My Experience with the Run-Walk-Run with Jeff Galloway

The weather here in Arizona is starting to heat up and I am finding that the temperature at 5:00 a.m. is usually in the mid-80’s now.  This means that when I am going out for a long run, it will be pretty warm after the sun comes up.  Obviously, this means that I will have to accept the fact that my paces will suffer as the heat rises.  While that is generally true, I have found a way to actually reduce the impact of the heat on running my long, speed, and tempo runs.  I have been able to run them pretty close to my normal training goal paces.  How?  By using a run/walk/run method I adapted for myself from Jeff Galloway’s program.

If you don’t know who Jeff Galloway is let me tell you a little about him.  Jeff is a US Olympian who competed in the Olympic 10K race in where he placed 11th in a time of 29:35.0.  He also is also a key organizer of the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta.  In the mid-70’s Jeff thought that there might be a better way to train than just pounding out huge mileage weeks.  So Jeff changed his own training program to emphasize more rest and less weekly mileage.  He would only run his long runs every other week.  Jeff soon realized the benefits of this training method and knew that it would benefit amateur runners as well.  So in 1974, Jeff launched his method to the public to help beginner runners and show them that they can run any distance up to a marathon using this method.  Basically, Jeff’s method adds strategic walk breaks during a training run or race that allow a runner to control his fatigue and significantly reduce the occurrence of overuse running injuries. 

When I moved to Arizona, I read up on Jeff’s run/walk/run method.  I thought that it might help me train in the heat of the summer and allow me to still be able to hit my goal paces.  If I was going to use Jeff’s method, I had to first run a “Magic Mile”.  I would then use that time to predict the pace I could run at any race distance.  Once I knew how fast I could run a measured mile at a hard pace, I could use Jeff’s chart to predict my race pace for various distances:

• Add 33 seconds to your magic mile for your pace for a 5K

• Multiply your magic mile time by 1.15 for 10K pace

• Multiply your magic mile time by 1.2 for half marathon pace

• Multiply your magic mile time by 1.3 for marathon pace

These predictors have been very helpful and accurate at least for me in my racing.

Now that I knew the goal pace for my races, I could look at Jeff’s recommended run/walk/run strategies.  I tried several different run/walk/run strategies using Jeff’s calculator.  The first strategy I used for a while was running for 5 minutes and then walking for 1 minute.  While it definitely worked for me, I really struggled with the monotony of the constant watch gazing to make sure I was staying on track.  After a while, I switched to running a mile and walking for 1 minute.  That seemed to help reduce the number of times I had to look at my watch.  I used this strategy for several years of training and it did help me keep my running fitness level during the hottest summer months.  More importantly, I had no injuries.

When I decided to run the Dopey Challenge, I wanted to try something totally different.  Since I knew I would be running two long runs each weekend to simulate having to run on tired legs, I changed my run/walk/run strategy to running 5K and then walking for 1/10 of a mile.  It significantly helped me maintain a good training pace throughout the months of preparation for the Dopey Challenge.  I was able to run most of my long runs throughout the late summer and fall right on my goal training pace which hopefully would allow me to hit my goal race pace.  When I arrived in Orlando for the Dopey Challenge, I was ready to go.  I ran the 5K with no walk break.  Then I used the same strategy I had used during my training for the 10K, Half, and Full Marathon.  I was so proud to have been able to hit my total goal time for the four races.  I attribute it solely to using my version of Jeff’s method.

Since the one race I was scheduled to participate in this year was canceled, I have no races to train for which is sad.  But I am still out there running.  I have changed my run/walk/run for now to running for 2 miles and then walking for 1/10 of a mile.  It is allowing me to continue to run 8-10 miles on my Saturday long runs and at a pace that would allow me to hit my ultimate race pace when the time comes.  Best of all is that I have had no running injuries since my hamstring injury in 2014.  I attribute it all to using Jeff’s method.

As Jeff says on his website (http://www.jeffgalloway.com/):

Walk breaks…

• Speed you up: an average of 7 minutes faster in a 13.1 mile race when non-stop runners shift to the correct Run/Walk/Run ratio – and more than 13 minutes faster in the marathon

• Give you control over the way you feel during and after a run or race

• Erase fatigue

• Push back your wall of exhaustion or soreness

• Allow for endorphins to collect during each walk break

• Break up the distance into manageable units

• Speed recovery

• Reduce the chance of aches, pains and injury

• Allow older or heavier runners to recover fast, and feel as good as in the younger (slimmer)  days

• Activate the frontal lobe – maintaining your control over attitude and motivation

I will continue to read Jeff’s advice and use his methods to train.  I am certain that it will allow me to be able to run until the end of my life on this planet.  If you have been struggling with your training or feel that you could never run anything further than a 5K, I would recommend you go to Jeff’s website and read about his method.  He has several great books that I would also recommend you read.  What’s the worst thing that could happen?  You could decide you don’t like it and go back to your old training routines.  Regardless, I know that periodically shaking up your running routine is critical to avoid plateaus in your fitness level and training.  Give it a try, you may even find out that you like it and it leads you to a new PR whether it be distance or pace.

