Who follows the Galloway Plan?

[Duanerice]

Hi everybody,
I have searched this site and didn't find much information. My question is, who here has followed or follows the Galloway plan of run/walk for a marathon on 1/2 marathon? I know we have quite a few people using a version on this plan 5K or 10Ks but I am wondering if anyone uses it for the longer distances.

I have read his books and thought about using the plan for the marathon in January. Couple of reasons I am exploring this idea. I am approaching 50 , I'm having minor knee surgery next week and I am going to start training, in July, for my first marathon. I have read a few books on running and marathons and they all seem pretty much the same the only difference is that Galloway promotes the run/walk.

What intrigues me the most is that he claims that people have fewer injuries using his plan. Not sure if that is true, but that would be the main reason I'd go with it. I have tried using it a few times this last month, but didn't really notice much difference. But, I am only running 8 - 10 miles so I am guessing the differences show up later in a long race.

From my research I have found a lot of support of this plan on the Galloway boards of course, but if I go to Running World, well let's just say not all the Running World people are tolerant of others that don't follow their plan

So, anyone using this plan or tried it in the past?
thanks,
Duane

 

[solotraveler]

I know there was someone on the boards who did well using Galloway's program last year.... I just can't remember whom....

There are a LOT of us on here that swear by John Bingham's "Marathoning for Mortals" Walk/Run or Run/Walk plans (I am one of them). Same type of thing but I think the intervals may be a little shorter. A lot of people here have had great success with these types of programs.

Hope that helps!
Kevin

 

[wtpclc]

I thought Chimera did.

 

[chimera]

Not me...I'm a John Bingham cult member

Was it goofyguy (Mike)? I remember someone saying that Galloway has announced that R4/W1 is the interval that he's sticking with for his programs.

 

[solotraveler]

Oof... if Mike can run sub-7:00 mile doing a run/walk... I give up.

It was definately a guy.... maybe Denny? Scott (scojo)??

 

[scoolover]

I have run two marathons and a few halfs with the galloway method. At Disney I did a 7 to 1 ratio for the first half and walked most of the last 8 miles.

At the Hyannis, MA marathon I used a 6 to 1 and finished about 25 minutes faster than Disney.

Last month I did a 2:06 half and did a 7 to 1 ratio. For my next marathon, I will do a 4 to 1 ratio as I think this will help me at the end more. I walked for about 30 seconds in my last 5K but usually don't walk at all during the shorter races.

Scott

BTW
I do the galloway method because I weigh 245 and have "nothing to prove". I hope that this method extends my running life.

 

[Optimator]

I'm pretty sure Scuba Diver Jim is a Galloway guy. Jim, where the heck are you?

 

[Duanerice]

Thanks for the info. I'd be looking to do a 7/1 ratio as stopping more often seems to throw me off for the little I have tried it so far. I'll have a few weeks to decide since I won't be able to run for a month or so as of this Friday.

The only reason I am even thinking about it is the same reason Scott mentioned - I want to extend my running life. I'm not a big guy, but I want to save the knees. Hey, can we start a movement similar to Save the Trees, but we'll call it "Save the Knees". We can have fundraisers, marches, etc. OK a little carried away

Thanks everyone. Looking forward to hearing from others that use this.
Duane

 

[MouseDogMom]

It was definitely Scuba Diver/Jim who'd done the plan before. He mentioned it to me when I was considering signing up.

I just joined the local Galloway group this morning and did my first group run with them. Jeff was here last week for a kickoff clinic, and a lot of what he said made sense, although much of it contradicted Bingham and Runners World. He SWEARS that if you follow his plan, you won't get injured, and you'll still finish with good, sometimes great times. I can't remember the exact run/walk intervals for all the pace groups - I do know that he's increased the walk intervals this year for all groups, although I don't think our group adhered to them. I started with a 12:00 group - we did 3R/1W.

Actually just opened his book that they gave us - even at the 7:00 mile, he says run 4-5 min, walk :15. At 9:30, it's R4,W1. (For 12:00, we're supposed to be 2R/1W).

I'm doing it primarily to have someone to run with on the LR's, but his reasoning sounded good, so I'll give it a try and see how it goes. You can either be amazed when I run a 2:30 half in January or laugh at me when I barely beat the sweepers!

Good luck with your knee surgery.

Jackie