The clock had not yet struck 2 p.m. in Harlem, and my daily step count was higher than it’d been in months. My eyelids were heavy, my hips were creaking in protest, and my legs were no longer useful. And there were still ten miles to go.
Just a few hours ago, I was giddy at the prospect of walking the entire 32-mile perimeter of Manhattan in one day via The Great Saunter route. (Shorewalkers, a local non-profit, hosts the Saunter on the first Saturday of May each year to raise money for promoting and preserving the city’s waterfront.)
Though I’d missed the registration deadline, the opportunity to spend the entire day outside exploring new parts of my city was too tempting to pass up. So, I decided to follow the route on my own schedule and rope a friend into doing it with me. We chose a mutually convenient place to meet up—a Starbucks near the southern tip of the island—and took our first steps into the dewy spring morning.
We were both feeling confident about our fitness levels heading into the walkabout. My friend was fresh off thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, and I’d been running about 30 miles a week in preparation for the New York City Marathon in the fall. Equipped with coffee and a can-do attitude, I figured, I run all the time—how hard can a long walk be?
Cue the narrator of my life: Harder than she thinks.
What It’s Like to Walk the Perimeter of Manhattan in a Day
I (perhaps naively) let my walking buddy set the pace for the morning, and we started our journey up the West Side Highway walking path at roughly 18 minutes per mile. It was fast enough to feel challenging, and my hip flexors and glutes started to fire up within the first hour.
When I connected with run coach Natalie Dorset after my walk, she wasn’t surprised to hear about this early burn. “Walking works generally the same muscle groups as running,” Dorset, a 21-time marathoner and the first woman from Trinidad to complete all six major world marathons, tells me. When you walk, she explains, “you’re priming those muscles to get ready for longer distances and added speed.”
Rather than dwelling on the pain or the number of miles still to go, I tried to set my sights on our surroundings. I noticed features of the greenway I’d usually whiz right by: the daffodils reaching towards the sun, the trumpet-shaped bluebells in a fleeting symphony, the Eastern Redbud trees reawakening after a long winter. The more I focused my attention outward, the less anxiety I carried within.
As I later learned from Marcia Pescador Jimenez, the assistant professor of epidemiology at Boston University School of Public Health, this wasn’t a coincidence. Jimenez explains that walks in parks (even urban ones) have been shown to have a calming effect on heart rate, sympathetic nerve activity, and other stress biomarkers. She is currently researching whether certain types of landscaping (shrubs, flowers, trees, etc.) seem to be more restorative than others. But for now, it’s safe to say that reveling in any green environment reduces stress levels.
Equipped with coffee and a can-do attitude, I figured, I run all the time—how hard can a long walk be?
And revel I did. Buoyed by a sampling of NYC’s 875,000-plus trees and 1,300 native plant species, I made it past the Little Red Lighthouse under the George Washington Bridge, through the shelter of the nearly 100-year-old Inspiration Point rest stop, and between the canopy of Inwood Hill Park to reach the tippy top of Manhattan—all in about four hours.
Next, it was over to Harlem, where my legs really started to speak to me with some level of profanity. Again, I focused on putting one foot in front of the other and tuning into the sights of the neighborhood. The cultural melting pot was bursting with street vendors, musicians, and seemingly all the energy in the world. I greedily soaked it up.
By the time my walking buddy and I made our way back downtown via the East River path, the end of the trek was in sight, and the worst of the self-doubt had passed. A few friends joined to keep us company, and we spent the afternoon chatting, slowing our pace, and sneaking inland for a beer break or two.
Somewhere along the way, I realized the many facets of longer-distance walking. It can be both challenging and restorative, social and solitary. Clearly, the act was more versatile than I’d given it credit for. I wondered how it might help me have a more joyful, injury-free, and productive training cycle for the NYC marathon.
By 9 p.m., we had circled back to the unassuming Starbucks from which we started.
After 12 hours, 42 minutes, and 32.89 miles, our ultra-distance urban hike was complete. That night, I waddled home sore, exhausted, and eager to walk my way to a more successful marathon.
How Walking Can Make You a Better Runner
I figured that walking 30-plus miles in a day wasn’t something I could (or should) keep up with during the height of marathon season. But what distance would complement my training? And how would I know when to walk and when to run?
I brought these questions to Dorset, who affirmed that longer walks are a valuable training and recovery tool for runners—and not just for the obvious reasons.
Beyond activating your muscles and improving cardiovascular endurance, walking holds a distinctly mental appeal. As any runner knows, there are days when running is the last thing you want to do. When those happen, walking can be a more achievable way to get miles in and stay accountable to your goals.
“For whatever reason, going on your run can feel too intimidating sometimes,” Dorset says, noting that she often feels this way during particularly long or difficult workweeks. “But people are more used to walking, especially in cities like New York. It’s not as overwhelming.”
While walking can feel easier and more achievable than running—especially during periods of heightened stress—it’s still valuable exercise. “It will still be physical motion, and it will still be time on your feet,” Dorset says.
Active recovery techniques like walking can also help flush lactic acid out of your system and ease delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) following a tough workout. Plus, it may help prevent injuries as you build up mileage.
“Sometimes if you do a long run one day and sit a lot the next day, things really tighten up,” Dorset says. “If you go for a nice walk instead, that helps get things loose again. You’re going to have a lower chance of incurring injury if your muscles are less tight and stiff.”
In practice, this may look like swapping a 40-minute recovery run with a walk that takes roughly double the time (80 minutes). While individual needs vary, Dorset advises that most people shouldn’t walk for more than three-and-a-half hours at a time during training—a guideline similar to the limit for running before a marathon.
Pro Tips for Your Next Long Walk
If you’re looking to incorporate more long walks into your routine, Dorset has some additional tips:
- Warm up your feet and ankles beforehand: try rotating your ankles to make circles and/or the letters of the alphabet to ward off stiffness once you get moving.
- Bring plenty of fuel: this means water! Plus, Dorset likes to use walks as low-stakes opportunities to test out new hydration and energy gels she may use during races.
- Pack light: avoid bags or backpacks that will throw off your mechanics.
- Invest in a comfortable pair of sneakers: my feet were miraculously blister-free after 62,804 steps around Manhattan in my cushy New Balance 860s.
- Stay engaged: keep your arms pumping and your core online during training walks. Seek out hills, steps, or bridges to add some more intensity.
Slowing Down to Speed Up
During previous training cycles, I used recovery days to go on short runs, lift weights, or hop on a bike. This go-round, I prioritized walking, seeking out paths that brought me to new neighborhoods, hilly landscapes, and good friends. When I couldn’t decide where to go, I’d look at a map and choose a green space to visit, designing my route around calming canopies.
After 12 hours, 42 minutes, and 32.89 miles, our ultra-distance urban hike was complete.
I’m pleased to report that I made it through training injury-free and finished the NYC Marathon with a 19-minute personal record. While I can’t say that this all comes down to my walking routine, I do think it helped me better manage the physical and mental strain of training.
Looking back, I see that my circumnavigating Manhattan left me with a valuable gift that went well beyond getting the fodder for a great story to tell anyone who would listen. The experience taught me that slowing down doesn’t mean falling behind.
“There is no shame in walking,” says Dorset. “And using walking as a tool doesn’t make you any less of a runner.”
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