Galloway pacing question

[dislvr74]

Hi there! I mostly lurk on this board, but I am coming out of hiding to ask a question that is driving me crazy!

I have completed 5 1/2 marathons and tend to average 13:00/mile doing r2/w3. My goal for my next half is 12:00/mile. I have been training to r4/w1. How fast should I be running those 4 minutes? I usually walk pretty slow during those breaks (like a 15:00/mile pace).

I'm sure it isn't that complicated to figure this out, but I just can't do math after a long day at work. Thanks for any insight you can offer!

 

[jessily]

I just did a Google search for "Galloway Pace Calculator" and the 4th result "Run/Walk Pace Calculator" is what you're looking for. It's a pretty cool spreadsheet. You can enter your walking pace, R/W ratio, and your goal pace and it will tell you what your running pace needs to be.

I'm currently following Galloway's schedule for what will be my first marathon. I'm doing a R4/W2. Have you used Galloway's schedule to train for your past marathons? What was the longest long run you did in training? I'm always interested to hear experiences from others with his plan.

 

[dislvr74]

Google. Now why didn't I think of that? That spreadsheet is awesome! I can see that I am going to be spending quite a bit of time playing around with those numbers.

I walked my first half and finished in 3:12. I basically followed the MfM plan and I really struggled the last 3 miles. So for my 2nd half (at WDW) I followed the MfM walk/run plan, but did the longest run of 10 miles twice. That went much better and I finished in 3:05. I used a w3/r1 ratio most of the time, although I did start walking more towards the end. My 4th half was my current PR at 2:58 and I used a 1:1 ratio for that. I also trained to 11 miles after doing two 10 mile runs.

This time I am taking the MfM run/walk plan and extending it by several weeks. This will allow me to work around my DH's work schedule and do a true long run every other week. The last few weeks of my plan look like this:

M W Th-50 min
Sa-10 miles
repeat short run schedule
Sa-5 miles
repeat short runs
Sa-10 miles
repeat short runs
Sa-5 miles
repeat short runs
Sa-11 miles
repeat short runs
Sa-8 miles
one short run on Monday
Sa-race

As you can see, I'm not really following the Galloway plan, but I am using the w/r philosophy. MfM had me start at r3/w2 and this week I am transitioning to r4/w2 and then I'll transition to r4/w1.

According to that nifty spreadsheet, I can walk at 15:00/mile if I can run 4 minutes at 11:25/mile in order to reach my 12:00/mile goal.

I would love to do a full someday, but I am really intimidated by the distance. How many miles are you going to train to?

 

[FLORIDA_GIRL]

Jessica: Thanks for the link...I'm also experimenting with different Galloway R/W intervals. I'm currently training with a 4/1, but thinking about switching to a 3/1.

 

[jessily]

I would love to do a full someday, but I am really intimidated by the distance. How many miles are you going to train to?

That spreadsheet is great for a numbers geek like me Thanks for sharing your experience and training schedule! I trained for the half last year with the MfM plan. I followed the plan pretty closely, except on the day of the 10 mile run I felt great so I went 11. Unfortunately things didn't go as well on race day. I started taking walk breaks around mile 8 and really struggled the last 3 miles. I think your idea of doing three 10-11 mile runs is a good one.

Over the past year I was increasing my speed but realized I really wasn't enjoying myself and dealt w/ some injuries. I read Galloway's book, realized I'm doing this for fun, and slowed down! Things are much better now and I'm enjoying the long runs a lot more. I haven't decided what my long run distance for the marathon will be yet. Galloway suggests 24-26 miles and most everyone I know says not to go over 20. What he says makes sense though... by going the full distance you push back that wall, and if you're going slower and taking walk breaks there is less risk of injury.

Has anyone used Galloway's plan for the full marathon? What was the longest distance you went in training? Any thoughts on the 20 vs. 24-26 mile argument?

 

[dislvr74]

Did you run the entire first 8 miles? It helps me a lot if I take walk breaks from the very beginning.

I have a couple of friends who run full marathons. One trains to 20 miles and one trains to 23-24 miles. They both say that no matter what you do, the last 5 or so miles are a struggle, so you just have to accept that and deal with it. My personal opinion (as someone who can't imagine going 13.2 miles or longer!) is that it's the overall training program that matters, not the distance of your longest run. If you feel strong at 20 miles, you will be able to finish if you have good, solid, weeks of training behind you.

I keep saying that if I can finish a half in 2:30, I will sign up for a full. Considering my PR is 2:58, I don't think I am in much danger of commiting to a full anytime soon!

 

[Padstack]

I just did a Google search for "Galloway Pace Calculator" and the 4th result "Run/Walk Pace Calculator" is what you're looking for. It's a pretty cool spreadsheet. You can enter your walking pace, R/W ratio, and your goal pace and it will tell you what your running pace needs to be.

I'm currently following Galloway's schedule for what will be my first marathon. I'm doing a R4/W2. Have you used Galloway's schedule to train for your past marathons? What was the longest long run you did in training? I'm always interested to hear experiences from others with his plan.

Just wanted to thank you for posting this. I have been trying to figure out accurately what my pace will be for the DL half next weekend. I want to finish around 1:50 with a 10/1 R/W and the spreadsheet says I need my pace during the run portion needs to be 8:01.

BTW, I used Galloway's Half-Marathon book for training and my longest run was 16 miles. I was supposed to get to 18 miles, but my legs were just not ready for that length of run. I felt that I was on the verge of injury after running 16 miles, so instead of increasing it to 18 on my next long run, I ran 16 again and felt much better. I will be using his book for my first full next May and I am interested to find out how far I will be running during that program.

