Jeff Galloway's Running Program

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tommy

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Controlit inquired about Jeff Galloway's program in another thread, so I though I'd start a new thread to provide a synopsis.

Galloway has run over 100 marathons and was a world class runner in his younger years. He has several books about running including the one that I am using "Marathon You can do it". His books are available in most book stores.

Jeff's program is based on several common sense concepts that try to put marathoning in the reach of more people.

1. Integrate regular walk breaks into the long training runs. The idea is that you allow your muscles to relax without compromising the endurance development. It also speeds recovery and reduces the chance of injury. There is a mental benefit as well - not feeling totally trashed for several days after a long run.

2. Don't mix speed and endurance training on the same day. Separate them by at least another run in between. This makes training more fun and reduces injury.

3. Rest and cross training.

4. Predicting the right pace to run the marathon for maximum performance and enjoyment.

He includes lots of charts to help plan a training program that fits just about everybody. He includes hints on running form, dealing with heat, motivation, race strategy, speed training, hydration, nutrition, and age. It's pretty easy reading.

He suggests walk breaks during the marathon itself, but at a reduced frequency depending on the pace that you use. He also suggests a longest training run of 29-30 miles to move the "wall" out of the marathon race.

Two of my first hand experiences:

During my first marathon, I played "leap frog" with two women that alternated running and walking. Run 3 minutes. Walk 1 minute. They had a wrist watch timer that repeated the sequence. At mile 19, I faltered and they kept the same pace to the finish. I later discovered Galloway's approach and figure that is what they were using. They actually ran a classic Galloway "training" run and did real well. They were strong and at the end. I'll bet they recovered quickly too. I was a wreck and took 4-5 days to work the kinks out of my quads, and another few days before I would even think of running again.

Yesterday I ran a 26.2 mile training run using the same 3:1 run:walk cycle. I hit a wall at 23 miles (my previous long run). I was real stiff and tired for the rest of the day, but am doing very well today and will jog a bit tomorrow. This is nothing like the trashing I took in the marathon - physically or mentally. PS. I was about 15 minutes faster!

I think that it is good reading. There are other program out there, but Galloway's intent to reach the commons people and his commons sense approaches make sense to me. So far so good. I'll be happy to field any questions.
 
Marathon walking

Marathon walking

Tom -

I'm a big fan of that method. I almost never run (shuffle, actually) more than 9-10 miles at a stretch. But I've successfully done a couple of marathon-distance training exercises, guesstimating that I jogged 3/4 of the total in small increments, w/ brisk walking in between. First time I did about 5:18, second time about 5:27. I was fatigued, but not wiped out. Both times I was riding my bike the next day.

My wife used a similar approach for Ironman. Rather than run until she was wiped out and reduced to walking, she began scheduled walking breaks early in the marathon. Again, not that much wear and tear on the body. She was grinning at the finish, while some of the others that finished around the same time were staggering off to the medical tent.

My goal is to scam an Ironman finisher medal next summer...at this point, I don't care if I can "run" a marathon...I just want to cover the distance in 6.5 hours or less. I have concluded that a training investment in "power walking" will pay big dividends for me.
 
I use Galloway's method for my triathlon training. By running for five minutes and walking for one minute on my longer runs, I can cover a lot of ground without destroying myself (particularly my right knee...). I'm certainly no speed demon ('plodder' best describes my running style), and the one minute of walking has surprising little effect on my average mile times.
Mark
 
Wow, what validation! I wish I'd brought it up sooner.

Mark, Your point about "casual" exercise is right on. If a person can increment without great discomfort, they are more likely to stick with it. It is counter productive to sit out a week to recover from a long run.
 
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