‘Taking A Walk’

What is happening, actually, when we ‘take a walk’? It’s not really training but it’s also not resting. It’s somewhere in the middle. We are not adding much to our conscious input and yet we’re not isolating ourselves from the world either.

Again, it’s some sweet spot between emptying and filling. We’re not so much increasing our heart rate or breathing heavier, but we are stretching our inhalations and exhalations gently and bringing our heart beats gradually into rhythmic synchronicity with the rest of the body. It could be that the BEST habit a human being can cultivate is that of ‘taking a walk’. To recognise if, when and where one should take that walk, and to practice it even when one’s life becomes filled with (apparently) more important things.

After all, sometimes we need to be reminded of our own necessity to walk, even if we don’t feel like it. Indoor spaces hardly invite us to walk, and the inside bubble can easily consume even the most avid runners and hikers.

The walk is like the ‘refresh’ button at the top of the computer screen; we get to ‘start again’, but with a freer, more relaxed and conscious body and mind.

What Is The Walking Class?

Put simply: those that walk, daily, because they need to, want to or both. Their profession, their culture or their way of life demands it; and so their very survival, and the lives of their families, neighbours and friends depend on it.

The walking class don’t walk (or in many cases, run) because the newspaper, or instagram, told them it was good for their health, that it might decrease their chance of getting cancer or that it’s cool or sexy to do so. In many cases, in fact, they’re not even aware of the ‘good’ it might be doing them or, equally, the various dangers they may be avoiding by continuing to put one foot in front of the other.

Most of the walking class cultures around the world, I dare say, have barely known another way. This is why you probably haven’t heard of them. They’re just living their lives, ‘doing their thing’ one day at a time.

What We (Already) Know

There are countless examples in the modern sporting world of famous, very well-paid athletes mimicking the more simple, stripped-back habits of indigenous, traditional and/or impoverished groups around the world. The Kalenji (hunter-gatherer) tribes in Ethiopia, the Tarahamura running tribes of the (Mexican) Copper Canyons and the mountain ‘Sherpas’ of Nepal are just 3 of such examples; incredible, literally world-class athletes who have likely never even seen a university building or public gym, let alone entered one.

For the likes of Mo Farah, Eliud Kipchoge and Courtney Dauwalter, and (equally) World Champions in other sports such as Cycling, Skiing, Climbing, Boxing and MMA, the more basic and primitive way of life is literally the ONLY way to stay at the top of their field and continue to push the limits of their bodies and minds.

The indigenous people still existing in remote, largely untouched parts of the world are essentially who these global superstars aspire to be! And it’s not necessarily the other way around…

Why Do So Many Champion Athletes Choose To Keep It Simple?

Because it works. It’s been tried and tested for centuries, and despite the ever-emerging technologies of the 21st century, humans are realising time and time again that, long term, less is almost always more! Less noise, more signal. Fewer distractions and more focus. Want to conquer the mountain? Then live there. Wish to master the voice inside of your own head? Take away the competing noises from traffic, youtube, twitter and the like. Want to be faster, stronger, smarter than your competition? Then create a daily lifestyle that fosters the very qualities you’ll eventually need when competing. Our everyday habits are not only the best preparation for whatever we wish to accomplish in our lifetime, but it’s really the ONLY preparation. And the walking class might be better than anyone else when it comes to ‘training for life’.

My Pilgrimage

In 2019 I became inspired to run an ultramarathon. It didn’t matter which one, where it took place or how fast I ran; I just wanted to know how it felt to cover such a long distance, and what was required to prepare my body to do so.

After quite some preparatory research, and admittedly a (short) lifetime of running experiences (track and cross country events, half marathons and a modest weekly running habit), I came to the intuitive conclusion that THE BEST way to prepare for my first ultra (any run longer than the marathon distance of 42kms) was to walk the Camino del Norte - a pilgrimage route beginning at the France-Spain border and ending 865kms later at Santiago de Compostela in the North West region of Galicia.

Remarkably enough, just 3 weeks into what I expected to be a 2 month journey (continuing down into Portugal after Santiago) my body told me that it was ready!

