galloway method: timed v. distance intervals?

[dumbo_buddy]

hi all!

i ran the princess half this year. well, ran almost all of it but wound up letting myself take 100 steps of walking 3 times towards the end of the race. with baby #2 coming in november, i had to defer my WDW marathon dreams for a year. i'll be doing it in 2013 though!

i've been staying active this pregnancy and walking most days. i've been jogging here and there too but not much because it's been too hot. all this walking has me wondering if i should train with more walks in my runs.

the other day i ran a mile, walked a little more than a quarter, ran another, walked another quarter, and ran one more mile before finishing up with a walk (it was too hot).

i wonder, why does galloway's method do timed intervals instead of distance? would it be beneficial to try to do something like my last training run? i still found it hard to start back up running once i got to walking. but that may be b/c i have a 6month bun in the oven. not sure!

 

[John VN]

Not a Galloway person but I would imagine the reasoning for timing might be as simple as the likelihood of having a watch compared to an expensive GPS for distance and also the desire to determine the overall pace for the total distance accomplished.

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

He does timed intervals for rest periods. That way you never really get to an exhaustion point. His reasoning is that if you never reach that point where you can't breathe, etc. that your run will be more productive and you will end up being faster. So far, I have to agree with him. The question is what is your perfect interval. I like the 30 second intervals but some people do a few minutes with a 30 second rest.

 

[fashionista311]

I'm usually just a straight runner - but this weekend I ended up walking through water stations on half marathon that I was taking as a slow training run/trying not to die because I was still getting over being sick and still on antibiotics

Maybe because it was my first shot at this - but I have to agree with you that it is much harder to start running again after the walk breaks, my legs def seemed to tighten up. I also found it mentally challenging as well to start running again once I was finished with the aid station

 

[johde]

Galloway tends to recommend short intervals. Run 1 min./walk 1 min, Run 2 min/walk 1 min. etc. When I'm doing the shorter intervals, I have very little trouble starting back up again. Sunday though, I tried running with minimal walk breaks in a 5K. I ran the first 1.5 mile to the water stop, took a short break to drink what ended up being luke warm water. Started running again and at had the trouble people mention starting up again. Mile 3 was just horrible. My times were like 12:15, 12:30, and 13:40 for the 3 miles. Now, I've only been working sporatically on continuous running and had only made it 2 mile in training. But I'm convinced walk breaks need to be done in training, approximately how your planning on racing them to be effective.

To the OP. I have done run Distance/walk time before. I still kept them fairly short. I did run .1 miles/walk 1 minute in my may half marathon. Jeff recommends keeping your walk interval to 1 minute or less. You get most of the benefit of the walk break in that first minute.

 

[paxsarah]

I ran a 3/1 in my March marathon (my first) - although at my pace I probably should have been closer to a 2/1 or 2:30/1. I've found that with the intervals I used, and implementing them from the very start in longer races (half/full marathons) and after having trained with them, the transitions from run to walk to run come very naturally.

Edited to add: although I continuously run shorter races (10K or less), I still plan to use run/walk for my fall half and the January Goofy races. I'm actually waffling on the fall half - I could run the half straight through, but I'm trying to determine if I could still do it faster doing run/walk. Also, there's a part of me that wants to run a great time while doing run/walk, just to prove I can.

 

[PrincessAndrea'sMom]

I have always been a run to you are exhuasted person...then walk for a while, then run till exhuastion again. I discovered the Galloway method a few months ago and gave it a try. Well, I am sooo glad I did! It has cut about 4 mintues off my 5k time. I really think this gave me such an edge because it prevents total exhuastion. You conserve energy, so you have more strength for runs. I am running a ten miler in 3 weeks and can't wait to see how the intervals affect my time!

 

[buckeyecinderella]

I've been running with the walk/run method for awhile now and I feel better after the run then when I run straight through (for me straight through means slow jogging and walking through water stops). I'm not sure if I feel better after the run because I'm getting in better shape or because of the frequent walk breaks.

I am seeing an improvement in time, but perhaps not as much as I would like. So, I'm wondering if I'm just not running my run portions fast enough or if I need to decrease the walking time? I've been trying to do either a 1 min walk/1 min run or a 1.5 min run/30 second walk. That is what I did for the Princess in March.

