How Many Hours Does It Take To Walk 20 Miles?

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If you want to get into good cardio shape, one of the best ways you can do it is by walking. It will take time if you want to walk 20 miles.

The hours it will take to walk 20 miles will depend upon the pace you were doing for your walking. Strolling could take ten or so more hours; brisk walking could take 3 to 4 hours. The amount of hours it takes depends upon your walking speed and ability.

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How Long Will It Take To Walk 20 Miles?

How long it will take for you to walk 20 miles depends on the speed you are walking. Walking 20 miles differs from walking two or 3 miles in a row.

To look at how long it takes to walk twenty miles, we will divide the time by a strolling pace, a relaxed pace, an average pace, and what most would consider a fast pace. Each of them would take a different amount of time because of the different speed or miles per hour you would be going.

Strolling Pace For Walking 20 Miles – 10 hours

A strolling pace is usually slower than two mph or about 30 minutes per US mile; this may be when you are out for a casual walk or walking your dog.

At this pace, you are walking a mile in 30 minutes. Most people that are walking that rate at quite a relaxed pace.

To walk the strolling pace for 20 miles or at 2 miles per hour would take 10 to 11 hours. We added in the extra hour as the reality is that most people would need to stop at some time to either rest, get something to eat, or go to the toilet.

Striding Pace For Walking 20 Miles – 6.6 Hours

The striding pace for 20 miles per hour would be about 3 miles per hour. For most people, if they continued walking at the 3 miles per hour speed for 20 miles, it would take them 6.6 hours or at least 7.6 hours.

At the striding pace, you would be walking a 20-minute mile.

Again, most people would need to stop to get water, take a break, or go to the restrooms, so it could take you 6.6 hours to 7.5 hours to complete twenty miles.

Brisk Pace For Walking 20 miles – 5.7 hours

The brisk pace would be considered more significant than 3.5 mph per hour. This would take you about 5.7 to 6.7 hours. Again, we have added extra time for stopping to get some food and water and use the toilet; most people will stop a bit along the way.

At this pace, you would be walking a 17-minute mile.

By increasing your walking speed to 17 minutes per mile, you can reduce the time to walk 20 miles by one hour.

Fast Pace For Walking 20 miles – 3.3 hours

If you want to walk very fast, you can try to walk about 6 miles per hour. At a 6-mile-per-hour rate, you would be walking a 10-minute mile. Some people may run/walk to get to the 10-minute-per-mile rate.

Again, as we estimate, most people would also stop a bit along the way. Walking twenty miles could take them anywhere from 3.3 to 4.3 hours at that pace.

Preparing To Walk 20 Miles

If you are not walking or do minimal walking but want to try to walk 20 miles, then you need to train to walk those 20 miles. You will need to spend the time and effort to build your body up to complete the distance.

Proposed Training Schedule to Walk 20 Miles

If you are relatively fit and are now walking some distances, then you will need to be able to increase those distances to walk 20 miles. If you are not walking much now, you’ll need to start walking and eventually build up to longer distances.

Below is a proposed training schedule. Depending on your fitness level, you can try to do it faster or slower. The main thing is that you need to be able to do some walking if you hope to complete the 20 miles.

You will notice that this schedule is not based on your pace but on the distance you go each day. There is one distance for Monday through Friday and another long distance for you on Saturday.

You can decide if you walk every day or every other day. But we recommend you take one day to allow your body to rest. The training schedule is for sixteen weeks.

WeekWeekday Distance Weekend (Longer) Distance
13 miles5 miles
23 miles5.5 miles
33 miles 6 miles
43 miles 6.5 miles
53.5 miles 7 miles
63.5 miles 7.5 miles
73.5 miles8 miles
83.5 miles9 miles
94 miles 10 miles
104 miles 11 miles
114 miles 12 miles
124 miles 13 miles
135 miles 14 miles
145 miles 15 miles
155 miles 16 miles
165 miles 17 miles
Proposed Training Schedule to Walk 20 miles

As you can see from this training schedule, you start at 3 miles on weekdays and then 4 miles on the weekends. Eventually, you’re working your way up to 5 miles during the week and a 17-mile walk on the weekend.

If this is too fast for you, you can change the time frame to 20 weeks or even 30 weeks. It is up to you.

Walking 20 miles will take training. If you can build up to a 17-mile-long walk, most people can complete the 20-mile walk. To walk 20 miles, you must put in the time, distance, and training.

Walking, especially long-distance walking, is like any other sport. You must practice for it and go out and train for it; you need to have the proper clothing and equipment.

Clothing, Shoes, And Other Necessities To Walk 20 Miles

Here are some things you should prepare to walk that distance.

  • Have Good Walking Shoes – To walk such a long distance and not have your feet kill you, you need to have perfect walking shoes. I like New Balance as I have feet that are hard to fit (wide width), and they come in all widths.
  • Good Socks – Good socks can make a huge difference when walking those distances. Invest in some good pairs.
  • Proper Clothing – Your clothing can affect how hot or cold you get. Usually, when walking such long distances, it is good to have clothes you can easily layer, i.e., a light jacket you can tie around your waist if you get hot.
  • Hat For The Sun – No matter your pace is, to walk 20 miles, you will be exposed to the sun, so we recommend a good hat. It will protect you from the sun and if it starts to rain.
  • Water Bottle – You will need a water bottle; unless you are walking in a race, you will probably need to fill that water bottle. I like carrying my phone, keys, water bottle, and money in a fanny pack. A fanny pack is much easier to walk with than a backpack.

Walking is a beautiful sport. If you can walk 20 miles, you are better off than others who cannot even walk a few miles. Walking those 20 miles does not matter the time it takes; most important is that you can complete it.

Walking With A Conquer Virtual Challenges

You can sign up for a Conquer virtual Challenge for your walking mileage. The Conqueror Virtual Challenge is a challenge you sign up for so that each time you walk, swim, bike, or do another exercise, you can count those miles toward the challenge you are doing.

We love the Conquer Virtual Challenge, which allows us to put in all our miles for our exercise towards a virtual challenge. Once we have completed all the miles on the challenge, the Conquer Virtual Challenge sends us a medal.

If you plan to try to complete 20 miles, the Conquer Virtual Challenge is a great way to help motivate yourself to get out there to do the training. To walk those 20 miles, you will need to do a lot of training and put in many miles along the way.

So why not have those miles count towards something as a metal to give you added motivation?

You can click on the link below to learn more about the Conquer Virtual Challenge and its different medals and challenges. You will get 10% off your first challenge by clicking the link.

Reluctant Low Carb Life explores all aspects of keto and low-carb lifestyle, fitness, health, wellness, and aging gracefully. At the Reluctant Low Carb Life, we strive to give honest and accurate information to people trying to live the low-carb and keto lifestyle while improving their fitness and health.

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Walking seven miles a day is great exercise. But even if you cannot walk seven miles a day, just getting out to walk has many physical and mental benefits. Studies have shown us how important walking is for not only our overall physical health but also our mental health.

You can read more about Is Walking 7 Miles A Day Good Exercise? by clicking here.

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You can read more about Who Invented Walking And How Did He Get The Idea? by clicking here.

Anita Hummel
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Reluctant Low Carb Life explores the keto and low carb lifestyles, fitness, health, wellness, and aging gracefully. We give you honest advice, accurate information, and real stories about what it means to change your life.

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