Anyone who has done any research on marathon training, either online or at your local library, has probably seen some books by Jeff Galloway. A former Olympic runner (he was in the '72 games), Jeff seems to have created a lucrative career for himself writing all sorts of books on running and marathon training. From what I've seen, it looks like he just re-packages the same book over and over again - for example he has a book on Marathon training and another on Half-Marathon training with essentially the same information. But hey, who am I to judge? Good for him for making a great living writing with minimal effort. Oh, by the way, the book I bought myself is entitled "Marathon. You can do it!".
The central theme to Jeff's training books is around taking regular walk breaks throughout the long distances you run. He contends that by forcing yourself to take brief walk breaks from the very beginning of a race, you can actually improve your times (by having more energy throughout the race and less fade), significantly increase your chances of finishing a marathon, and actually improve and speed-up recovery.
I also ran into a friend a few weeks ago, who told me that he had tried Jeff's Run/Walk method once during a marathon, and it worked to perfection even though he had not trained for the race (I should note it was not his first marathon).
So, starting this past week I decided to give this method a try and incorporate it into my own training. On my last run outside, last sunday, I incorporated a one minute walk break after each 9 minutes of running. My time was 54:24 for 5.75 miles. Not a personal record, but well within the normal times that I've run that distance. And I have to admit I felt a lot better at the end of the run.
And this week, in all of the runs I've done at the Y on the indoor running track, I've used this method, though I changed it just slightly. Rather than walking 1 minute for every 9 minutes, I was walking 1 lap of the track (which actually took me about a minute anyway), for every 12 laps for the 13 laps needed to complete 1 mile. Well, as you can see from the results below, my pace and times are slowly getting better. In fact, my 6 mile run today was run almost 2 minutes faster than the same distance run on the same track on Wednesday - and this the day after I ran 9 miles! I think that definitely says something about the improved recovery.
I think this Jeff guy is on to something! Now, some people think that taking walk breaks during a marathon is somehow cheating, or wimping out, or not running like a "real man". And I have to admit, before I gave this a try, I kind of thought the same thing - it's probably the same psychology as what I feel when I'm passed by someone (see my previous post on that subject). But really, is it much different that when someone "hits the wall" and walks a bit, then somehow finds the courage and fortitude to keep going? Really, it's about having a strategy and executing that strategy to meet a specific goal.
My goal is to finish my first marathon. My secondary goal is to finish in less than 4:15:00. My "Oh my God I can't believe it!!" goal would be to do it in less than 4 hours (3:59:59 would be absolutely triumphant). I think that if Jeff's Run/Walk method can help me achieve even one of these goals, it's a strategy worth considering.
For anyone interesting in learning more about Jeff Galloway's training methodologies, visit his website at: www.jeffgalloway.com.
Training update:
Thursday - Ran 5 miles on the indoor track. 45:17. Pace: 9:03. Playlist: Genesis
Friday - Did a power walk at lunch, about 2 miles. That was it.
Saturday - Did a long run of 9 Miles on the indoor track. 1:23:34. Pace: 9:17/mile. Marathon time at that pace: 4:03:27. Playlist: I listened to my Denver Half-Marathon mix.
Today (Sunday) - 6 Miles on the indoor track. Felt great today, very solid run, and I was able to focus on form and pace. Time: 54:38 (almost 2 minutes quicker than when I ran this distance on Wednesday). Pace: 9:06. Marathon time at that pace: 3:58:44 (!!). Playlist: U2.
Total mileage for the week: 26
Weight: 218.4.
Target marathon weight: 200-210.
