts

Another consideration is how often you’re walking instead of running. “If you’re doing it occasionally, then I think it’s totally fine, especially if you’re able to keep up with the key training runs,” says Machowsky, including your tempo runs and long runs. In fact, he says, it can actually be helpful to dial back (a.k.a. walk) an easier run if your goal is to be better prepared for a quality workout the next day.

You’re Injured—or Extra Sore

This is where my personal use case comes in! The reason I missed those training runs is because I was dealing with some right-calf tenderness that set off a pre-injury alarm bell. “If someone is dealing with an injury or is super sore, it’s never worth pushing into significant discomfort,” Machowsky says. “The risk-reward of forcing a workout and then getting injured means you’re laid up a lot longer than just taking a lower-key day or even a whole day off, or just doing some mobility work,” he says. “Consistency is what wins races versus trying to force anything too fast and getting hurt.”

So, if you’re injured and have clearance from your doctor or physical therapist—or you’re just more sore than usual after a workout—swapping an easy run for a walk could make a lot of sense, he says.

How to Substitute Walking Miles for Running Miles

“The purpose of an easier walk would be to recover a bit better and to not put as much demand on the body versus creating a functional equivalent [to running],” Machowsky says.

While there’s no hard-and-fast rule, he wouldn’t advise walking more miles than the run distance. So if you had a five-miler planned, you can sub in a five-mile walk—or less. “Some coaches may suggest doing longer duration to make up for the lower intensity, but that inherently takes care of itself because it will take longer to walk the same distance,” he says.

You can also consider a run/walk versus a straight walk to get closer to the prescribed workout, says Greg Laraia, a certified athletic trainer and run coach at Motiv in New York City.

To do this, he suggests running for five minutes and then walking for one minute for the same—or a slightly shorter—duration as your planned run. But you could also try a 1:1 formula where you run for two minutes, then walk for two minutes, he adds. “It’s just a time to let your body decompress, lower your heart rate, and reduce the training load overall,” he says.

Does Extra Walking Sabotage Your Training?

The flip side of intentionally swapping walking miles for running miles is unintentionally adding a bunch of walking miles on top of your marathon training. As I mentioned, urban living tends to have this effect.

This happens to Machowsky himself somewhat regularly: “There are some days that I’ll walk seven, eight miles unintentionally just commuting around, and that’s on top of all my mileage from running,” he says. Laraia, too, walks upward of 10,000 steps each day, and many of his clients do as well.

Whether these extra walking miles have a net positive or negative effect on your training depends on what your body is used to, both experts say.

If you’re regularly walking quite a bit on top of training, and your body’s used to it, it’ll probably have a neutral or positive impact. But if you’re not used to walking that much and suddenly start walking a dozen-plus extra miles a week on top of your running mileage, that can lead to overtraining.

If for some reason a client suddenly had to up their walking mileage during a marathon training block, Laraia would account for that time on feet, potentially notching down their running mileage a bit.

Here’s why: Runners “might not be fatigued cardiovascularly, but there’s been a mechanical load on the body and the system that may not allow them to perform their best for key sessions,” Machowsky says, adding that this can also put extra strain on joints and lead to more soreness.

While walking doesn’t put as much strain on joints as running, it’s the cumulative effect that matters, he says. Walking a ton—in addition to marathon training runs—also means you won’t be recovering as thoroughly. Over time, this could contribute to overuse injuries like tendinitis, plantar fasciitis, joint inflammation (i.e., runner’s knee), shin splints, muscle strains, and in extreme cases, stress fractures, he says.

Another example is when runners are traveling for races. When I was in Sydney, I was walking around eight or nine miles a day while sightseeing. If you’re also traveling for a race, you may experience the same thing. In this case, Laraia would advise skipping the pre-marathon shakeout run. You might not be at risk for overuse injuries from just one weekend of more walking, but you may risk starting the race fatigued or under-fueled.

How to Avoid Walking Too Much During Marathon Training

Keep Tabs

No matter what your body is used to, it’s not a bad idea to monitor walking miles in your training log. “With any sort of unforeseen demand on the body, [it’s important to] acknowledge that it’s occurred and be attuned to your body’s response,” he says.

For example, if your long run or tempo run feels significantly harder than usual, consider cutting it short or walking to finish it out. “It’s okay to occasionally take a down week or a day off based on how the body is feeling, specifically in these types of situations,” Laraia says.

A good rule of thumb is to stay on your feet for the amount of time it would have taken you to run the distance. For example, if you were going to run 10 miles in 100 minutes, you could run eight miles and then walk for 20 minutes.

Pay Attention to Nutrition

Another important factor for those walking quite a bit on top of running is nutrition. “I think one of the biggest pieces in all of this is fueling,” Laraia says. “If you are walking excessive amounts or if you’re standing all day, you are still burning more than somebody who’s just sitting at a desk,” he says. “If you’re not fueling yourself enough for all of the above, then you’re putting yourself in the red and you’re probably not going to feel as good tomorrow.”

As a loose rule of thumb for figuring out your needs, Machowsky says people burn about 80 to 100 calories per mile walked or run. “Of course, things like body size and movement efficiency play a role, and lower-intensity activities such as walking burn a lower relative percentage of calories from carbohydrates versus higher-intensity activities such as running,” he adds. But it’s a good general rule to follow when figuring out how to add in more fuel.

Similarly: “If you’re training for a marathon, you’re very active and on your feet a lot. Don’t be afraid to take a gel with you on an hour-long run,” Laraia says. “If anything, it’s going to help you for the rest of that day, and it’s also helping you train your gut for what you’re going to do on race day.”

Prioritize Recovery

Recovery, too, becomes even more critical for runners putting in those extra walking miles. “If you know you’re going to be on your feet all day and you have a hard workout planned, you should be in bed early enough to make sure you get at least seven and a half hours of sleep,” Laraia says.

Listen to Your Body

The real key to all this? “Listen to your body,” Machowsky says.

Laraia agrees: “Just being aware of how you’re feeling and listening to your body is always my piece of advice for all of my athletes,” he says. This may sound nebulous, but Laraia assures runners that it’s less complicated than it sounds. “It’s more intuitive than we give ourselves credit for.”