Galloway Run/Walk/Run Method

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garystrickland357
garystrickland357 Posts: 598 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm fishing for comments and experiences by anyone that has used the Galloway method for running. My doctor is an Ironman competitor and uses this method. He'll run for 4 minutes and walk for one. He swears by it and says he feels he can go "forever" running like this. One of the advertised benefits is also injury reduction.

I ran 5 miles Sunday and tried it. I would run 4 minutes at a 9:00/mile pace and then walk 30 seconds. I actually like this first experience. My overall average time for the run was right at a 10:00/mile pace (good for me) and I felt really fresh at the end. It is a challenge to overcome the mindset that if you take a walk break you're not a "real" runner.

What is the experience of the collective here? I just registered for my first full marathon (Feb 2020). I'm intimidated by the distance and want to plan a strategy that allows me to be successful and remain injury free.
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Replies

  • keithwp99
    keithwp99 Posts: 83 Member
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    Yeah. I used that method when recovering from knee surgery. I was scared to run and place too much stress on the knee so this was my compromise. I too felt a bit off with the "walks" in there. But, you / me will always have to overcome that ego thing.

    I gradually over a year or so (-- and that is just me so don't use that comparison for anybody--) increase my overall mileage while at the same time reducing the amount of time I spent walking. Now, aside from a 10 min walk warm up and 5 min cool down do 100% running. I'm a trail runner YMMV.

    So, yes, I think walk run is an effective way for folks to pick up running.

    Good luck!
  • debrakgoogins
    debrakgoogins Posts: 2,034 Member
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    I can run a 5k without stopping at a pace between 18 and 20 minutes per mile. I can run a 10k using the Galloway method with a pace of 14.5 minutes per mile. It helps me tremendously and allows me to run further, in less time, without exhaustion. It's especially effective on hilly terrain.

    One note: I have received feedback from others who use the method that when running a race, to stay to the outside of the pack because it is hard for people around you to keep from running into you when changing pace repeatedly. They use a simple hand "raise" when they get ready to walk and again when they start to run again.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
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    I do it because I found my pacing improved tremendously. I’ve now run multiple half marathons doing it (6th one was Sunday) and am very pleased.
  • firef1y72
    firef1y72 Posts: 1,579 Member
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    I use run walk intervals on anything over 10k, I do 0.25mile run/1min walk. But I do allow myself to run through some of the walk intervals (while not walking through the run)
    It allows me to run much further, i did 18 miles like this on Sunday. I'm also quicker on race conditions doing this, i got my 10mile, half marathon, and 15mile prs doing intervals.
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    It's not something I have ever done as a half marathoner - I walk through the water stations and walk to eat my gel, but I'm tagging as im interested in this thread :bigsmile:
  • SusanUW83
    SusanUW83 Posts: 152 Member
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    I do walk - run intervals when I do half marathons -- mostly 5 min run, 1 min walk, or 4 min run - 1 min walk. The Galloway time tables don't work that well for me because I'm a slow runner by genetics not by training -- if I went by the time they told me I wouldn't make the cutoffs for the longer races because my running is slow and my walking is also slow. Try to follow the plan for several months and see how you do -- the Disney Races have tons of first time half marathoners who use this program successfully. You know because you hear the buzz of their timer go off -- the nice ones put up their hands to signal before they slow to a walk, not afterwards.
  • garystrickland357
    garystrickland357 Posts: 598 Member
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    I appreciate the responses. I didn't state in the original post that I'm not a new runner. I didn't run during my last fat period lol but other than that I've run fairly consistently fro many years. Training up to a 1/2 marathon has never caused me any issues and I can run the 13.1 easily enough.

    My main concern moving forward is injury prevention. Running a full marathon has always been a bit of a bucket list item for me, but I see sooooo many posts about the injuries people get as they ramp up mileage and stress their bodies. I see the Galloway method as a potential solution that may let me run and stay healthy. So my perspective is not as a way to become a runner but rather to remain an injury free runner.

