Why is even a slow, short jog much more taxing than a long walk?

Question

I’m trying to do Couch to 5K at the moment to improve my personal fitness.

I can do long walks of an hour or more (10k+ in one go) with relative ease.

Yet a one minute run (which is Week 1 Workout 1 in C25K!) at an INCREDIBLY slow jogging pace is pushing my heart rate nearly to dangerous levels and I am finding it immensely challenging.

So what is it about a light jog that makes it so much more difficult than walking?

In: 38

Answer 1

You are activating way more muscle activity in a shorter amount of time; analogy if you drive 30 mph in a car for ten miles your are going to cause far less stress and use way less energy than if you floor it and do 100 mph over the same distance.

In the latter case(100 mph) you will have more fuel use, higher pressures and temps, etc.