Maybe I should try the 30 sec/30 sec? How fast does everyone run the run interval and walk the walk interval?

 

[johde]

How fast does everyone run the run interval and walk the walk interval?

My speed varies from run to run. But, my in my May half marathon I Ran at 11:00 mile and walked a 15:00 mile. I did approx run 1/walk 1 and averaged a 13:00 mile. In my June 5K I did run 1:20/walk :40 and ran an 11:30 mile and walked 15:45 mile, for a combined 12:30 pace, but the weather was hot and was hoping to run faster.

 

[Princess Roo]

I believe Galloway also supports "run 1 mile, walk 1 minute" as a method if you don't want to deal with a timer as much. I think the problem with using distances is that your GPS has to be really accurate.

Try to make sure when you walk, you're still walking at a fast pace. It's not really a break from exertion in general so much as a break from the running motion, if that makes sense. If you let yourself really slow down it's harder to get psyched up to start running again. It also could mean you are getting too worn out during your run portion (too long or running too hard). I always have more trouble going back to running each time the first few days I run with an increased interval.

To answer the other question, right now I'm doing run 4: walk 1. For my goal pace runs, I run just under 9:30 and I walk ~12:30 I think, and it ends up being around 10 minutes per mile on average. Check out this site for some Galloway interval/speed info at the bottom: http://www.jeffgalloway.com/resources/gallracepredict.html

 

[Rupert B Puppenstein]

I've been running with the walk/run method for awhile now and I feel better after the run then when I run straight through (for me straight through means slow jogging and walking through water stops). I'm not sure if I feel better after the run because I'm getting in better shape or because of the frequent walk breaks.

I am seeing an improvement in time, but perhaps not as much as I would like. So, I'm wondering if I'm just not running my run portions fast enough or if I need to decrease the walking time? I've been trying to do either a 1 min walk/1 min run or a 1.5 min run/30 second walk. That is what I did for the Princess in March.

Maybe I should try the 30 sec/30 sec? How fast does everyone run the run interval and walk the walk interval?

It is hard to tell the actual speeds that I go with each interval (walking vs. running) since it isn't easy to track and frankly as long as I stay under the 16 min. mark I am happy. I just know that my pace was around the 12:00 per mile mark doing the 30 second intervals as compared with not doing them, my pace was around 15:00 per mile.

 

[cewait]

hi all!

i ran the princess half this year. well, ran almost all of it but wound up letting myself take 100 steps of walking 3 times towards the end of the race. with baby #2 coming in november, i had to defer my WDW marathon dreams for a year. i'll be doing it in 2013 though!

i've been staying active this pregnancy and walking most days. i've been jogging here and there too but not much because it's been too hot. all this walking has me wondering if i should train with more walks in my runs.

the other day i ran a mile, walked a little more than a quarter, ran another, walked another quarter, and ran one more mile before finishing up with a walk (it was too hot).

i wonder, why does galloway's method do timed intervals instead of distance? would it be beneficial to try to do something like my last training run? i still found it hard to start back up running once i got to walking. but that may be b/c i have a 6month bun in the oven. not sure!

Mainly because we did not have GPS watches when he started the movement. Frankly, Jeff picked up on surging and pulling back from the Norwegians on a track. He noted they pulled up in the turns then would surge on the straights. PURELY a distance thing. When he started this to go by distance would require pre-measuring your run course which is not very practicable.

As far as getting back on the run after your walk interval, I would submit that your 'bun' has weakened your aerobic system a bit and that you may be running just a hair too fast.

I've been running with the walk/run method for awhile now and I feel better after the run then when I run straight through (for me straight through means slow jogging and walking through water stops). I'm not sure if I feel better after the run because I'm getting in better shape or because of the frequent walk breaks.

I am seeing an improvement in time, but perhaps not as much as I would like. So, I'm wondering if I'm just not running my run portions fast enough or if I need to decrease the walking time? I've been trying to do either a 1 min walk/1 min run or a 1.5 min run/30 second walk. That is what I did for the Princess in March.

Maybe I should try the 30 sec/30 sec? How fast does everyone run the run interval and walk the walk interval?

Play around with your intervals until you find what works well for you. It may be a longer run than the 'normal' prescribed intervals coming from a running straight through runner.

