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Walking is good exercise. I am similar. I can walk quite a distance, but running is a different story. Here is a link with some health benefits of walking. Top 10 Reasons to Start Walking. I would just keep walking and not worry about those trying to convert you into a distance runner, but the decision is yours to make. Good luck!
We had to run two miles every single day at the start of practice. I'm not a distance runner, I was a sprinter, so two miles IS distance running to me. And it was not on a track. We started our practice running this horrid two miles on the roads. The roads that were not even level, that had small inclines, and even a *$%@! hill at one point. Hated every last second of it. (Then, when we got done with that, we had to do 100 situps...and THEN we got to practice what events we would be participating in, at the track.) As for your overweight theory, hardly. I was underweight. I can run, I just absolutely hate it. It is completely unpleasant for me.
Edited to add: my best two mile was 13:36. That is not the time of someone who is out of shape.
If a grizzly bear is chasing me, it's going to catch me before the end of two miles. Heck, it would catch me in less than 100 meters. (Someone pointed out grizzly bears earlier...we're not going to outrun a grizzly.)
Your track coach was not very intelligent, that is not an efficient use of training time. In fact, it is counter productive.
My overweight theory was not directed at you. It was directed at people in general. Heavier and larger people are not as efficient at running. I know because I'm between 215 and 220. I've rarely been beaten in a race by someone who outweighs me. I'll never be competitive with the 130lb. guys.
I think running is unpleasant for most people. Some get over it.
If you walk fast enough so that your breathing heavier, and for a decent amount of miles. Then I'd say that's exercise. It also depends on the age of a person. I'm 64 and I walk 5 1/2 miles in around 1 hour 25 minutes on a trail near me. That's a flat surface on that walk. If I do the very hilly leg of the trail then it slows me down more, but it certainly gets you breathing even heavier. I have always walked long distances for exercise, or just to get from A to B. Before that I was a runner, but years of pounding and 3 surgeries on knees, makes me lucky to be able to do all this walking. It's exercise to me, and I combine it with a stair climber at the gym about 3 times a week. 30 minutes each stair climber workout.
I walk a six mile loop each day after work. This follows climbing my building's 27 flights of stairs and running down them twice. My heart rate is super elevated on the stairs and the walk (I power walk) brings it down to a more sustainable level. Several years ago I broke my ankle and it gets inflamed if I run. My sports orthopedic surgeon told me at the time of my break that it was BETTER for me to stop running at my age and focus on less impactful cardio like cycling, swimming and power walking.
I know that the walking has helped my cardio because my stair climbing is always easier when I am sticking with my regimen of long power walks. If I skip the walks or slack off on my walking schedule, the stair climbing is more labored.
No ... it wasn't ... but thanks for playing along. Here's the booby prize:
su·per·cil·ious adjective \ˌsü-pər-ˈsi-lē-əs, -ˈsil-yəs\: coolly and patronizingly haughty
su·pe·ri·or·i·ty noun \su̇-ˌpir-ē-ˈȯr-ə-tē, ˌsü-, -ˈär-\: the belief that you are better than other people
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