Jeff Galloway- what do I do on race day?

[bridget]

I've run a few 5k races before. Depending on the course and the weather I usually average about 11 min. miles. I started doing his program, and I really like it.

What the heck do I do on race day? Do I just run until I can't run anymore, and then switch to his 1 min walk/1 min run plan?

 

[johde]

In general his plan is to do the exact opposite. Do the run 1 min/walk 1 min. for the first 80% of the race or so then if you're feeling good, run it in to the finish. For example in a half marathon he recommends doing run/walk for at least the first 10 miles or so before running in the last 3.1 miles. The goal is to start walking before you need to. That way you keep a strong run and a fairly quick walk. That being said, at your speed, Jeff recommends running 2:30 /walking 1:00. But I would experiment with ratios around that to see what you like best.

 

[GeorgeAndDiana]

My concern about following this from the start of the race was "feeling out of place" walking after 1-2 minutes or so of running. For those of you who have been, is it common enough? I'm hoping we don't feel peer pressured into running too much from the start, and then throwing our rhythm off, if that makes sense. But, if many are following Galloway, hopefully it will be just fine. First race always brings up many unknowns!

 

[johde]

The popularity of run/walk really depends on your overall speed. From my experience, in finishing half marathons from 3:28 to 2:51, there are a large number of people who do some form of run/walk.
In my first half marathon, I walked the entire time at about a 16 min. mile. There were mostly walkers but several people who were doing run/walk. In my second half marathon, I started in the back and was doing run 1/walk 2. I started with walking because I was in the area with mostly walkers. My plan was to start my run/walk when the course thinned out enough where we weren't right on top of each other. In that race it happened fairly quickly. My third half marathon was fairly small and I started right out with my run/walk ratio run :45/walk 1:15 did that for the first 4 miles before switching to run 1/walk 1 (beginning had the only significant hills in it).

I'm doing Disneyland in 2 1/2 weeks and I've been struggling with this same question from a crowd prospective at the beginning. I am thinking about making my first run cycle a little bit longer but slower than normal to let the people spread out a little, then follow it with a longer than normal walk interval.

I'm not sure if that helps much, because at least in my first 2 half marathons, I was back with the faster walkers/slower runners so walking nor running looked out of place.

 

[sug78]

I just had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Galloway tonight- and got to pick his brain for 1 hour. He is such a nice guy so down to earth and offers up such great advice. Anyways, I asked him the same question OP asked.
I run an 11 minute mile ( just a normal not pushing myself hard pace). Jeff said for a half start out doing 1/1 ratio- yes from the very start because you want to start walking "before" you exhaust your muscles-
He also suggested for the first few miles to run at my long run pace which is your Magic mile x 1.3 plus 2 minutes.
After those miles he said you could switch it to 2/1 ratio, then around mile 9 or 10 you could run to finish if desired.
I wouldn't worry about feeling out of place- with the run/walk method in the last miles you will be passing all the people who started out too fast at the beginning of the race
Jeff also told me he runs at 11 minute pace and uses the 1/1 ratio for the whole marathon.

 

[GeorgeAndDiana]

Thanks for sharing, and for talking to Jeff about this! It's good to know his direct interpretation on this.. sometimes the little things posted on Disney's site are a bit hard to interpret, so my running partner and I were on separate paths while following the Galloway program. Hopefully, this information will make it more clear cut!

Have a great weekend.
George

I just had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Galloway tonight- and got to pick his brain for 1 hour. He is such a nice guy so down to earth and offers up such great advice. Anyways, I asked him the same question OP asked.
I run an 11 minute mile ( just a normal not pushing myself hard pace). Jeff said for a half start out doing 1/1 ratio- yes from the very start because you want to start walking "before" you exhaust your muscles-
He also suggested for the first few miles to run at my long run pace which is your Magic mile x 1.3 plus 2 minutes.
After those miles he said you could switch it to 2/1 ratio, then around mile 9 or 10 you could run to finish if desired.
I wouldn't worry about feeling out of place- with the run/walk method in the last miles you will be passing all the people who started out too fast at the beginning of the race
Jeff also told me he runs at 11 minute pace and uses the 1/1 ratio for the whole marathon.

 

[sug78]

You are very welcome!

 

[PrincessAndrea'sMom]

I had the same problem! I did a seven mile race last week and was not sure what to do. I went with the plan and did 1/1 the whole time. I thought I would feel out of place, but I really did not. I just made sure I ran as far right as I could at the begining. After the first half mile or so, the crowd really spread out and it was not tough at all to follow the plan. I finished my seven mile race in about 80 minutes, but it was not a chip timed race so I don't have an excact time.

