Use walking breaks deliberately

You don't have to run until you can no longer keep going before you take a walking break.

Walking can be part of the session from the beginning. It belongs in the instructions, in your preparation, and in the honest description of what you did afterwards.

Follow the walking as well as the running

Walk Run Achieve introduces running gradually through planned run-walk sessions. If you're following it, use the stated walking breaks even on a day when you feel you could run further. The session includes both parts.

Walking isn't a penalty for having reached your limit. It's one way the session is organised.

The same applies to other plans with run-walk blocks. Read the whole instruction before starting, including the recovery and how many times to repeat. You shouldn't have to work out what comes next while you're already out of breath.

Make sensible choices on the route

Sometimes you'll choose another walking break. Perhaps the hill is steeper than expected, the easy effort has drifted too high, or you need to check where you're going.

Take the time to do the job properly. If you're drinking, navigating, or crossing a road, there's no prize for making it awkward in the name of uninterrupted running.

Resume at an effort you can control. You don't owe the session a sprint to compensate for walking.

If you're repeatedly making major changes just to get through, look again at the plan's starting requirements, current week, and place in your life. Decide when to progress can help with that decision. Pain or concerning symptoms call for stopping and appropriate advice, not a more inventive run-walk ratio.

Be clear about the goal

Walk Run Achieve's final 5 km can be walked, run-walked, or run. Continuous running isn't a hidden condition of finishing it.

An organised event has its own rules, though. Check walking policies and time limits before assuming an event fits your plans.

Before your next session, find where walking belongs in the instructions. Give it the same attention as the running. If you're still tempted to apologise for it afterwards, Walking counts is worth another read.