 

[ironz]

hi all!

i ran the princess half this year. well, ran almost all of it but wound up letting myself take 100 steps of walking 3 times towards the end of the race. with baby #2 coming in november, i had to defer my WDW marathon dreams for a year. i'll be doing it in 2013 though!

i've been staying active this pregnancy and walking most days. i've been jogging here and there too but not much because it's been too hot. all this walking has me wondering if i should train with more walks in my runs.

the other day i ran a mile, walked a little more than a quarter, ran another, walked another quarter, and ran one more mile before finishing up with a walk (it was too hot).

i wonder, why does galloway's method do timed intervals instead of distance? would it be beneficial to try to do something like my last training run? i still found it hard to start back up running once i got to walking. but that may be b/c i have a 6month bun in the oven. not sure!

Hi, Princess Nancy!! Boy, am I going to miss you at the marathon weekend this year! How's that baby ****oo growing?

I agree with Coach Charles....I think the time vs. distance is because not everyone has a gps thing to know just how far they are walking for the walk break. Much easier and consistent to time it.

I have been Gallowalking for about 10 years (my coach is not a fan, but I am much less injury prone this way). So I don't have a problem with the starting and stopping, but it does take some getting used to. I had a friend do this for the DL 1/2 last year, because I thought we could run faster if we had the breaks...well, since she hadn't trained the run/walk, it was harder on her, and we ended up slower. My bad.

I love this method, though. I don't use it for short runs or short races/tris....but it has helped me immensely for long runs and long triathlons. In fact, even coming off of a tough bike at Ironman Austria, and the best I could manage was a 2:1 jog:walk in the first 13 miles....that actually worked as a recovery, and I switched to 3:1 for the next half, and ran harder/faster and longer, for a 20 minute negative split! I don't think I have ever felt that good at the end of an Ironman before (maybe one other time). Granted, it was still a 5:59 marathon, but the forced pacing helped a bunch!

 

[Bookwood]

When I first started running I started on interval- (nothing set I'd run to light pole or mail box or whatever landmark was handy then walk to the next mark then run again to another land mark.) Every week I'd try to make the runs longer and keep the walk the same- then I swithed to the Marathoning for Mortals once I got up to working out long enough. (Bingham "Marathoning for Mortals" is fairly similar to Galloway with intervals) I like the interval and always do them - some are longer or shorter depending on injuries ect I've done races at every interval from run 3 walk 2 to run 8-9 walk 1-2 (back in the day I did the math in my head so 5's and 10's were easier to calculate) I still don't know how to make my Garmin tell me when to change (shame face). The walk protion really helps me catch my breath and usually I'm looking forward to the next run start- unless I'm past the 8 mile mark and then I think it's more mental (not wanting to run) than physical- unless I'm suffering from a cramp or something.

Finding your walk interval is really important- I find 2 minutes gives me time to hydrate (if I need to) and catch my breath while not letting me cool down too much.

 

[buckeyecinderella]

Thank you for all of you ideas on the intervals. I think I probably am walking too slow. I am not a fast walker to begin with. I have trouble keeping a 15 mm walking pace, so I've been trying to make sure my run portions are longer than my walk portions just so my time won't be hurt too badly.

I'll try the 30 sec/30 sec and a bunch of other combos, like going to a 2/1, 3/2, 4/1 etc. to see what might work better, both for pace and effort. It's been so hot and humid, even an extra slow pace seems like a lot of effort to me right now.

Thank you!

 

[ironz]

Buckeye...you really do have to play with it a little bit...and it is perfectly fine to vary it with how you feel, or the weather, or how long you have to run...I'll dial it down sometimes if I'm upping my distance.
My "ideal" is about 4-5 min run/1 min walk....but that's also 'comfortable' and I probably can go a little more running than that. But, like I said above, there was a race where 2:1 was about all I could manage, so I went with that. 3:1 worked great for me at the Princess half marathon, and with some strong running in those 3 minutes each time, I finished in 2:30.

I personally don't think I could sustain something in the 30 seconds range...that might be a little too much stopping and starting. Maybe 30 seconds for the walk, but not the runs. And it's funny, since I've been doing this so long, I can guess within a few seconds of when the minute of walking is up. It's almost second nature!