 

[GeorgeAndDiana]

I had the same problem! I did a seven mile race last week and was not sure what to do. I went with the plan and did 1/1 the whole time. I thought I would feel out of place, but I really did not. I just made sure I ran as far right as I could at the begining. After the first half mile or so, the crowd really spread out and it was not tough at all to follow the plan. I finished my seven mile race in about 80 minutes, but it was not a chip timed race so I don't have an excact time.

Thanks! If it only takes about a half mile to spread out, I'm pretty sure I can handle that. If I can start at 1min/1min (as of this point in my training) that would be even more ideal.

Have a great week!

 

[sug78]

Just did my first half this weekend. Followed Jeff Galloway for the first 2.5 miles. (thought that was too cool!) Anyways, I followed his plan. Ran 1/1 then 2:30/1 then finished strong running the last 3 miles. He was right- I passed so many people at the end! I felt like I could just keep going and going.
Finished at 2:21

 

[GeorgeAndDiana]

Just did my first half this weekend. Followed Jeff Galloway for the first 2.5 miles. (thought that was too cool!) Anyways, I followed his plan. Ran 1/1 then 2:30/1 then finished strong running the last 3 miles. He was right- I passed so many people at the end! I felt like I could just keep going and going.
Finished at 2:21

WOW! Well done and congrats!

Do you use a GPS watch? I was curious how others kept track of timing when doing run/walk ratio. I find myself glancing at my watch a lot to keep pace.

 

[sug78]

WOW! Well done and congrats!

Do you use a GPS watch? I was curious how others kept track of timing when doing run/walk ratio. I find myself glancing at my watch a lot to keep pace.

Yep. I have a garmin 305 which I love- got a great deal on amazon. The only thing bad about it is it's a tad bulky and Im a small girl!
I did not like to have to keep on looking at it for my time so I bought a Gymboss timer. You simply set it for your walk/run ratio and it vibrates and beeps accordingly. Just clip it on your watch or belt- works out perfectly. You can order one on Jeff Galloways website.

 

[J-2]

Just did my first half this weekend. Followed Jeff Galloway for the first 2.5 miles. (thought that was too cool!) Anyways, I followed his plan. Ran 1/1 then 2:30/1 then finished strong running the last 3 miles. He was right- I passed so many people at the end! I felt like I could just keep going and going.
Finished at 2:21

That's awesome! Way to go!

I discovered in my recent 10K race that I did, it took around the 1st mile marker for the crowd to spread out some. I ended up running that whole 1st mile because there never was a good opportunity to slow and walk. It wasn't my plan but it's just the way it worked out. After that though I did my 2:1 intervals the rest of the time. I felt good at the end too!

 

[GeorgeAndDiana]

Yep. I have a garmin 305 which I love- got a great deal on amazon. The only thing bad about it is it's a tad bulky and Im a small girl!
I did not like to have to keep on looking at it for my time so I bought a Gymboss timer. You simply set it for your walk/run ratio and it vibrates and beeps accordingly. Just clip it on your watch or belt- works out perfectly. You can order one on Jeff Galloways website.

Sweet! Thanks for the tip on Gymboss.. that's EXACTLY what I was looking for!

I love my 305 as well.. I agree, it can feel huge. I don't regularly wear a watch so it feels crazy big when I'm running sometimes. Good thing it's great in every other way!

- George

 

[johde]

Yep. I have a garmin 305 which I love- got a great deal on amazon. The only thing bad about it is it's a tad bulky and Im a small girl!
I did not like to have to keep on looking at it for my time so I bought a Gymboss timer. You simply set it for your walk/run ratio and it vibrates and beeps accordingly. Just clip it on your watch or belt- works out perfectly. You can order one on Jeff Galloways website.

I also use my Garmin 305. I set up an advanced workout with my run/walk ratios. The only bad part is I need to decide in advance. For example this is the beginning of my workout for the Disneyland Half marathon.

I have some other workouts set up with some of my common run/walk ratios as well.

 

[GeorgeAndDiana]

Thanks, Jeremy! I've been on vacation so I haven't been able to play with the workout customization yet.. however, I do have a question. Do you end up having to press a button to acknowledge each run/walk transition with what you do? I'm hoping not to have to do that.. just a simple beep or two each minute (or whatever) would be perfect. (hence the Gymboss perhaps)

 

[PrincessAndrea'sMom]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I did Galloway in my 9/11 Run to Remember this past Sunday. I did Galloway 1/1 the whole time. I am happy to report that I got my best offical time yet with a time of 11:40 per minute!

 

[GeorgeAndDiana]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I did Galloway in my 9/11 Run to Remember this past Sunday. I did Galloway 1/1 the whole time. I am happy to report that I got my best offical time yet with a time of 11:40 per minute!

Thanks for the update and congrats on the time!! I'll be taking the same advice (1min/1min) to my first 10k this coming Sunday.. looking forward to seeing how a real race goes!