The 21 days of walking up and down hills with a heavy backpack, across various terrains with little else to think, organise or stress about, were enough to ensure my upcoming 64km race in the Netherlands’ Veluwe National Park would be a success.

Sure enough, I ran the event 2 weeks after returning from Spain, on what was the hottest day of that year (37 degrees) and finished in a respectable time of 12 hours and 15 minutes. 40% of the field failed to finish, largely due to the heat, and I’d finished about halfway into the group that did.

The fact that I was able to do this reveals many potential truths about why a ‘walking class’ lifestyle is so effective, not just for endurance athletes but for everyday people to live long, healthy and happy lives:

Truth 1: The 60% rule (staying in one's aerobic zone; allowing for effective temperature regulation, the use of fat as a fuel, and better physical recovery)

Truth 2: Minimal ‘baggage’ (mentally and physically)

Truth 3: Being truly 'self-responsible'

Truth 4: A ‘natural’ (outdoors) environment

Truth 5: The standing / walking ‘nature’ of human beings

The Great Equaliser

One thing that’s becoming increasingly evident from the growth of ultrarunning as a sport (and my own experiences hosting running rituals for beginners) is 2 main equalising factors inherent to the activity itself…

1) The longer one travels on foot, the more ‘equal’ males and females are regarding speed. This seems likely due to the female attributes of ‘larger fat stores’ and wider hips, pitted against males’ higher testosterone, generally longer limbs and greater potential for physical strength in general. The longer (and therefore slower) the race, the more the females’ attributes become useful in comparison to mens (when in our lower-intensity aerobic zone, we utilise fat much more than carbohydrates as a fuel).

2) Walking (with which I include slow-running; 6km p/h pace or below) is performed in remarkably similar ways across various levels of experience and supposed fitness. Watching (and walking with) dozens of groups of pilgrims for many weeks showed me this. A high level hiker would cover 35-40kms a day, an intermediate one around 25-35kms, and the least fit/experienced between 15 and 25kms a day.

Considering that 20kms a day, up and down hills with a backpack, is therefore realistic for (almost) anyone, then the applied benefits of this ability are readily available to be utilised in everyday life for (almost) anyone also.

You obviously don’t have to be an olympic gold-medallist to walk to work, carry your own shopping, have a physical job and/or be less reliant on cars, petrol, public transport, bicycles and other complicated and expensive ‘support systems’.

Lastly, one could argue that the ability to walk 40kms a day is, in most cases, no more useful than being able to walk 20kms, especially if one’s able to recover and do it all again the next day (most of the inspiring, humble and like-able people I met on my pilgrimages were exactly these kinds of people).

Real Life Examples Of The Walking Class (To be visited, experienced and 'tested' further in the coming year/s):

Fell Runners (Lake District, UK), Local Shepherds of the Canary Islands / Practitioners of 'The Shepherd's Leap' (Gran Canaria), Tarahumara Running Tribe (Copper Canyons, Mexico), Zen Running Monks (Mount Hiei, Japan), Himalayan Mountain Sherpas (Annapurna Region, Nepal), Kalenji, Hunter-Gatherer Tribes (Rural Ethiopia), Religious / Spiritual Pilgrims (Israel / Egypt / Spain / India)

Characteristics Of A Walking Class Lifestyle:

1) Self-responsible (not reliant upon the protection and/or care of the state / social welfare etc)

2) High volume of low- to moderate- intensity daily exercise .

3) High volume of ‘fresh air’ / time spent in outdoor environments

4) Minimal baggage (material possessions and mental/cognitive stressors)

5) High volume of face to face daily (human) interactions

6) Diversity of simple daily tasks (cooking, cleaning, moving, building, caring, ‘foraging’ etc)

7) Highly robust / antifragile (either neutrally, or even positively, affected by random uncontrollable factors)

The ‘Western’ Walking Class

A question emerges: Do the walking class already live among us? And so need we not travel to faraway places in order to learn, and enjoy, the benefits of a more walking class life?

(PART 2 coming soon…)

*NOTE: This article was originally written for, and published in, ReMo Magazine, Issue 2 - visit remostudio.nl to purchase / subscribe to this publication

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