Springtime Surprise Weekend 2025 (April 3-6)

[Dopey 2020]

Did 10 yesterday with 15 coming up tomorrow (or more likely Tuesday due to weather) then taper. Always training, the challenge fits nicely into both my running schedule and life. Get to visit DD in college for the weekend and get some miles in while I start ramping up for a June 50K.

 

[Baloo in MI]

I am down in DW right now. We our on my daughter’s senior trip with her best friend and family. Staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge and it is so stunning to walk out on the balcony and see zebra and giraffes! But, and this a big but, I did a challenge simulation - 3 miles Friday, 5 yesterday and 10 today with no place to run but the parking lots of Jambo and Kidani. It is an incredible resort, but has no good places to run. Today was fairly warm, bright and sunny and 10 miles up and down the parking lot rows; thought I would go mad! But I am in DW, so should just stop whining and go ride GOTG - tonight’s plan!

 

[Dopey 2020]

I feel your pain @Baloo in MI
I have put in more miles between Kadani and Jambo than I ever care to count. AK has to be one of the worst Disney properties there is for runners yet it’s always a fight between there and Wilderness as my favorite to stay.

 

[PrincessV]

I am down in DW right now. We our on my daughter’s senior trip with her best friend and family. Staying at Animal Kingdom Lodge and it is so stunning to walk out on the balcony and see zebra and giraffes! But, and this a big but, I did a challenge simulation - 3 miles Friday, 5 yesterday and 10 today with no place to run but the parking lots of Jambo and Kidani. It is an incredible resort, but has no good places to run. Today was fairly warm, bright and sunny and 10 miles up and down the parking lot rows; thought I would go mad! But I am in DW, so should just stop whining and go ride GOTG - tonight’s plan!

I once cobbled together 5ish miles in the AKL/AKV parking lots and that was more than enough - you deserve a medal for 18!

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

Yesterday was darn near perfect: temps in the low 70's, low humidity, some breezes. So I headed to the greenway to enjoy some flat-ish running and to try for 5 miles while sticking to RWR intervals. Keep in mind that on Friday, I did a neighborhood run (meaning with hills) of 4 miles with an 11:48 pace, so I had optimistic thoughts for yesterday.
I started with a 3 minute/24-second run/walk interval and had a 10:33 pace for that first mile. That said, I think I may have overdone it a bit. Or maybe I forgot a second shot of my inhaler right before getting out of the car, maybe from not long enough time since having lunch. Either way, I was really breathing hard at the end of that first mile, and jogged the next half mile at an 11:45 pace and then decided to try a different interval.
I reset things to 2min/30seconds and set out again. This time I had an 11:16 pace, but again was really feeling it at the end of that mile.
So in spite of near perfect conditions, it just wasn't going to be a great run. Maybe from overdoing it the first mile? But I was 2.5 miles from my car, so I walked the rest of the way back at about a 16 min/mile pace.
So whereas ten months ago I wouldn't be concerned about the SS 10-miler [cue to me laughing derisively in the face of 10 miles], I'm taking nothing for granted and will be pacing myself accordingly with an eye on simply finishing. Just dang, but still way ahead of where I was a few months ago.
I'll go back out tomorrow or Wed and stick to the 2/30 interval and see how it goes. Maybe just a day or two of recovery will make a nice difference. Regardless, progress and really looking forward to SS.

 

[nancipants]

You might also want to try a shorter run/walk interval, like 1 min/30 seconds, for a mile and see where that leaves you. It seems like it would make you slower, but I know a lot of times shortening the run interval makes me go faster overall, because I can keep my heart rate down and run those intervals faster.

 

[Baloo in MI]

You might also want to try a shorter run/walk interval, like 1 min/30 seconds, for a mile and see where that leaves you. It seems like it would make you slower, but I know a lot of times shortening the run interval makes me go faster overall, because I can keep my heart rate down and run those intervals faster.

I was going to suggest the same. I use a 1:30/:30 when doing a fast pace workout. I have used 2:00/:30 and 3:00/:30 in the past and have found that depending on the distance I am faster at 1:30/:30 than the other paces. Of course my fast is relative but in simple terms I am stronger longer at that interval than the others.

Less than two weeks now!

@Mr_Incr3dible you got this 10 miler, congrats on all the work post injury! It is not easy!

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I was going to suggest the same. I use a 1:30/:30 when doing a fast pace workout. I have used 2:00/:30 and 3:00/:30 in the past and have found that depending on the distance I am faster at 1:30/:30 than the other paces. Of course my fast is relative but in simple terms I am stronger longer at that interval than the others.

Less than two weeks now!

@Mr_Incr3dible you got this 10 miler, congrats on all the work post injury! It is not easy!

