Which is better.....

 I am currently walking every other day approx 3.2 miles in under an hour (finally!)  I have been able to bring my time down from 22min/mile to 17/18min mile.  I do not have a treadmill, this is all outside.  My goals is a 5K in October, hopefully jogging a bit, but I would love to do it in a 15min/mile.  I was wondering the following things:
How long does it take you after you begin your walk/run does it take you to get to your regular pace time?  It takes me about a 1/2 a mile to get to my average pace.
Would I be better  walking 2 miles a day 5-6 days a week and try to work on my pace as well and jogging?
I really enjoy the longer walk, but I am fairly fatigued at the end of the day.  I am also trying to make sure in my effort to get in shape I dont get injured.
My goal is eventually to jog/run.  My current weight is 250 and I am approx 7 weeks out from surgery.   I do plan on adding weights to my regimine as soon as I can afford a bench.
Thanks in advance for all your help.   I am actually enjoying myself while I exercise now.....what an amazing thing to experience again!!!!

Kat

Congrats on the quickening pace!!!

most of us here learned to run/jog through a program called "couch to 5K", or something similar.  What the program does is starts you walking, and then adding short intervals of running/jogging in the midst of your walk.  It's a self-paced program, so that if you aren't ready to move up after a week, repeat that week again.  Everyone is different.

I personally would not walk less to walk faster.  I would actually walk MORE if possible.  Maybe one or 2 days a week walk 3.5, or work your way up to 4 miles.  Then, when you walk that 3.2, you will be strong that you will be going faster because you don't have to save up that energy for the last .8 mile. 

When I run or walk, it does take me a while to get into a rhythm.  For me it often depends on WHERE I am... if I'm running on a path or in the country, maybe a 1/2 mile before I settle into a comfortable pace.  When I'm on the sidewalk in the city - takes a lot longer since there are intersections to deal with, traffic, etc.

 Thanks for the response, Sue!!!  I will give the C25K a try!!

I don't think there is an absolute "better". It depends on your goals and what you like. Some people would rather walk longer but not as briskly. I prefer to run so I'd rather run for a short time than walk a long time. 

I started with Couch-to-5K and once I could run 5k, I switched to all running and I did it 3x a week, one time a long slower run, one time a shorter faster run and one time doing my club's track workout (intervals). Each type of workout has a different purpose and they all work together.

I agree with the other posters...I didn't know about C25K when I started but I used the same principle.  I have a 4 mile round trip path in my home town that I do most of my running on....I'd set short goals (like run to the next tunnel****il I got to where I could run 2 miles uninterrupted.  I still to this day (2+ years later) combine walking with mostly running because I have arthritis in my knees and long distance running really takes a toll.

I was doing high intensity intervals for a while but found my legs were getting bigger (due to muscle growth) which made the legs of all my shorts/pants get tighter....once I backed off some it got better so now I don't do it very often.

Bottom line-find a rhythm that works for you that you enjoy and gets your heart rate up.  If you like it, you'll keep doing it.

BTW, I find if I'm running in a "new" place, like at the beach, I'm slower because I'm busy checking out my surroundings.

Kim

Thanks guys,
I am going to go with the C25k and see how I do. I just down loaded the app to my itouch. :)  I just got a yoga dvd that I am going to try on the inbetween days.  Thanks again!
Kat