Animation - move speed

So, you can specify a movement speed for wc3 models in 3d studio max which makes the grid under the model in the previewer move, so you can more easily sync the walk animation with the ground beneath the unit. The same value is also put in the object editor as Animation - walk speed, which tells warcraft how fast the unit goes with normal animation speed so the game can then calculate how fast to play it's walk animation based on the unit's actual speed.

I know all this, I just don't know what the value stands for. Is it how many distance units the model travels in one second, or how many distance units the model travels in one walk animation loop?

The number of units of ground covered in one walk cycle.