Coaches Corner - Galloway, Bingham, Higdon – Oh my!

[beltwaybarry]

I've followed the Hansons' plan a few times, and I think Coach Charles has it dead on. The 16-mile long run turns out to be plenty when on top of the weekly mileage and the two other "runs of substance" mid-week. These guys are very smart and have a reason for all the specific paces of the runs. Olympian Desiree Davila trains in their elite program. (You can purchase the detailed plan with pace charts and other information for a reasonable price, or you can just follow the schedules printed in a couple magazine articles.) The program has helped me get out of a couple marathon slumps, but sometimes I've pushed the paces a bit much and gotten rather sore. It's still a "paper" program, and my bias is that beginners will do best with a group program and coaches who can work directly with you.

 

[ZellyB]

Hi, there. I started training doing the Galloway method with a group here locally back the first of May. I'm training for a half Marathon on November 4. In our most recent long run with the group, one of the other women was talking about the WDW Marathon and my husband and I started talking about attempting it. I'm hoping that I can find a way to bridge the half-marathon training with my group and just supplement to get the right miles in to be ready for the marathon in January. I matched up the two schedules and I think I have it pretty well figured out.

I haven't been much of a runner before, although I've done my own little combination of walking/running for several years. I've been surprised how quickly I feel like my endurance has climbed with the Galloway method (we are currently training doing a 2.5/1 ratio and with a total 12min/mile pace. It's a pretty comfortable fit so far and I haven't felt overly stressed in reaching the progression goals, but those have been more modest for the half than I'll be needing to start hitting with a full in mind. I'm a little worried about making the transition from the half to the full having never run anything longer than a 5K before, but I'm hoping that given the amount of time I have I should be able to accomplish it.

I've been doing between 4-5 miles for my midweek maintenance runs thinking that was good for the half-training plan. Is more like 7 or 8 advisable for midweek maintenance (once I've built up a bit more) runs if my plan is to do the full?

 

[cewait]

Hi, there. I started training doing the Galloway method with a group here locally back the first of May. I'm training for a half Marathon on November 4. In our most recent long run with the group, one of the other women was talking about the WDW Marathon and my husband and I started talking about attempting it. I'm hoping that I can find a way to bridge the half-marathon training with my group and just supplement to get the right miles in to be ready for the marathon in January. I matched up the two schedules and I think I have it pretty well figured out.

I haven't been much of a runner before, although I've done my own little combination of walking/running for several years. I've been surprised how quickly I feel like my endurance has climbed with the Galloway method (we are currently training doing a 2.5/1 ratio and with a total 12min/mile pace. It's a pretty comfortable fit so far and I haven't felt overly stressed in reaching the progression goals, but those have been more modest for the half than I'll be needing to start hitting with a full in mind. I'm a little worried about making the transition from the half to the full having never run anything longer than a 5K before, but I'm hoping that given the amount of time I have I should be able to accomplish it.

I've been doing between 4-5 miles for my midweek maintenance runs thinking that was good for the half-training plan. Is more like 7 or 8 advisable for midweek maintenance (once I've built up a bit more) runs if my plan is to do the full?

I looked at the Galloway training schedule and then back at your planned half. I agree that the combination is very doable, with one large caveat. You need to follow the marathon plan rather than the half. In some plans one could simply jump over to the full after running a fall half, but under the Galloway plan you are a little tight.

I would jump over and run the full training plan at some time in July or August. If one does not, you are essentially jumping from a 13 mile run to 20 miles and that increase in short order is not recommended. In his plan, simply replace the 6 mile run with a 13 mile race on 11/4. While his current plan calls for 6 miles + the magic Mile, the old plan (pre MM) had an 18 miler in that slot.

There is an alternative that kind of messes with Jeff's plan. You could fall back to the 13 mile run (September 22 of the Disney version) and just continue the build. The issue with this is that you will only run one 20 mile run and not the other 20+ mile runs. I think this option is doable, but I will say that if you have any mental doubts an additional 20 mile run comes in handy.

For a first time runner who is comfortable with their current plan, I would choose option 1

Now for the full, as well as the half, Jeff only recommends 45 minute runs. I tend to be critical of that and you seem to be stretching that also. I would suggest making at least one of the midweek runs much more strenuous. I would run hill intervals or sprint intervals on a track.

Hope this helps. Let me know if I confused.

ADDED - Oh, I would also look at your run/walk interval as you gain comfort. At your pace I would not be afraid of pushing the run time out.

 

[ZellyB]

I looked at the Galloway training schedule and then back at your planned half. I agree that the combination is very doable, with one large caveat. You need to follow the marathon plan rather than the half. In some plans one could simply jump over to the full after running a fall half, but under the Galloway plan you are a little tight.

I would jump over and run the full training plan at some time in July or August. If one does not, you are essentially jumping from a 13 mile run to 20 miles and that increase in short order is not recommended. In his plan, simply replace the 6 mile run with a 13 mile race on 11/4. While his current plan calls for 6 miles + the magic Mile, the old plan (pre MM) had an 18 miler in that slot.

There is an alternative that kind of messes with Jeff's plan. You could fall back to the 13 mile run (September 22 of the Disney version) and just continue the build. The issue with this is that you will only run one 20 mile run and not the other 20+ mile runs. I think this option is doable, but I will say that if you have any mental doubts an additional 20 mile run comes in handy.

For a first time runner who is comfortable with their current plan, I would choose option 1

Now for the full, as well as the half, Jeff only recommends 45 minute runs. I tend to be critical of that and you seem to be stretching that also. I would suggest making at least one of the midweek runs much more strenuous. I would run hill intervals or sprint intervals on a track.

Hope this helps. Let me know if I confused.

ADDED - Oh, I would also look at your run/walk interval as you gain comfort. At your pace I would not be afraid of pushing the run time out.

Thanks, Coach Charles. I agree with all you've said. That's what we were thinking, but it helps to hear you say that should work. I've developed some good attachment to running with my half training group and the full group is too far ahead of me at this time to "catch up" as it were, so I think my husband and I can just add miles on the long run days in addition to what we run with the half group. I created a schedule comparing the half-schedule with the full and think I can do this and still get in all the long runs Jeff recommends before a full. I'll need to tweak it a bit to fit in the half I'm running while still giving my self recovery time before the first 20 miler, but it's seems manageable. I really don't want to short myself on any of the longer runs as I think I'll need them from a mental and physical standpoint.

Lastly, we just talked this morning about moving to a 3/1 interval although I still want to stay with my group. I may just move to that interval for the maintenance runs through the actual half and then use a 3/1 for all the runs in between the half and the full in January. Thanks again.

 

[annabanna]

I have a question about Jeff Galloway. Does he have an app for Android? The thing that I really liked the C25K RunDouble app is that it gives you all the stats (pace, distance, ect) and it gives you a halfway point. Because I am not always quite sure on the distance because I do the "for time" instead of "for distance", I really like that when it the little voice comes on and tells me I am halfway done, I can turn around and head back. It really cuts back on my wandering around my neighborhood for an extra 20 minutes because I ran too far out.
I was really hoping there was a Galloway app with the same idea, but I can't even find an app at all.