 

[jessily]

Did you run the entire first 8 miles? It helps me a lot if I take walk breaks from the very beginning.

I have a couple of friends who run full marathons. One trains to 20 miles and one trains to 23-24 miles. They both say that no matter what you do, the last 5 or so miles are a struggle, so you just have to accept that and deal with it. My personal opinion (as someone who can't imagine going 13.2 miles or longer!) is that it's the overall training program that matters, not the distance of your longest run. If you feel strong at 20 miles, you will be able to finish if you have good, solid, weeks of training behind you.

I keep saying that if I can finish a half in 2:30, I will sign up for a full. Considering my PR is 2:58, I don't think I am in much danger of commiting to a full anytime soon!

That makes sense in terms of marathon training. I guess I'll wait and see what kind of shape I'm in when the time comes. My main goal is not to get injured.

For the half last year I did run the first 8 miles and definitely wish I had taken walk breaks. I did all running during training though and was fine (even feeling like I could go further after my 11 miler). I've learned quickly that race day doesn't always go as planned. This time I'm planning ahead for the walking.

You're goal of a 2:30 sounds challenging, but attainable!

Just wanted to thank you for posting this. I have been trying to figure out accurately what my pace will be for the DL half next weekend. I want to finish around 1:50 with a 10/1 R/W and the spreadsheet says I need my pace during the run portion needs to be 8:01.

BTW, I used Galloway's Half-Marathon book for training and my longest run was 16 miles. I was supposed to get to 18 miles, but my legs were just not ready for that length of run. I felt that I was on the verge of injury after running 16 miles, so instead of increasing it to 18 on my next long run, I ran 16 again and felt much better. I will be using his book for my first full next May and I am interested to find out how far I will be running during that program.

Wow! You are speedy I'm surprised to hear the half marathon book had an 18 miler on the schedule, but I guess it makes sense given Galloway's thinking. I'm pretty sure his marathon book has the longest run at 24-26 miles (he gives a range of distance for a lot of the long runs).

 

[Padstack]

Wow! You are speedy I'm surprised to hear the half marathon book had an 18 miler on the schedule, but I guess it makes sense given Galloway's thinking. I'm pretty sure his marathon book has the longest run at 24-26 miles (he gives a range of distance for a lot of the long runs).

Well, it is my first half, so I wanted to take it easy.

There is one schedule for completing the half within 1:15 to 1:30 that has a 20 miler as the longest run. This is the program I started on, but I had to scale back my training about halfway through because of time constraints, then I scaled it back again after that first 16 miler and the fear of injury.

 

[liznboys]

jessily~ Thanks for posting that! I am having fun with that tool. Very helpful.

 

[ironz]

Thanks for that...didn't know there was a calculator out there to take into account the walk breaks.

I've been a Gallowalker for several years. Can't get through the long stuff without injuries if I didn't do it that way. I will do my walk breaks from the very beginning. My long run will be no more than 20 miles....I just can't recover well enough from more than that much time on my feet. But then, I'm old-ish (46) and need to take care of my body so I can be doing this for years to come!

 

[scuba diver]

I've been doing Galloway for 4 years and have done 10+ marathons and 2 Ultras. I had the good fortune to run the last two Disney marathons with Jeff and his wife.

From that experience I have learned the power of the 1r/1w. We did the full in 5:08 one year and 5:17 the next, all doing 1/1.

One of my running group wanted to finally break 5 hours so at Breast Cancer I paced her and we came in at 4:56, running 1/1 the whole time.

Running longer may not be answer for a quicker time because you have to run slower. You might find it easier to run a little faster for a shorter time and walk some more. That is how the 1/1 works and it works great.

 

[DisneyWalkerGirl]

Folks - someone help me out here. I can't figure out the spreadsheet that you referred to in earlier posts. It seemed the running paces are really fast, so to "validate" the logic in the sheet I put in a 2 mile race and said I want to run it in 30 minutes. That is a 15 minute per mile pace, right?

Now my own logic says that if I say I walk a 15 min pace, shouldn't the run pace be the same 15 minutes??? The chart below says my run pace should be a 3:45 mile

This gives me absolutely no faith in the spreadsheet. Someone set me straight. What am I missing here?


miles
What is the distance you are running? 2
Hrs Minutes Seconds
What is the time you want to run it in? 0 30
Run Walk
What is your Run/ Walk cycle? 1 4
Seconds
At what pace/mile to you Walk? 15 0 per mile
Minutes Seconds
To Achieve this race time, your run pace is: 3 45 per mile

 

[dislvr74]

Try using the general target tab instead of the race target. If I enter your information on the general target tab, it tells me to run at a 15/mi pace. I read the blog of the guy who created the spreadsheet and the formula for the race target is different and more complex.

I did enter your information on the race target tab with a r4/w1 interval and still got the walk 15/mi and run 15/mi pace. I don't know why it changes if you walk more, but my guess is that it has something to do with the formula used to calculate race targets.

 

[FLORIDA_GIRL]

Did my last LR with a R/W of 3/1 instead of my normal 4/1...not only did I feel much better during and after the run, but my overall pace was actually faster too. Looks like I have a keeper!

 

[jessily]

Did my last LR with a R/W of 3/1 instead of my normal 4/1...not only did I feel much better during and after the run, but my overall pace was actually faster too. Looks like I have a keeper!

That's great

 

[dislvr74]

I'm experimenting with 3/1 vs 2/1. My pace is about the same with each and I'm going to go with whatever feels better. My toughest challenge is dropping from 2 minutes of walking to 1 minute.