    During my recent 1/2 marathon I noticed a few runners that seemed to easily match my pace that used a run/walk combination. @collectingblues Can you clarify what you mean by improving your pacing? Do you mean you ran a faster pace, or a more consistent pace?
    @debrakgoogins I appreciate your comment as to how it improved your endurance - or at least delayed your fatigue. That matches the claims I have read praising this running method.
    I'm thinking this may be a good tool in the arsenal. I don't see it as an either/or method but rather as an option to use depending on one's goals.
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
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    It works and can actually be faster than running straight through a given distance for runners inexperienced at that distance. That said, it probably makes sense to allow yourself to adjust your intervals as you get more and more conditioned to avoid plateauing at too low a level. For a marathon be as conservative as you want to be. You definitely won't be the only one run/walking.
  • SergeiSmith
    SergeiSmith Posts: 1 Member
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    I haven't used the Galloway method for training, so I can't speak to that. However, I run a fun half-marathon once a year with friends, and we always use the Galloway method since we are all at different fitness levels and it makes it easier for us to stay together throughout the race.

    Granted, it's a slower pace than I usually hold, but I always feel pretty great at the end and feel like I could keep going.
  • pierinifitness
    pierinifitness Posts: 2,231 Member
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    Years ago when I was a more competitive fun runner, I showed up at a local running shoes store where Jeff Galloway was speaking. This was back in the days when I even had a subscription to Runners World. Anyway, I listed to his speech and it was about his run, walk, run training method. I listened attentively and found it hard to believe that it would be effective. Never tried it.

    Years later, I quit running but late last year, I decided to get back into running. Despite having cardiovascular conditioning in other areas, I was out of running shape so I started by running, walking and running. Still doing it, most lately with 5 minutes running and 1 minute walking for 1 hour. I like it and will continue using it as a smart and safe running training tool.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    garystrickland357 wrote: »
    I'm fishing for comments and experiences by anyone that has used the Galloway method for running. My doctor is an Ironman competitor and uses this method. He'll run for 4 minutes and walk for one. He swears by it and says he feels he can go "forever" running like this. One of the advertised benefits is also injury reduction.

    I ran 5 miles Sunday and tried it. I would run 4 minutes at a 9:00/mile pace and then walk 30 seconds. I actually like this first experience. My overall average time for the run was right at a 10:00/mile pace (good for me) and I felt really fresh at the end. It is a challenge to overcome the mindset that if you take a walk break you're not a "real" runner.

    What is the experience of the collective here? I just registered for my first full marathon (Feb 2020). I'm intimidated by the distance and want to plan a strategy that allows me to be successful and remain injury free.

    My overall average pace is generally faster with walking breaks, as I can go much, much faster in the running intervals. Particularly helpful in races where adrenalin makes it hard to keep to a slower pace I can manage for the entire distance.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    On the injury prevention: for the first several years of running, I kept solely to doing run/walk intervals, because the jogging-like-gait I default to at really slow speeds (all I could maintain aerobically at the time) hurt my knee. (~10:30 mile seems to be about the spot that my gait devolves and tweaks my knee).
  • garystrickland357
    garystrickland357 Posts: 598 Member
    edited February 2019
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    Thanks y'all. I appreciate the feedback. I think I'm going to continue to play with this.
  • collectingblues
    collectingblues Posts: 2,541 Member
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    garystrickland357 wrote: »
    I appreciate the responses. I didn't state in the original post that I'm not a new runner. I didn't run during my last fat period lol but other than that I've run fairly consistently fro many years. Training up to a 1/2 marathon has never caused me any issues and I can run the 13.1 easily enough.

    My main concern moving forward is injury prevention. Running a full marathon has always been a bit of a bucket list item for me, but I see sooooo many posts about the injuries people get as they ramp up mileage and stress their bodies. I see the Galloway method as a potential solution that may let me run and stay healthy. So my perspective is not as a way to become a runner but rather to remain an injury free runner.