Thank you.
Yes, I'll be trying the shorter intervals; the 1:30/30 sounds like a good suggestion.
It's just a matter of what I think I can do in my head (very optimistic), vs the reality what my body can do at this point.
As the great philosopher George Costanza once said: I'm aware!

SS is next week? Already?! Woo-hoo!

 

[sandam1]

I'll go back out tomorrow or Wed and stick to the 2/30 interval and see how it goes. Maybe just a day or two of recovery will make a nice difference. Regardless, progress and really looking forward to SS.

It wasn't clear - what pace are you hoping for?

Looking at Jeff Galloway's chart, here are the recommended r/w intervals for the paces that you mentioned in your post:

9:30-10:45 90/30 or 60/20 or 45/15 or 60/30 or 40/20
10:45-12:15 60/30 or 40/20 or 30/15 or 30/30 or 20/20

So as others picked up on, the reality is that you're probably running waaaaay too long to get the pace that you are looking for.

 

[radiodome21]

I was thinking the same thing. I admittedly didn’t fully comprehend the RWR method when I started training. I ran into issues with the long run. I figured it out now.

I’ve been doing 3 minutes running with 1 minute walking but on a treadmill. Curious to see how this translates to running outside. My issue is that’s it too cold and dark out when I do my running. Can’t wait for the warmer Florida weather for our first run Disney run.

 

[nancipants]

I’ve been doing 3 minutes running with 1 minute walking but on a treadmill. Curious to see how this translates to running outside. My issue is that’s it too cold and dark out when I do my running. Can’t wait for the warmer Florida weather for our first run Disney run.

For me, I do longer run intervals on the treadmill mostly because I don't want to switch the speed as often, but it's also easier for me to regulate pace while on the treadmill. Today I did a 30 minute easy run and didn't have to walk at all! But, on my long run yesterday (outside), I did 60/30 to start, switched to 30/30 after 2 miles, then tried 45/30 for the last two miles.

 

[sandam1]

I’ve been doing 3 minutes running with 1 minute walking but on a treadmill. Curious to see how this translates to running outside.

One thing that I find a lot of people get wrong about r/w/r intervals (I know that I did) is thinking the interval predicts the pace. In fact, it is the other way around. It's all about the pace (about that pace, about that pace - c'mon, you know that you want to sing it ) You decide what pace you are looking to hit (based on the Magic Mile calculator and the objective of the workout) and then find the intervals that get you to that pace most comfortably and expending the least amount of energy.

For instance, I can hit my half marathon pace with anywhere between a 15 to 45 second run and 30 second walk. However, at 15 seconds, I'm expending a lot of energy because I'm almost sprinting on the run. At 45 seconds, I'm also expending too much energy by running for too long of a stretch. For me, the sweet spot is between 20-30 second runs.

Now, I agree that when I'm on the treadmill, I will adjust these ratios to avoid going up and down (and up and down) as often. But my overall pace is the same no matter what mechanism I use to get there.

 

[rick1zoo2]

To join in the RWR discussion, I have successfully used the RWR method for the longer distances at the WDW races, but beginning to wonder if I might do better by having much longer stretches of just running. For the Princess Half, I was targeting a finish time and knew what overall pace I needed to get that, using a 90/30 R/W ratio. It worked fine, but there were times when it felt like I had to go really fast during the run portions to make up for the walks and ramping up from the walks was sometimes tough - could really feel my calves protesting. Then because of the bottleneck around Polynesian construction and especially the path between Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom, I fell behind the pace. After Magic Kingdom on the road, I began stretching out the run portions, even sometimes just skipping the walk. I eventually clawed back the lost time and finished under my target time and was very happy with that.
Looking at the run in the COROS app, I was doing a lot of the runs fast - under 10:00, I even see a few 9:26, 9:37, etc. The way I like to run is to lock into a steady pace and rhythm and like a metronome just grind away, there is something just very satisfying about that. Now I know Galloway says to do the RWR from the very first mile, but I am thinking maybe I do a hybrid - get a nice steady pace, especially on the wide open roads, then use the RWR when I need to, walk through water stations, etc.

 

[sandam1]

To join in the RWR discussion, I have successfully used the RWR method for the longer distances at the WDW races, but beginning to wonder if I might do better by having much longer stretches of just running. For the Princess Half, I was targeting a finish time and knew what overall pace I needed to get that, using a 90/30 R/W ratio. It worked fine, but there were times when it felt like I had to go really fast during the run portions to make up for the walks and ramping up from the walks was sometimes tough - could really feel my calves protesting. Then because of the bottleneck around Polynesian construction and especially the path between Grand Floridian and Magic Kingdom, I fell behind the pace. After Magic Kingdom on the road, I began stretching out the run portions, even sometimes just skipping the walk. I eventually clawed back the lost time and finished under my target time and was very happy with that.
Looking at the run in the COROS app, I was doing a lot of the runs fast - under 10:00, I even see a few 9:26, 9:37, etc. The way I like to run is to lock into a steady pace and rhythm and like a metronome just grind away, there is something just very satisfying about that. Now I know Galloway says to do the RWR from the very first mile, but I am thinking maybe I do a hybrid - get a nice steady pace, especially on the wide open roads, then use the RWR when I need to, walk through water stations, etc.

