I had an a-maz-ing run today. A-maz-ing. Ten miles. 12 minute pace (Best Pace:  9:22 / Average Moving Pace: 11:11).

What is amazing about that slow pokiness, you might ask?

For starters, the fact that my route maps out in the shape of a dog.  Or a bull.

Oh. Not that?  Well, I’ll tell you.

1) I haven’t run 10 miles since February – long before I broke my right foot.  This is a distance PR for me in recent times, by 1.5 miles. (Which is good considering that Augusta 70.3 is like… five minutes away. Eeek.)

2) I ran outside. I’ve been doing much of my training on the treadmill, so this was a good breather. The weather was great too.

3) I ran on the hills, with a little over 500 feet of elevation gain.  Coeuer d’Alene (from the race reports) boasts 1000 feet of elevation gain. So if I can do this loop… twice… and a half… after cycling 112 miles… then I’ll be there. (Okay, maybe this is not the best news. Moving on…)

4) Finally, I utilized the Galloway method, thanks to a tip from Yoda.   This is the best news.  What is Galloway? (This link is allegedly the website for it, but it wasn’t working earlier… so hmmmmm.)

Anyway, the Galloway method is simply a way of running which incorporates short walking breaks in between miles or minutes. For example, Yoda mentioned that any distance over 10k (6.2 miles) and she incorporates the following: run one mile, walk one minute.

With the Galloway method, you can do any combination really  (4 minute run, 1 minute walk;  2 mile run, 2 minute walk; 30 second run, 30 second walk)… but the key is staying consistent in your time(s). If you set out to run 1 mile and walk 1 minute, then you do just that the entire distance.  NO longer than 1 minute because then you could lose momentum.  Oh, and Yoda says you must do it from Mile 1… if you wait until you’re tired, it’s too late.

Anyway, I set out to do 10 miles this morning with this method.  And it was WONDERFUL!  Usually, I am falling apart (hamstrings seizing, mostly) by Mile 6 on long runs.  Today?  None of that!  In fact, I actually “negative split” my run… meaning that the second half was FASTER than the first.  WHAT?!  Oh yes. Ding ding!

That little one minute break was incredible for a few reasons.  First, because I was able to break my run into “mini-goals.”  If I just run for 11 more minutes, then I get to have a break. 

Second, I was able to drink water and ingest a gel much easier during the walk breaks (I had three gels, so three snacks).

And finally, that little one minute break seemed to recover my legs and heartrate just enough to push out another mile.

I used to think that I had to run the entire distance of any run workout.  Today, I had a revelation, thanks to Yoda.  Wonderful.

Are you struggling with falling apart after a few miles?  Try this method from Mile 1 and see if it works for you.  Now, 10 miles and five hours later, I am completely sore and limping, but I swear to you… I could have eeked out another 3 miles with no problem… and possibly even 6 (with the promise of a giant burger and a beer at the finish).

Instead of a burger… I had Pho. Oh lawd… So good. Slap your momma pho sure, good.

Best of all?

Coach Monster approved the Galloway method for my training.  “As long as you only take the allotted break, this method can work wonders for some runners. But one minute break – and one minute only, got it?  Oh, and congrats on a great run, Grasshopper.”

25 Responses

  1. I’ve used the Galloway method to finish 2 marathons without injury! It is awesome! I would recommend it to any runner no matter how fast she runs. And the website is the correct one!

  2. I train with the Running Room in Canada and we always do run 10/walk 1. I love it, it keeps me going, especially when I am struggling and see its been 9:30 and I get a break in 30 seconds. It does slow you down a bit so if you have a time goal you need to run faster on your running parts but if you do not, who cares. I can not imagine doing my runs straight through, other then a 5K/3m race.

  3. I’ve been using Galloway (4 min/1 min) since my injury last fall and it’s awesome! Today I did 2 miles of running after an almost 11 mile bike ride (my longest bike ride in over a year) and averaged a 10:13 pace – including the walking! And I recover so much easier! All I have to do now is get over the fact that I can be a ‘runner’ even if I take walk breaks! Whenever someone passes me and I’m walking I want to say, “No! I’m really a runner!!” LOL

  4. Yes, yes! My training buddy and I call run/walk/run “the key to the kingdom” of running injury free! When we’re up for it we can run all our miles on a given day; if we’re tired or recovering from a race we may run 3 min/ walk 1 min; most of the time we’re doing the 1 mi/1 min thang. Glad you had such a good experience with it. Great 10 miler!

  5. This is so funny! I SWEAR by the Galloway method! You can read my blog post on intervals where I talk all about it! 🙂 I actually hope to get to the point where I can run for a mile (or 10-12 minutes) and then only take a 1 minute break. Currently I’m doing either 4 min/1 min or 3 min/2min. Yea, I break the only 1 min rule, but I have found of late that increasing it to 2 min or even 1:30 helps me to keep going. In the past I haven’t even been able to keep my intervals consistent through a 10 mile run. Since changing my intervals to 3/2, I can keep them consistent. I’m SLOW, but at least I’m still running those 3 min at the end of 18 miles (and hopefully 26.2 come October). I’ll take it for now. I hope to one day be able to do 1 mile/1 minute! 🙂 Congrats to you!

  6. Wow, this is a breakthrough! So awesome! I am four weeks from my first half marathon and all my training has been done on the treadmill. Planning on doing my long runs outside from here on out and have been considering the Galloway – this post has convinced me to at least try it! So, thanks for your story – and GREAT JOB!!!

  7. How are you keeping track of when to change between walking/running? This sounds like something I need to try.

  8. I use my GPS watch… (Garmin 310xt…I don’t love it but I do the trick). If you don’t have a GPS, you could do run for a period of time (versus mileage), and walk for a period of time.

  9. I use this method also! I ♥ IT. I don’t think I would ever have finished my first 5K without this method. I even used it this past weekend during my first ever sprint triathlon!

  10. Oh thank you for this! I am going to try this for sure on my next long run. Running is by far and away my weakest link, but the thought of breaking it down like this makes me think I can actually run farther than 5 miles without the threat of physical violence to surrounding trees, animals or people. 🙂

  11. I started out running/walking intervals to work my way up to running longer distances. I used CycleMeter on my iPhone. It allows you to setup intervals, and I chose a polite female British voice to interrupt my tunes when it was time to switch from running to walking, etc. Great job!

  12. I cannot wait to try this!!! I’ve kinda hit the wall in my training for my 1/2 marathon next month and so I hope this helps! Thanks for the tip and way to go on the 10 miles!

  13. Galloway method is the only way I run! Enables me to run the distances I never would able to do otherwise. He is my hero! Great job!!

  14. I’m SO glad you posted this!!! I pulled a calf muscle last weekend during a brick workout and have been so bummed. One of my fellow mom tri’ers mentioned your article and I am SO going to do this to get ready for our next tri in Oct. Thanks and go you for 10 miles! And mmm, pho is my fave 🙂 You rock!

  15. Another Galloway fan here – I’ve done three half marathons and two full marathons with it. The best thing I did when I returned to running in 2010 (after an, ahem, six year break) was give myself permission to walk. In 2002 I did my first race, the Army Ten-Miler, in 2:03 and I was soooo pleased that I didn’t walk a bit of it. Last fall, I ran a half-marathon in 2:04 using a 4/1 run/walk. Love it!

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