summer safety

Get Outside and Walk

That approach is a good one. "Start walking slowly before walking quickly. Then build up miles," advises Noreen Oswell, D.P.M., a board-certified podiatrist at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, who has volunteered as a physician at walkathons and marathons.

She says inactive women, who may be overweight, are especially prone to foot-related injuries from walkathons and need to prepare and use caution. "The injuries aren't like fall-and-break-your-foot," Oswell says. "It's more like overuse, heel pain, arch pain, and tendonitis. They're so common."

Training helps

Whether you're signing up for a short-distance walkathon, or thinking about tackling something longer, training is vital. You'll want to check with your health care professional first, if you're thinking of becoming more physically active than you are now. Click here to take our physical activity readiness quiz.

"You need to teach your body to exercise for the length of time you anticipate it's going to take you to do that event," says Hoeger. If you're sedentary, a 2K walkathon might take 30 minutes and a 5K might take 50 to 60 minutes. Your training routine should build to the amount of time you'll need for completion.

"Never walk the full distance as fast as you anticipate doing it in the actual walkathon," Hoeger adds. "When you do that, you're telling the body it's time to peak…it needs two to three weeks to recover from that. You want to save that for the day when you're going to participate in the event."

Hoeger recommends these training schedules:

For a 2K walkathon (4-week schedule, with 4th week ending on walkathon day):

  • Week 1: walk in 10-minute sessions, 3x day, on 4 days
  • Week 2: walk in 15-minute sessions, 2x day, on 4 days
  • Week 3: walk in 20-minute sessions, 2x day, on 4 days
  • Week 4 (when Saturday is walkathon event day): walk one 30-minute session on Monday and Wednesday; walk one 20-minute session on Tuesday and Thursday; skip Friday; participate in walkathon (30 minutes) on Saturday


For a 5K walkathon (6-week schedule, with 6th week ending on walkathon day)

Call Us: 1-877-986-9472 (toll-free)

© 2013 National Women's Health Resource Center, Inc. All rights reserved.

Reproducing content presented on this site in any form is prohibited without written permission.

We comply with the HONcode

standard for health trust

worthy information:

verify here