Chapter 19:
How fast do I have to run during my running segment to maintain a certain pace in a race?
Sorry but I can’t tell you. In numerous surveys we’ve found that runners run and walk at different paces during a long race or training run. To stay on pace, look at your stopwatch each mile. If you are too fast, take an extra walk break. If you are too slow, pick up your running pace during the next mile.
Knees, hips, or legs tighten or ache when going into a walk break or coming out of one.
Be sure to do the acceleration-glider drill which is described in this book. By doing 4-8 of this AG every week, you can teach yourself to seamlessly move from a walk into a shuffle, easing then into a slow jog, a regular jog, and then gliding gently back into a walk. Practice makes you seamless.
It is hard to start up after a walk break.
Don’t walk longer than 30 seconds, and work on the AG drill every week. Shortening the run segment has reduced fatigue at the end of runs. At the end of races, if you are having trouble getting back into the run, just shuffle through the walk breaks.
Slowing down at the end of a running segment.
This is usually due to having run segments that are too long. Try shortening both the run and the walk segments.
Walk breaks mess up my rhythm.
When runners start using the method or change to shorter segments, this is a common complaint. The primary benefit of the right Run Walk Run® strategy is strong legs at the end of a race or long run, and quick recovery. The human organism is capable of adapting to changes in rhythm and the Galloway timer speeds up this process. There are wonderful benefits from making the shift: faster times, never being out of commission after a long run, and passing people at the end of a race. Practice can get you into a new rhythm, with all the Run Walk Run® benefits.
My running friend doesn’t want to take walk breaks.
Just ask your friend to try the method on one long run. In most cases the benefits are dramatic and you have a new convert. You can certainly run non-stop on short runs together. But if the friend chooses not to take walk breaks on long runs, explain that you need to stay injury free, avoid exhaustion, and enjoy friends and family after long runs—and Run Walk Run® allows you to do this.
Faster races, no more injuries, and never being out of commission!
“Jeff Galloway not only has an amazing knowledge about the spectrum of running issues, he cuts through conflicting information with a simple plan.”
“Run Walk Run® is taking over because it really works: all of the empowerment of finishing with no more pain and exhaustion.”
“There is no way I would have started running if it weren’t for your method.”
“I qualified for the Boston Marathon because of Run Walk Run®.”
“I used to be out of commission after all of my long runs. With Galloway, I can do anything with my family, friends—even after a 26-mile run!”
“I started running again using your method after 20 sedentary years. I’m not only experiencing the joy of running for the first time, I’m also faster!”
“A friend improved his best time for the 5K from 19:07 to 16:47 using Run Walk Run® and won the race!”
“Your method of Run Walk Run® has turned me into a HAPPY runner; I look forward to my training.”
“Your program is amazing. PERIOD. I see men and women go from no running to half marathons regularly now.”
“You delivered what you promised. You got me across the finish line smiling, and injury free.”
“Everything you said was 100% right on. I was so strong at the finish it amazed me!”
“I felt the very best that I have ever felt after a full marathon. I was recovered and ready to run the following morning.”
“Because of your method my love-hate relationship with running has turned into a love-love relationship. I’ve PR’d in my last two races and simply feel great!”
“Your training programs have gotten me to where I am today. I couldn’t run one quarter mile, now I‘m a Boston Qualifier. “
“Jeff, your methods and education have changed my life forever. In just one year I went from 44 years old and ZERO exercise for the past 20 years to 45 lbs. lighter and just ran a 4:41 marathon.”
“Before your program I was not able to run to the end of my street. I have lost almost 70 lbs. since I met you earlier this year and have run 3 marathons.”
Author and Olympian Jeff Galloway has helped over one million runners get into running or improve. He came up with the Run Walk Run® method in 1973 to help beginners but found that all runners reduce injury using the method. In numerous surveys, most former non-stop runners find that they can run faster with the Run Walk Run® method. Through his consulting with running events, Galloway Training Programs in about 90 cities, retreats and daily consultations with runners, he has a unique and extensive understanding of running issues and solutions to problems.