June 1 – 6.00 miles (1:02:38, 10:06 pace) – Hill Repeats

June 2 – 3.60 miles (28:06, 7:48 pace) – Speed Work

June 4 – 5.10 miles (41:01, 8:03 pace) – Tempo Run

June 5 – 5.10 miles (46:30, 9:07 pace) 

June 6 – 10.10 miles (1:33:40, 9:16 pace) 

June 7 – 5.10 miles (48:27, 9:30 pace) 

June 8 – 5.10 miles (56:25, 10:16 pace) – Hill Repeats

June 9 – 3.60 miles (28:13, 7:50 pace) – Speed Work

June 11 – 4.50 miles (40:24, 8:59 pace) 

June 12 – 5.10 miles (1:03:33, 7:57 pace) – Tempo Run

June 13 – 3.60 miles (58:15, 16:10 pace) – Injury

June 15 – 5.60 miles (56:59, 10:10 pace) – Hill Repeats

June 16 – 3.50 miles (27:56, 7:59 pace) – Speed Work

June 18 – 5.60 miles (44:48, 8:00 pace) – Tempo Run

June 19 – 5.10 miles (45:15, 8:52 pace) 

June 20 – 8.10 miles (1:16:28, 9:27 pace)

June 21 – 4.10 miles (36:18, 8:51 pace)

June 22 – 6.10 miles (1:01:34, 9:56 pace) – Hill Repeats

June 23 – 3.10 miles (24:21, 7:51 pace) – Speed Work

June 25 – 5.60 miles (45:29, 8:07 pace) – Tempo Run

June 26 – 6.20 miles (55:45, 9:00 pace) 

June 27 – 3.10 miles (27:48, 8:58 pace) 

Total Miles:  113.00 miles

2020 Total Miles:   865.10 miles  

“We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” - MLK

I started to write a post about the disappointment I was feeling after the Wild West Relay race was cancelled due to the COVID crisis.  I decided to put that side for a later date as I had to express my thoughts and feelings about what it is happening right now in my country.  I was a child in the 60’s but remember vividly watching the news most evenings and seeing what was happening in the country and the rest of the world.  The news most nights was dominated by the war in Vietnam.  Even though the war led the news each night, there was so much more happening.  My clearest memories of those news reports are from 1968 through today.  Yet those of us who lived through the tumultuous period from 1968 through President Nixon’s resignation in August 1974 through today, don’t seem to have learned anything from what we saw and fought for so long ago.

If you are too young to have lived through it, 1968 was a year of major turmoil.  In addition to Tet offensive in Vietnam, it was the year that brought us North Korea’s capture of the USS Pueblo, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (which led to several days of rioting in inner cities throughout the U.S), the assassination of Bobby Kennedy, U.S. athletes taking a stand at the Summer Olympics in solidarity with the Black Power movement, and violent rioting and police brutality in Chicago outside the Democratic National Convention.  And that was only 1968.  1969 was no better.  We had the People’s Park riot, the Stonewall Inn riots, Altamonte, the Zodiac and Manson murders and on a better note the moon landing and Woodstock.  Then the 70’s arrived and this country felt a crisis of confidence.  The key events that led to this crisis were Watergate, Roe v Wade, Kent State, Inflation, the Energy Crisis, the end of the Vietnam War which only lead to a much colder and potentially more dangerous Cold War.

As a pre-teen and early teenager, I truly believed that all of those events changed our country in positive ways.  I believed that we came together and found common ground on which to build a better society.  I even mistakenly believed we had turned the corner when we finally elected a man of color as President.  Yet, in the past several weeks we have witnessed the brutal killings of George Floyd (by the police), Breonna Taylor (by the police in her own home) and Ahmaud Arbery (by neighbors while out jogging).  These events have led to people protesting in peaceful and not so peaceful ways.  As I watch the news, it is like déjà vu.  Those protesting whether peaceful or not so peaceful ways are being dealt with in a similarly to 50 years ago.  Are we heading to another Kent State?  Our President’s rhetoric on Twitter and in public statements makes me wonder.  

Being a privileged white man means that I can never fully understand the feelings that the black community members must be feeling.  They have every right to be outraged, traumatized, fearful and in profound pain.  I totally empathize with them and sit here and wonder when things will change in this country.  As I sit here in Arizona far removed from the events, I feel guilty for not doing more.  I feel helpless.  And I feel isolated.  I want to march with the protestors.  But am fearful of contracting the virus by not practicing social distancing and seeing many of them marching together in close proximity without masks.   I am saddened when I see looting and violence.  I suspect that it is being done by individuals who don’t care about the protest.  They are just opportunists and criminals taking advantage of the unrest.  Nonviolence and peaceful protests will do much more. 

“Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

The protests, uprisings and riots I remember from my childhood in places like Watts, Detroit and Newark were much too big and too well-known to be forgotten.  But the revolts at that time happened in smaller communities across the country like Hartford, Fort Lauderdale, York and Harrisburg, PA too.  Sadly most people don’t remember those protests.  It may surprise you that the protests 50 years ago were in response to the unequal living conditions black communities were forced to endure alongside the unequal justice system.  Doesn’t that sound familiar.  Nothing has truly changed or improved for our black community. Not only that, our politicians simply ignored the nonviolent protests being instigated to try and fix the inequalities and prejudice inherent in the system.   

It is hard to believe it has only been 6 years from the protests and riots in Ferguson, Mo.  It is obvious that nothing has changed.  The issues from 50 years ago have not diminished.  It is obvious that black Americans continue to face the same racist challenges with no less severity today than they did 50 years ago.  And we have an administration in Washington that like 50 years ago is ignoring and some might say actually exacerbating the problem through their rhetoric.  

It is time that we have to all stand up and say enough.  We need to ask for public oversight of the police forces across our country.  There should be no tolerance for police brutality, racism or unjustified killings.  If an officer like Chauvin has been the subject of 18 prior complaints filed against him, he needs to be removed from the force.  There should be policies in place that weed out the bad cops who besmirch the reputation of the rest of the police force who do the right thing every day as they keep us safe in our communities.   One or two bad apples do spoil the whole bunch.

My Rabbi in his sermon last week reminded us of what the Mishna says regarding human beings being created in God’s image.  The Mishna explained, “When a mortal sovereign stamps the royal image on a coin, every coin made from that image is exactly alike.  However, when God put the stamp of the first human on humanity, every person deriving from the original one is different from every other one.”  Our Rabbi explained that each of us has our own role to play in this world.  If we are truly going to repair the world (tikkun olam) each of us must play our part.  This means that every life is valuable and every person on this planet should be treated with dignity.  If we don’t understand this simple concept, the world will continue to remain broken.

“The most modern and broadly understood notion of tikkun olam is that of "repairing the world" through human actions. Humanity's responsibility to change, improve, and fix its earthly surroundings is powerful. It implies that each person has a hand in working towards the betterment of his or her own existence as well as the lives of future generations. Tikkun olam forces people to take ownership of their world. It is them, not God, who will bring the world back to its original state of holiness.

More simply, it is important for Jews to participate in repairing the world by participating in tzedakah (justice and righteousness) and g'milut hasadim (acts of loving kindness). Without their stake in the improvement of their environment, injustice and evil will continue to exist.” - https://www.learningtogive.org/resources/tikkun-olam

While the concept of tikkun olam is an essential part of my Jewish faith, isn’t it something that we should all strive for?  At this time, we should all be seeking justice for the oppressed and finding ways to reach out to others with loving kindness.  Violence and hatred only begets more violence and hatred.  It is time to step back and understand that while we may have been created in God’s image, we are all individuals.  We are all valuable.  We all have a stake in this world.  We all must come together as human beings whether we are straight, gay, bisexual, transsexual, black, white, Asian, native American or in whatever skin we exist in.  The skin is only the surface, we are all the same beneath that surface.  The only difference between us is what we hold in our hearts.

Let’s hope that justice prevails and that finally we can truly see a difference in how we as human beings live together going forward.  Let’s bring God’s light back into the world and finally live in love, peace and harmony.

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

May 11 – 6.20 miles (1:03:33, 10:15 pace) – Hill Repeats

May 12 – 4.20 miles (35:07, 8:22 pace) – Speed Work

May 14 – 5.20 miles (41:48, 8:02 pace) – Tempo Run

May 15 – 5.20 miles (46:52, 9:01 pace) 

May 16 – 7.20 miles (1:24:40, 11:56 pace) – Trail Run 

May 17 – 4.10 miles (38:39, 9:25 pace) 

May 18 – 5.50 miles (57:07, 10:23 pace) – Hill Repeats

May 19 – 3.10 miles (23:34, 7:35 pace) – Speed Work

May 21 – 5.20 miles (40:56, 7:52 pace) – Tempo Run

May 22 – 5.10 miles (47:48, 9:23 pace) 

May 23 – 8.10 miles (1:13:35, 9:05 pace) 

May 24 – 5.10 miles (44:52, 8:48 pace) 

May 25 – 6.20 miles (01:04:26, 10:24 pace) – Hill Repeats

May 26 – 4.10 miles (34:16, 8:21 pace) – Speed Work

May 28 – 5.10 miles (41:06, 8:04 pace) – Tempo Run

May 29 – 5.50 miles (49:31, 9:00 pace) 

May 30 – 8.10 miles (1:17:34, 9:35 pace) 

May 31 – 5.10 miles (48:00, 9:25 pace)

Total Miles:  98.30 miles

2020 Total Miles:  752.10 miles