kapitel

Here are the benefits I’ve received by continuing to adjust the running and the walking amounts:

Improved leg turnover
Development of a comfortable stride and running motion
Better recovery during the walk interval
Recovery from injury while staying below threshold of injury
Ability to run faster with confidence

Athletes may find that variations to the traditional running and walking intervals may be beneficial in several settings:

The beginning runner can gently introduce the body to running by using very brief periods such as 5 seconds. Thus, they could run for 5 seconds and walk for 55 seconds to allow some use of the running muscles followed by a long period of recovery.
Short running intervals allow the injured Run Walk Run^® athlete to return to running while staying below the threshold for injury. The athlete can begin with running for 5 seconds followed by a walk for 55 seconds for the initial week back from injury. If things go well, they have several choices to make to improve speed. They can increase the running interval from 5 seconds to 10 seconds or they can reduce the walk break from 55 seconds to 45 or 50 seconds. This could create a new ratio for the next recovery week of R10sec/W50sec. If the body responds well, the interval can be further adjusted to R15sec/W45sec. If the muscles are not responding, the former ratio can be used.

Sample Injury Recovery Plan

Week	Run Walk Run^® Interval
1	R5sec/W55sec
2	R10sec/W50sec
3	R15sec/W45sec
4	R10sec/W40sec or R20sec/W40sec

One can modify traditional Run Walk Run^® intervals to improve speed through improved leg turnover. For example, an athlete who uses R30sec/W30sec but tires towards the end of races can try intervals such as R20sec/W20sec or R15sec/W15sec with desired results in improvement in training or race time. Athletes are encouraged to try these intervals during their weekly training runs to see which ones work better for them. Further modification of traditional Run Walk Run^® intervals are also possible. Athletes have reported significantly improved times with intervals such as R10sec/W20sec.
Even somewhat innovative intervals such as R12sec/W17sec, which is a variation of R25sec/W35sec, can produce faster times. How is this possible? With shorter running intervals, athletes can run these intervals with increased leg turnover and an increased stride length. For a brief time period, the athlete will become minimally fatigued and allow for the running muscles to recover during the walk break. Most runners will have their most significant improvement in fatigue during the first 10-15 seconds of the walk break so that the 20 seconds of walk in the R10sec/W20sec example can produce rather fast times overall. One could expect to maintain a pace of 13 minutes/mile or faster with practice.

Use of mathematics to create the best Run Walk Run^® interval based on traditional Galloway Run Walk Run^® intervals

Each athlete can create the Run Walk Run^® interval that works best. However, if you want to take the guesswork out of the formula, here is a thought. For the Run Walk Run^® interval of R20sec/W40sec, the ratio of running to walking is .50. If this is the ratio you want to use but you want to try a similar variation, one could try R10sec/W20sec, or R5sec/W10sec. While these are certainly short intervals, similar longer intervals can be created such as R40sec/W80sec, R1min/W2min depending on the fitness of the athlete. The choice is up to each athlete and the best way to figure this out is to try it out. Below are some samples of interval variations that have worked for some athletes that are nontraditional:

Variations to the Traditional Running and Walking Intervals