Fast Walking

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When I was a kid, I used to also look at the ground and walk with my head in front of the rest of my body. I must have looked like I was trying to head-butt everyone. I found a lot of change on the ground in those years.

I walk fast, too, when I am alone and trying to get somewhere. I can't stand having people in my "space", so I can't stand slow people who block my way or people who are too close behind me. I also get this kind of anxiety whenever I am walking (or doing any kind of exercise, like riding my bike.) It's like I'm thinking "HURRY UP! I HAVE TO GET THERE!! !" In response, I go too speedily. When I am exercising (and not just trying to get somewhere quick), I have to consciously pace myself and calm myself down. It's annoying.

I do like to walk leisurely with people, too, but I don't get the opportunity so often. I think I do OK matching my pace with the person with whom I'm walking, but I veer and crash into them.

I used to do that too. I didn't want to step on anything and I didn't understand how you could if you looked straight ahead rather than down. I think doing that has f****d my back, though.

I walk fast, I just want to get where I'm going and not dawdle.

And yes, slow groups of people annoy me, as do mobility scooters.

I'm a slow walker!


For a number of reasons.

When I was in high school I walked slowly to school for mostly psychological reasons -- I hated it there because of the social issues I had, and I dreaded going so much that I was a chronic dodger. When I did have to go I couldn't bring myself to walk fast. A classmate who was a fast walker laughed at me for it and she got me thinking, yeah, I guess I walk slower than she does because she LOVED her social situation in school and couldn't wait to get to a new school day, while I hated it and just wished I could be back at home alone doing my own thing.

These days I'm a slow walker for two reasons:

When walking for recreation I'm usually heading to a forest park, and I like to look at my surroundings, take things in, see what birds I can spot flying around, listen to the breeze in the trees.

When walking for practical purposes to and from a destination, I physically hurt. I'm physically tired all the time, I have several ailments. I have bad hip joints. I have bad knee joints. I have chronic tendonitis in my chest and shoulder that makes moving painful. I get fatigue and weakness a lot, and sometimes just walking half a mile to my local supermarket exhausts me. I'm not overweight and I'm not aware that I have any serious underlying health issues; they don't know what's wrong with my joints and never investigate further, and they only diagnosed my tendonitis and told me to "rest." I still have it chronically.

I look "normal" from the outside and people must wonder why I'm moving with such difficulty, if they notice, because I look like a normal healthy person who ought to be moving faster.

I try not to be in anyone's way -- I believe I'm more mindful of that than other people, actually. I actually position myself always to leave space for others, but I notice that nobody else does that on a sidewalk, not even if they've stopped to chat to someone, or have five kids and double baby buggy. I think I'm one of the more considerate people regarding not getting in people's way. I can't help being slower, everything freaking hurts on my body.

I don't bother with a doctor because they've dismissed my concerns before.

You both may find it interesting that Paul Biff looked in his study whether drivers (comparable with bikers?) would stop for a pedestrian about to cross at a crosswalk and found that as the expensiveness of the car increased, the more inclined the driver was to break the law. Interestingly none of the cars in the least expensive car category broke the law, whereas almost half of the drivers in the most expensive car category did. Luxury car drivers were actually more likely to speed past a pedestrian trying to cross, even after making eye contact with the pedestrian. After I read this study I followed situations where other people were about to cross, and what I noticed supported well the findings in Biff's study.

I'm a fast walker too, always have been. It's interesting that this is so common here.

I'm a really slow walker when it comes to recreational walking (I love walking my dogs). My dogs get upset because my pace is like molasses.

If it involves walking into a store or through a parking lot or mall then I tend to speed up a bit (places I do not enjoy being). I want to get in and buy what I need and then get the hell out of there.

I'm generally a quick walker too, and get irked by really slow walkers when they block my path. I like to think that fast walking works in my favour because it makes me look like I have somewhere to be, and therefore people may be less likely to bother me.

Yes, I get called out on this A LOT people always tell me "stop walking so fast!!" Or "I can't keep up with you!" It's very instinctual though. It helps when I walk with people that are a lot taller than me because then our speeds even out. Although, I will alter my pace for someone that is injured or infirmed or something of the sort. Because it would be incredibly rude not to. Although, sometimes if it's just the other person being lazy I have a hard time toning it down because I don't recognize that as a "legitimate" reason to slow down which takes a lot of effort on my part when the other person is busy expending little to no effort and not trying.

Your not the first person to mention this as, I always thought that walking fast was only limited to me as a person though, I'm glad to know that it's not an isolated phenomenon. I tend to walk fast cause, there are times when I've felt that I best move across the crosswalk or be bumped off by some driver of an automobile.

I walk at a slow to moderate pace. I walk in a very "zen" way and that's the type of experience walking produces for me. I think it's the rhythm, step STEP, step STEP.

I absolutely love walking. I have been known to walk for four or five hours and only come inside because it was getting to be pitch-black out.

I've been told to stop walking so fast on several occasions. When walking through pedestrian areas, I can be seen navigating through the crowd like a surfer or maybe a bird would, getting the feeling that I'm soaring through the open spaces wherever they open up.

It's really great when I feel the inertia built to a point where it is carrying me along with it and my feet just have to keep up. I guess it may be a way of blocking out the stimulus of all the people around, but to me it feels more like I just want to get where I'm going.

I'm kind of a bit of both. I walk slowly when I need to take my time or just want to enjoy the sunshine or something, but when I'm in a crowded area I walk-run and gallop to get places more quickly. Sometimes I pretend to ride Epona and pretend that the kids at school are sheep and goats I need to herd. Or I'll be 'riding' Agro and I'll be thinking, 'Get out of my way, please. I need to find the next Colossus to save Mono.' It's a good thing I hardly talk at all. Imagine if I accidentally said that out loud!

I'm definitely a fast walker, albeit only when alone- if I'm talking to someone else I'll always match their pace. But
If I'm on my own without the distraction of talking I get so anxious of my surroundings reaching my destination ASAP becomes absolutely imperative even if I have plenty of time.

I walk fast most of the time. It really irritates me when fat slobs in front of me take their time and make an horizontal line formation so I have to stay behind them.