I've also found myself running longer at Disney, primarily because of the crowding. I usually have short intervals, but those result in a lot of weaving when things are congested. It is easier to get in the "running lane" and stay there. But I usually only do one "run-thru" (i.e. if I'm doing a 30/30, I will run for 60 seconds) and I also try to compensate by lengthening my walk break.

That being said, I do find it easy to do my walk breaks during the first mile because of the way the runDisney starts their races. Usually the first mile is stupid crowded and nothing is going to help to get me in a good rhythm for very long. I just accept that that mile is what it is and do the math once things open up.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

ramping up from the walks was sometimes tough - could really feel my calves protesting

This is why I've never gotten into run/walk myself - I like the idea of it, but switching back and forth feels way harder to me than just running straight through. I can see why people would like it, especially for longer distances, but for me it's easier to just run continuously.

 

[Stitch&Co.]

This is why I've never gotten into run/walk myself - I like the idea of it, but switching back and forth feels way harder to me than just running straight through. I can see why people would like it, especially for longer distances, but for me it's easier to just run continuously.

I agree. I am thinking about trying to add intervals back in, even though I know my knee won't like it, but I think it is easier if you can just find your pace and go with it.

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

It wasn't clear - what pace are you hoping for?

Looking at Jeff Galloway's chart, here are the recommended r/w intervals for the paces that you mentioned in your post:

9:30-10:45 90/30 or 60/20 or 45/15 or 60/30 or 40/20
10:45-12:15 60/30 or 40/20 or 30/15 or 30/30 or 20/20

So as others picked up on, the reality is that you're probably running waaaaay too long to get the pace that you are looking for.

And there is where I will freely admit that I'm doing it wrong and need to get over my mental hurdles for the shorter run/walk ratios.
Over the past few years, I've usually run the first few miles and then would run a mile (to the next hydration) and walk through it while consuming any food and/or water. For my neighborhood training runs, it is mostly run with some walking starting about halfway up the big hills.
So the mental hurdle is getting that ratio down not only to several minutes, but to 60 to 90 seconds of running and then a walk interval. I know it in my head that this is correct, having read more than one Galloway book, but still not quite as accepting of the idea when the feet hit the road. That said, yesterday's results are telling me to adjust my intervals down and see how they go later this week. Part of why I posted yesterday's results is just to document how it went and provide data (even if just how not to do it) to anyone else reading.

In response to your first question: for SS, I just hope to finish ahead of the balloon ladies. It may turn out that I have something like a 13 min/mile pace for the first few miles to build a buffer and after that do a mix of walk and jog just to keep a 16 min/mile pace. We'll see how it goes.
Long term, I'd like to get back to around a 10:30 pace by MW 2026, with the ultimate goal of dropping another 10 lb and maybe closer to a 10 min/mile pace around a year from now.

Thanks to everyone for the comments and feedback, and I will be incorporating your comments into my runs, and I'll continue to update here and in my training journal for benefit of anyone else on a similar RWR journey.

 

[Naomeri]

My RWR sweet spot is 30 seconds running, and then I change the walk depending on what I'm trying to do. 30 seconds for 5K/speed, 45 for 10K, and 60 seconds for everything else. I know the prevailing wisdom is to max out the walk at 30 seconds, but my heart and lungs have different wisdom, and it's worked for me, and that's all that matters.

In races, I absolutely can and do run for longer than 30 seconds, especially if it's a downhill or there's people and cameras to show off for. And on the treadmill, since it forces me to run at a slower pace than I can maintain out on the road, I can run a full 12-13 minute mile before I need a walk break.

 

[sandam1]

This is why I've never gotten into run/walk myself - I like the idea of it, but switching back and forth feels way harder to me than just running straight through. I can see why people would like it, especially for longer distances, but for me it's easier to just run continuously.

I agree. I am thinking about trying to add intervals back in, even though I know my knee won't like it, but I think it is easier if you can just find your pace and go with it.

Jeff has an acceleration/glider drill that helps teach how to transition properly. Rise and Run posted a video of Chris Twiggs teaching this.

The first part of the video is the cadence drill, but the a/g instruction starts about 7:20 in. Chris has his Customized group doing these for five minutes (including your walking recovery) once every week or every other week to keep the muscle memory fresh. Once you learn how to glide into the walk, it should become effortless to transition.

 

[jmasgat]

or there's people and cameras to show off for.

Never underestimate the power of external motivators!