From rmg3@access4.digex.net Fri Mar 27 12:25:00 EST 1998

In article <6ffleb$90f$1@master.pantheon.it>,
Victor  wrote:
>Posted to rec.running & misc.fitness.walking
>I'm a 48 year-old newbie of this NG and willing to train regularly and
>moderately 3 times a week for fitness.
> I wonder if there is anyone out there able to explain to me:
>Why I should run?
>Why I shouldn't (or better why should I walk)?
>To put it in a nutshell I'm asking the two "opponents" NG to state their
>position about the advantages of running and walking.

  ... which is odd as rec.running people regularly recommend that 
people (at least) start by walking.  

  If you're in it for fitness, then your goal is 20-30 minutes of aerobic
exercise 3-4 times/week.  Aerobic exercise needs a heart rate significantly
elevated from the usual resting rates, precise values vary by age and
person so check with your doctor on value.  If you can reach aerobic
range by walking, then you should walk.  It is far less jarring to
your system so much less likely to give overstrain/shock problems.
This is especially important if you're 30 years out from the last time
you were in shape.

  _After_ you're able to walk the 20-30 minutes briskly and aerobically,
and _after_ you've worked out the kinks in your muscles/joints as they
become used to this notion of having to work for the first time in N
years, _then_ you might think about including some running.  If you're
still interested in doing so, then there's plenty of advice available on
going from walking to running in rec.running, from people going anywhere
>from  6 minutes/mile in a race to about 12 minutes/mile in a race.  

  Walking is better than jogging for me in terms of experiencing the 
surroundings.  I have plenty of time to 'smell the roses' as I'm walking 
around.  While jogging, I don't take that kind of time (usually, though 
I did detour for the Greenbelt beaver).  And in running I probably 
wouldn't have noticed the beaver at all.  Jogging and running are more
experiences on their own -- the glorious fatigue in the run, the
feeling of the muscles realizing that they _can_ do this for so 
long (or so fast), ...
 
  For fitness, pick either at the end but start with walking.  For
the aesthetics, pick either.

  And before starting, do check with a doctor.

-- 
Robert Grumbine rmg3@access.digex.net http://www.access.digex.net/~rmg3/
Sagredo (Galileo Galilei) "You present these recondite matters with too much 
evidence and ease; this great facility makes them less appreciated than they 
would be had they been presented in a more abstruse manner." Two New Sciences