Walk breaks--these may be revolutionizing my running

[C. Beth Run.]

Several of you recommended the Galloway training method (or variants of it) on my recent thread about marathon walk/run ratios. I'm still not sure when/if I'll do a marathon, but I did look into the Galloway method, and it made so much sense to me. Potentially faster times? Potentially fewer injuries? It sounded like it was worth trying. I didn't want to use the specific ratios he suggests for slow-pokes like me; I decided I'd just need to figure out what walk/run ratios work for me.

So Saturday I did a run a little over 6 miles, running 4 minutes/walking 1 (doing away with the final walk break at the end of the run.) I really loved it. It was freeing, feeling like I could let myself run fast instead of having to so carefully conserve my energy. My legs felt loose--even when my IT band/hip got a bit tight, it worked itself out during walk breaks. It was fun! My time wasn't amazing, but it was better than most of my training times have been for that distance, so I figured the walk breaks will probably help with my race time too once I do another 10K.

So today I decided I wanted to see if walk breaks could improve my 5K time too. There's a fun 5K route in and around our neighborhood, with plenty of hills. My previous 5K PR was on that route 4 weeks ago, 31:05 (10:01/mile.) Today I did a half-mile warm-up (mostly running, a little walking) before starting the 5K route, which I think helped a lot. But I think the walk breaks during the run helped even more. I did a 5 minute run/1 minute walk ratio, and I shortened the final walking interval to about 15 seconds since I had enough energy to push more at the end. I pushed my speed when I could, and my time ended up being 29:09...9:24/mile! WOW, a new 5K PR that's almost 2 minutes lower than my previous PR! (My runs lately have all been in VFFs, by the way.)

I've always kind of felt like walk breaks were "cheating" even though I told other runners they weren't. So it's a little hard to get past that mindset! But really, if it's making me go faster and if it's easier on my legs...that's not cheating, that's just smart, fun running. I'm looking forward to continuing to experiment with run/walk ratios at various distances, and to seeing what it does to my race times! Thanks to everyone who gave me the advice to try this!

 

[Abide]

Cool Beth, I'm glad it is

Cool Beth, I'm glad it is working out for you.

I would assume that the one limiting factor or walk/running would be speed. What do you think the fastest mile you could complete in a long race? 8 minutes maybe? I guess you could adjust it and run 3 1/2 minutes and walk 30 seconds as you get more conditioned, right?

 

[C. Beth Run.]

Abide--I don't think I can do

Abide--I don't think I can do an 8 minute mile yet. But Galloway says in a marathon you can do whatever you want for the last 6 miles--do away with the walk breaks if you want to; by then you've been conserving energy for 20 miles and can really push if you've got it in you. And I'm finding that if I've got the extra energy at the end of the run, I'm naturally eliminating or shortening the final scheduled walk break.

For me, for now, this is faster. But I think the way I run will probably continue to change as I have more experience and a higher fitness level. You're right, I could change the ratio by shortening the walking intervals. OR I could lengthen the running intervals. Right now 1 minute seems right for recovering since I'm pushing so much harder than usual during the running portions.

Supposedly there are 2 1/2 hour marathoners who use (limited!) walk breaks. So while I doubt a world recordholder will ever use walk breaks, I think a lot of the rest of us can probably be faster if we use them. But I'm certain it's not one-size-fits-all.

 

[Barefoot Dama]

Awesome Beth! keep playing

Awesome Beth! keep playing with the ratios until you find one that is more comfortable and works better for you.

 

[sloutre]

How do you know whe to stop?

How do you know whe to stop? Do you look at your watch all the time, or does it beep for you? Or do you plan your walk breaks before your run based pn distance and estimated pace?
I'm curious about this method but I don't see how to implement it easily.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

sloutre--I set up the timer

sloutre--I set up the timer on my watch (just a Timex Ironman) for the total cycle-- 5 minutes for a 4 min run/1 min walk cycle, for instance. And I set it to "REPEAT AT END" so it automatically starts the timer over when it's done.

For the first 5 minutes I just run. When it beeps, I click the button to turn off the beep (which turns off on its own, but it's sorta annoying waiting for that) and I walk for a minute. I don't mind watching my watch as I'm walking. When I see that a minute has passed, I start running, and run until the timer beeps...then repeat.

They do sell vibrating interval timers (that you can set for 2 different alternating times...like 4 minutes AND 1 minute) at Galloway's site and on Amazon, but it's $20 for one more piece of gear, so I figure what I'm doing with my watch works fine.

 

[sloutre]

Thanks,When I started

Thanks,

When I started running in the spring I made music playlists with for example 4 min of fast song then 1 min of slow song, and beeps in between. But now I don't like listening to music when I run so I would have to use a watch.

 

[Jimmy Hart]

Abide-Galloway breaks his

Abide-Galloway breaks his intervals down to an 8 min mile but he's not setting it up on his site for the faster runners. Using a 4-1 and even a 5-1 interval I've had people log 3 hour marathons running the first three and last three non stop having intervals in between. It's a really smart way to attack a race and even more so the training. The walk breaks are enough to help you avoid muscle weakness, soreness, and breakdown so you recover faster for your next run and like Beth said, you are conserving energy during the runs so you can really push when you want to.

I've coached the use of them for years and this past year have personally implemented them and I've grown to really enjoy this method of running.

 

[miqie]

Don't think the run/walk

Don't think the run/walk breaks would work in cold climates. I can't afford to lose all that heat I built up running. My feet would freeze. But next spring, I may try it out.

 

[C. Beth Run.]

miqie--I hadn't thought about

miqie--I hadn't thought about how this might affect you in colder climates. I think it probably depends how warm your body is getting while running. If you're nice and warm, a one minute walk break probably would be fine but if you're battling coldness the whole run, I agree you might not want to slow down. Remember if you do try it, you're running faster at the times you ARE running so you might be building up more heat because of the greater exertion. If you do decide to try it I'd be interested to hear how it goes.

It might also depend whether or not you're barefoot. I'd think if you're barefoot on a very cold day you might want to keep the feet moving quickly. But I'll never be one to run barefoot in the cold; it's just not something I want to tackle!

 

[Matt]

Beth -- I'm a big believe in

Beth -- I'm a big believe in walk breaks. I don't use them in races, but I use them on most of my training runs, and I'm convinced that they keep my legs fresh and allow me to go much further than if I didn't use them.

They are definitely cheating, but so is running barefoot or running in VFF's.