Galloway vs. slow & steady

I've always been a Galloway Girl. The main reason: I recover faster and can go longer.  Oh yeah, and it's fun, I can now walk < a 15 min mile no problem, the trick is really being as speedy as  you can on the walk break.  I did a marathon years ago at a 7:1 ratio and this past year I did a half mary at a 4:1 ratio. Both times I was walking around happy the next day...

I think conventional wisdom says that there are diminishing returns once you get fast enough, which I will never be.  

It's a very personal thing though, there are some curmudgeonly types, ahem, on this board who say that you may not say you "RAN" a marathon if you walked parts of it, you may only say you "completed" it. I say I RAN it in 4:23, which is faster than many who actually ran the whole thing, so for me, it works..

I had always been a run only person. Last year I started doing run/walk and found that I was actually faster. Being the goal of a race is to get to the finish line as fast as possible I found that was the best way to go. Normally I do 4/1 run/walk but it can very depending what I'm training for.

When I do shorter runs I just run unless I feel a little break and I may walk a short time..my long runs when I go over 7-8 miles  I do the run/walk thing. I find I can tell what feels best for my body and learn to be intuitive. 

When I started I did shorter runs but it just jacked my HR way up. 4/1 worked best.

This is an interesting topic for me. I've never done the run/walk thing because I've always had problems with running after I've stopped to walk. The knees feel disjointed or something. I'm currently training for my first marathon and finding that I'm having trouble getting faster, so I'm definitely in the SLOW & steady group right now. However, I'm anxious about not making the time cutoff, so I find myself contemplating Galloway.

Can someone explain the benefits of the run/walk? Possum's point about making the walk as speedy as possible is a good one. Are you supposed to sprint during the run portion? Like go all out and then walk fast? I'm just wondering how this would work for someone who is only running a slower than 12 minute pace.

Thanks for the help!! I ran my first 14 miler ever today and it was kinda miserable. I'm just a bit worried I won't be able to meet the 14:50 pace limit.

I gave Galloway a brief try early on in my training. It sounded promising, but I found that while I was able to keep the same overall pace, I had a hard time recovering from run/walk workouts. Others swear by it, so it seems to be a personal preference.

My advice would be to give both approaches a try and see what works better for you. I'd also suggest trying a variety of run/walk ratios, which is something I probably could have been more patient about.

NO!  Definitely no sprinting during the run part.  You should never be running so fast that your lungs look forward to your walk break, and you should walk fast enough that your HR stays up, but your legs get a break-- if you are walking fast enough, you actually look forward to the run part because you are using different muscles.  Does that make sense?

he's got gobs of info here:

http://www.jeffgalloway.com/

I know some people HATE the walk breaks, and say it makes them MORE tired, that they hate starting up running again after the break. For me, the walk part is not really a break, I keep cruising, and I look forward to the end of that minute to give my calves a break!

I have a .98 mile loop around my house.  I run it three times on run days, but run it once even on "off" days (excluding my recent rash of minor injuries) to exercise my dog.  I have tried pushing the run, jogging steadily, doing negative intervals (first half ez, 2nd half harder) and running for 2 minutes, walking for 30 seconds.

All of these methods provide very similar results (from 9:05 to 9:25) with the Galloway intervals being a little more enjoyable and faster.  I have the following goals for 2009, and I am trying to make sure that I get there!

Run 1 mile in 6:30 or faster

Run a 5k in 25:00 or faster

Finish a sprint 400 meter /12 Mile / 5 K in under 1:15

Run a 10 miler

Do a cylcocross

Complete an Olympic length triathlon

Weigh 199 or less (AKA LEAVE CLYDESDALE DIVISION)

I have never been a run/walk guy.  Just run.  For the shorter races (sprint and Oly) it's all out, so no time for walking (for me).

HOWEVER, I am going to go by feel, but my plan for my IM is to walk through all the aid stations.  This, to get as much as I can to drink AND give myself a moment to recover. 

I had to walk during a long run I had last weekend, and I was a little surprised how much better I felt after the rests (a little hard to get started up running each time).  I went back to a straight run yesterday and found my pace a bit faster.  But the overall pace was only 15 seconds per mile slower, so it might be a price I can afford to pay just to survive the run of my long race.