10km 6 days a week?

is this a good idea for me to do this much? I would like to give it a go. I’d be mostly walking it not running.

 

Maybe try the couch to 5k programme first.

 

If you're mostly walking you should be fine once your feet and legs adjust. That should take maybe a week or two.

You can cover 1 mile in about 2,000 steps (that's the average). You're looking to do about 13,000 steps a day. I recently started keeping track of my walking with 10,000 step goal to start off slow, which is the daily recommend level of physical activity for health benefits. I'm going from sitting on my butt all day for months to putting an effort into walking that amount, and I reach/surpass it easy enough.

I can tell you the biggest thing for me doing this, which really isn't that big a deal or something that hinders my efforts, is my feet being super stiff at the end of walks and when I wake up. It goes away after about 1/4 a mile of walking. If your feet aren't used to that amount of effort you might suffer blisters at the start as well. Slap some mole skin or a bandaid on it depending on the size and you'll do just fine powering through.

If you're overweight and out of shape I wouldn't recommend jogging for a couple weeks to give your feet time to adjust and legs to strengthen. It'll be really tough on the joints if you just try to jump into running 2-5k every day to meet your goals. With a 10 klick distance goal, you're looking at about 2 hours of walking every day at an average pace.

 

Not sure that's congruent towards helping with a walking goal? Isn't that program about how to get up to running about a 3 mile distance?

 

I tried that program but it hurts my knees after a week or so of each level.

 

How much do you run currently?
e.g how many miles a week, how many times, and what pace avg per mile.

Also how long have you been running at that volume for?

At a very general level someone could run 10km a day 6 days a week:
someone who only runs 5km once a week to go to that volume is not a good plan.

for someone who is running 30km a week, 3x 10km a week, it can be a step up.

Running should be progressive if you want to build up volume.

The general rule is do not go up more than 10% of mileage a week.

If you're knees are hurting after the coach to 5k program, it is worth assessing what else is involved in your run training, and what is causing the knee pain, as any plan could exacerbate this further without getting to the cause of this.

It could be related to your running gate, the shoes you were, other training you do, how much you weigh, the running surface type.

 

I really like they way @Ero-Sennin has equated the distance to a step count - As you are only looking to up your average daily walking distance, this should offer a good guide. (13,000 steps sounds about right for 10km)

Do you encounter much uphill/downhill/off-road terrain from day to day, when out and about? If the answer is yes, then I'd suggest starting at a much lower distance, and working your way up to the full distance.

Just out of curiosity, do you know how many steps/KM you already walk on any given day?

Travess

 

Ah, that's a good point. The terrain I've done serious walking in involve the Washington DC area, and Florida. Both are relatively flat. 10,000 steps would be a whole different story in significantly mountainous terrain.

 

I assumed he was working towards running, by starting to walk mostly and run a little.

If he's having problems walking/running 5k, walking/running 10k has double the amount of steps.

 

Ah, it looks like you focused on the "mostly walking" part and me at 2 am in the morning only read the "not running" part. whoops.

 

When I do the C25K app I go hard and I can feel it wreck my knees. But I’ve done 10k walking 3x a week before no worries.

 

Is that due to running/walking volume, excess weight, Knee weakness, or footwear/choice of route?

 

Maybe don't go so hard, and let your leg muscles develop to the new stimulus.

 

Probably my weight.

 

Depending on how heavy you are, it could be an unfortunate reality that running will always be painful/difficult, and probably quite bad for you joints. I know there are guys I work with who weigh 100+ kilos and for them running is always a killer on the knees and ankles. To compensate they just do a lot of cycling, work on eliptical/cross-trainer machines, and swimming, and when they have to run they just tough it out.

Running isn't the be-all-end-all of cardio. If you're really set on it, it could be a good idea to try and lose some weight first. Also, training leg exercises in the gym like squats, lunges, etc, all help to provide more support for the joints and will lessen any impact on them.

I certainly wouldn't advise jumping straight in to 10k every day, even if it is only walking. Safer to build up gradually.

 

Have you tried rowing or cycling?

 

Yes I do some cycling as well. But only once or twice a week.

 

You should definitely give Non-impactive exercises, such as these, serious consideration @AndrewTheAndroid, given the knee/weight issues you've highlighted above.

Travess