Chapter 17:

Making Adjustments Using Run Walk Run®

One of my favorite roles is helping runners solve problems. Almost every day I hear from at least one person who has experienced a rebirth of their running joy due to the Run Walk Run® method. But I also work with runners who get stuck in a rut. Most commonly, a simple reduction in the running segment leaves the legs feeling stronger and recovering faster, while running faster in races. With more endorphins during a run, life is good—and running is better.

Over 35 minutes faster by dropping from R3min/W1min to R30sec/W30sec

Kathy signed on as an e-coach client with a best marathon time of 5:15. She was using a Run Walk Run® ratio of R3min/W1min and was cramping during the last 5-6 miles. I asked her to try R1min/W1min and she improved by about 13 minutes. Because she still had some cramping issues I suggested R30sec/W30sec and she continued to improve down to 4:38.

Over an hour faster by changing from R3min/W1min to R20sec/W40sec

Cory weighed over 200 pounds with a marathon best of 6:15. He was slowing down a lot at the end of his marathons when using R3min/W1min. During his first marathon at R1min/W1min, he broke 6 hours! But there were a few cramping episodes during the last few miles so I asked him to try R30sec/W30sec. He liked this and continued to improve to 5:50. One month before his current time goal marathon, Cory entered a marathon as a training run. In efforts to keep him from running too fast I asked him to do the long-run marathon using a strategy of R20sec/W40sec. When he sent me his weekly e-coach report he was proud to say that he followed my advice but that it hadn’t turned out as planned.

When only running for 20 seconds, Cory found he could run much faster because he had 40 seconds of walking for recovery. His finish time was 5:20—a 30-minute personal record. During the next year, he used a combination of R20sec/W40sec and R30sec/W30sec to improve down to 5:05.

Rules of adjustments
  1. Never hesitate to drop back to more walking and less running.

  2. Take a longer walk break if a challenge is approaching (e.g., hill, heat, pain).

  3. If things aren’t going well at the beginning of a workout or race, ease back and walk more. Often the body will rebound with strength later.

  4. When facing one of the challenges below at the end of a workout and if you are exhausted—and not injured or sick—walk the rest of the distance.

  5. If things are not going well in a race, revert to training pace with the Run Walk Run® strategy used on long runs and you can race again in 3-4 weeks.

  6. Read the section on solving problems for details about Run Walk Run® strategies that have worked for various situations.

The standard Run Walk Run® strategies mentioned in this book have worked well for thousands of runners who have overcome each challenge mentioned. But each of us has individual issues, and will commonly have different body and mind responses at different times of the year.

Be sure to read the chapter on solving problems for specific strategies on these challenges: