Author Topic: Performance  (Read 3881 times)

myxpyr

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Performance
« on: 20:51:23, 04/05/19 »
OK I don't get obsessed by how fast or slow I walk. I do it to enjoy it. However, on my smartphone I've got the Viewranger app which indicates, distance walked, average speed etc.
When walking, if I stop for much more than a couple of minutes I set it to pause so, as far as possible, it only calculates on the actual time I am walking. It obviously takes account of ascent and descent and, at the end of a day over easy to moderate terrain, it gives an average speed of about 2 mph. Steeper/rougher terrain gives circa 1.5 mph sometimes less. The 2mph speed seems to correspond reasonably with Naismith after calculating height gain and loss.
Just wondering if anyone on here would consider either of those figures to be on the slow side.(Age factor - I'm 73)



Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Performance
« Reply #1 on: 21:25:45, 04/05/19 »
Compared to who? It's a little (not much) slower than me normally but I'm half your age. Sussamb is around your age and faster but we can't all be of elite fitness. I think it's pretty good for your age, I'm faster than most older folk and you're not much different in speed to I am.

I've been persuaded pausing ViewRanger when stopping is a bad idea (unless you're stopping for the night or something). You get a better idea of what your actual performance is if you don't pause it.

Wouldn't worry about it? Like you say you do it for pleasure.

Mel

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Re: Performance
« Reply #2 on: 21:43:47, 04/05/19 »
I think that sounds like the perfect speed to enjoy a walk  O0


I consider myself a slow walker (am always "the backmarker" on any group walk  :D  ) 


On the flat I average about 2.3mph
On gentle undulations I average about 1mph - 1.5mph
On gnarly, steep stuff I average about 0.5mph


I don't pause VR during a walk as I like to know how long it takes me to complete a walk from start to finish for future planning purposes so I don't get caught out and end a walk in the dark by over-estimating my speed rather than how fast I was walking.  If I want to know that I look at the uploaded stats and hover my cursor over the track recording which tells me my speed at that point.


So, I guess technically, I walk faster than the speeds quoted above  :-\


Naismiths rule is a load of twaddle IMHO.  Unless you just like to yomp on, head down, gritting your teeth whilst you "get through" your walk.



myxpyr

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Re: Performance
« Reply #3 on: 22:03:45, 04/05/19 »
Thanks for both replies. Encouraging comments which suggest I'm not ready for the knacker's yard yet :D
Incidentally I ran a thread about knee supports elsewhere. I've started using them and my descents are now virtually pain free ;D

myxpyr

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Re: Performance
« Reply #4 on: 22:06:24, 04/05/19 »
When I'm not on the hills I usually do a walk along our local prom(flattish with some very minor inclines). I usually average about 3mph :)

Rob Goes Walking

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Re: Performance
« Reply #5 on: 22:12:10, 04/05/19 »
When I'm not on the hills I usually do a walk along our local prom(flattish with some very minor inclines). I usually average about 3mph :)

Quicker than me on the flat. I average 2.2 mph but my stride length is very short.

ninthace

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Re: Performance
« Reply #6 on: 22:20:13, 04/05/19 »
I’m an overweight, 68, male and I’m a bit faster, around 2.5 mph taking into account terrain.  I actually work in kph because the maths are easier as OS maps are metric.  I reckon on 5 kph on the flat in good going. Rougher country flat perhaps 4.5 kph, climbs 3.5 to 4 kph but it really doesn’t matter.  I rarely stop for a break, eating and drinking on the go and resting by slowing down for a bit.
People were harder in Naismith’s day but you can tune his rule to your own performance.  These days I can usually estimate how long a walk will take by eye.  However, Memory map has a tuneable version of Naismith that you can use for route planning. The OS app has a crude version that usually overestimates route times.
As to ViewRanger, my advice would be to not bother pausing it.  VR has 3 graphs, speed/time, height/time, distance/time. You can overlay all 3 to see how gradient, going and time affect your progress.
I have a look at the graphs in the pub just after the walk. After that I forget it other than to add it to my experience bank for planning the next trip.
Solvitur Ambulando

Mel

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Re: Performance
« Reply #7 on: 22:27:38, 04/05/19 »
I get indigestion if I "eat on the go"  :-\




Mel

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Re: Performance
« Reply #8 on: 22:28:55, 04/05/19 »
I wouldn't have said you were overweight ninthace... unless you've put on some, ahem, "muscle tone" since we last met  :D

ninthace

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Re: Performance
« Reply #9 on: 22:31:57, 04/05/19 »
I wouldn't have said you were overweight ninthace... unless you've put on some, ahem, "muscle tone" since we last met  :D
Thanks Mel, I call it muscle  :) , the GP and Mrs N disagree.
Solvitur Ambulando

jimbob

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Re: Performance
« Reply #10 on: 22:36:39, 04/05/19 »
I asked a similar question not too long ago.The answers led me to take it for granted that we all walk at differing speeds and accept what you do as your norm.

I am in the slower percentile.
BUT I daydream and wander about enjoying the views and the vegetation and backtracking a lot to get back onto the right track.
Even if you are not walking as fast as others you would need to adopt a serious training regimen to up your speed by anything that would make a big difference over a days walking. At our age voluntary movement of any sort is great. When we were kids not too many lived healthy lives at our current time of life.
Too little, too late, too bad......

fernman

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Re: Performance
« Reply #11 on: 22:52:36, 04/05/19 »
When we were kids not too many lived healthy lives at our current time of life.

Is that not still the case?
Every time I go shopping I never cease to be amazed by the numbers of people I see who are quite a bit younger than me and hobbling about with sticks and crutches, not to mention the amount of well-overweight ones for whom, it would appear, a bit of exercise would kill.

Bigfoot_Mike

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Re: Performance
« Reply #12 on: 22:56:28, 04/05/19 »
I am 56 and overweight. Around town and on the flat I tend to walk at around 4 mph and can keep this up for a good few miles. Out hiking I walk a bit slower, maybe 3+ mph on the flat, slowing to 1.5 - 2 mph on the steeper bits, maybe 2.5 mph on the way down. My hiking speed depends on how often I go out and how fit I am. I woils probably be slower a the moment due to a long injury lay up.


If I am walking with my wife, my speed will be quite a bit slower, although usually still too fast for her. She is more than a foot shorter than me, so that does explain some of the speed difference.


When younger I found Naismith was a reasonable estimate for a day’s walking, if I included any breaks in the overall duration, so I was actually walking faster than the rule on average.

Dovegirl

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Re: Performance
« Reply #13 on: 23:02:20, 04/05/19 »
I often like to have a rough idea of how long a walk will take and I reckon on 2 mph as an average, which allows time for varying my pace according to the terrain.  I like having time to take in the landscape and to look at wild flowers and to take photos, rather than racing along.

richardh1905

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Re: Performance
« Reply #14 on: 09:13:53, 05/05/19 »
2mph is not bad as a very rough rule of thumb if I'm on the hill. Faster on the flat, of course, and a tad slower if it is really steep, rough or in the snow.

Useful for planning, but I really don't worry about it as a performance thing. As others have said, walking is about enjoyment!
WildAboutWalking - Join me on my walks through the wilder parts of Britain

 

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