Quote Originally Posted by Deborajen View Post
Oh, speed walking definitely uses different muscles - I'm always sore after a hard walk whereas I'm used to running.-- I've never really paid attention, but I wouldn't be surprised if my stride is longer with harder walking than with running - that is, unless i'm sprinting which I seldom do.
Totally true. I walk quite a bit (3 km a day or more) and last weekend I walked probably about twice that, in the snow, and my glutes were quite sore the next day.

That's also why just walking for one minute makes such a big difference while running: it changes the load on your muscles and gives the running muscles a chance to rest... before starting to run again, of course. (If you walk for too long, your running muscles just cool down and don't want to run anymore, though!)