    During my recent 1/2 marathon I noticed a few runners that seemed to easily match my pace that used a run/walk combination. @collectingblues Can you clarify what you mean by improving your pacing? Do you mean you ran a faster pace, or a more consistent pace?
    @debrakgoogins I appreciate your comment as to how it improved your endurance - or at least delayed your fatigue. That matches the claims I have read praising this running method.
    I'm thinking this may be a good tool in the arsenal. I don't see it as an either/or method but rather as an option to use depending on one's goals.

    A little bit of both, for me. I can do a run-walk pace faster than I can do a full run — to the tune of shaving 3 minutes per mile off — and my splits are consistent.

    I don’t use the Galloway intervals, largely because I don’t run with my phone, and I’m too lazy to keep hitting refresh on my Watch timer. I run for .4 miles, walk for .15, run for .3, and walk for .15. Each mile is the same. Makes the miles also go faster for me.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    This is fascinating to me - I've been tooling around running for a couple of years but aside from doing 5ks and a 10 last Thanksgiving I've been pretty aimless and thus not done much more as regards progression. My impression of "real" running is that the aim is to complete X distance running the whole way, my internal monologue is pretty judgmental on that front, I've not cared about speed so long as I wasn't taking walk breaks. This idea of building walking it in to the plan is stupid simple and will enable me to do the thing for longer, which is what I want. I even did Couch to 5k so it's not like a revolutionary new idea to me either, I've just been in this "that's for beginners, try harder" frame of mind when it comes to my own performance.
  • mburgess458
    mburgess458 Posts: 480 Member
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    As others have said, the whole point of that method is for beginners to be able to run longer. I really don’t see how you could prevent injury with that method unless it means you’re running fewer miles. Meaning if you were running say 6 miles over one hour before and you change to running 5 miles and walking 1 mile over 63 minutes then maybe your chance of injury is a little lower but just because you’re running fewer miles. If the change is to running 6 miles and walking 1 mile I don’t see why the chance of injury would be lower.

    I feel the most stress on my body when I’m going from walking to running and back... running at a sustainable pace feels pretty safe and efficient on my joints.
  • ritzvin
    ritzvin Posts: 2,860 Member
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    My guess on the injury prevention is that it gets you to take a walking break before reaching the point of fatigue where your gait/form devolves into something that may cause injury. (not necessarily something that will happen depending on the runner, distance, etc).
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
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    I've done this for years in training just to lighten the load, and allow hitting a running pace that feels more efficient for form during that part.
    Then for a race can do that pace or better without issue.
    I also use it when coming out of winter with lifting focus and little to no running.
    When just slowing down I can feel the form suffer even though I try to keep the turn-over the same.

    Too short on the walk though and it seems it's more of a cardio heart break than a benefit to the joints/tendons/ligaments.

    Somewhere I've got a sheet where I did the math to figure out a 70% run time based not just on time, but foot strikes and about how much time on each really balances that out - worked great and will use that again when I can find it after moving.

    Did a marathon years ago I had already paid early for when I got injured in the ramp up of distance, so training became intervals (70% run) as did the race, I think at the 80%, with 1 min walks. Ended pretty decent considering, not fastest, but surprising. The people on the course wondered why they kept seeing me, and I passed many that got slower at the end.
  • frankqp
    frankqp Posts: 1 Member
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    I just ran a 50k trail run using a 3/1 run/walk. The pace started between 10-11min and dropped to 12-13min towards the end of the run. I've been running a long time but haven't been 'in shape' for a couple of years. I put in 8 weeks of build up for this event. Its a much faster ramp up then I would normally do, but all my long runs were completed using various run/walk intervals. The recovery has been amazing. I plan on continuing to use this method for all of my long run sessions.

    I would just say it's like anything else fitness related. Everyone is different so experimentation and data are key to finding the right balance of stress and recovery. Oh, and have fun with it.

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