If you were sore for days after your long run, my hunch is that you might have went too fast? I'm following Hal Higdon's plan and he recommends the long run being at a slower pace than your regular runs. I'm an absolute snail - much slower than you are. My training runs during the week are around a 13 minute mile pace. My long runs are around a 14 minute mile pace. Yes, that's right, someone could probably speedwalk past me!

I think it's really up to you. I debated using Jeff Galloway when I decided to train for my half, but in the end I knew that I wanted to run my half with no walking. That's just my personal goal. So that's why I went with Hal Higdon. That being said, I've had to take a few breaks due to overexertion of my knee. My knee is right as rain now, but I wonder if that wouldn't have happened if I'd chosen to go the Galloway route. I think either route is good. I think it just comes down to what you personally want to accomplish.

I used this method for my first marathon 2 1/2 yrs ago in San Fransisco. Time wasn't the greatest but I finished. Now I can run a half marathon with only stopping for the occasional water break. Good luck.

Run-walk-run ratio should correspond to the pace used (Runners).
8 min/mi—run 4 min/walk 35 seconds
9 min/mi— 4 min run-1 min walk
10 min/mi—-3:1
11 min/mi—2:30-1
12 min/mi—-2:1
13 min/mi—-1:1
14 min/mi—30 sec run/30 sec walk
15 min/mi—30 sec/45 sec
16 min/mi—30 sec/60 sec

For the marathon I ran 5 min then walked 1 min. It was tough at first as I too felt silly walking after 5 minutes, all I can say is try to stick with it.

I've used the Galloway method for the last 4 of the 6 half marathons I've run... and my time has improved with each race. The last half I did in April, I did a 5:1 ratio and finished in 2:21, which was 16 minutes faster than my previous race time.

So I definitely support the Gallawoy method! But everyone is different with different goals, so find an approach that works for you and stick with it... and tweak it as necessary. Took about 4 training periods before I figured out what worked (and didn't work) for me.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do! :flowerforyou:

I have a few friends who have run a half using he Galloway method and one friend who ran a full. They all recommended it so highly that I'm going to use it when I start training for my half

i have completed 5 half marathons, 3 using the galloway method. i love it! i have another one coming up in august as well. it took running from something that i hated to something that i could tolerate. i highly recommend it.

I started running in January (for the first time in my life!), and I trained with a group from my gym using a run/walk method for my first 5K. I ran my first 5K in April, and was so psyched that I ran a second one on Memorial Day. I wanted to keep up the running, but was worried that I wouldn't keep it up without training with a group, so I joined the Galloway training group at my local running store. I'm running at a different interval than I ran the 5K's at, and I think a better one for me. I'm still reading the book that we are provided wiith, and the explanations of the run/walk/run method make sense to me. I've been able to avoid injuries, and although the goal seems huge to me at times, I believe it's entirely doable. That said, although I'm definitely a fan of the Galloway program, everyone has to find a program that works for them. Good luck to all!
PS: When I bought my first running shoes in January, I rememerr the sales woman saying "Just wait until you train for your first half marathon." and I probably looked at her like I thought she was out of her mind, but look at me 6 months later!

one of the training programs I found was a 4:1 interval. run 4 mins, walk 1, for the entire half. And you can get it done in 2 1/2 hours (less even, depending on pace)