This is blasphemy to die-hard obsessive runners. And I use to be one of them. But since I heard about the Jeff Galloway running philosophy, I've calmed down a little and have given myself permission to take walking breaks on my long runs. For me, I loosely define long runs as anything more than a 10K (6 miles). Galloway maintains that humans were never meant to run non-stop for long distances. (Though the Tarahumara runners would probably beg to differ.) He says that adding frequent walking breaks will:
1. Promote a quicker recovery.
2. Help prevent injury.
3. Improve your overall time in a marathon.
How on earth, you may ask, can #3 be possible? The reasoning is that you do not tire as soon nor as much and will finish stronger and faster, rather than slowing way down in the last miles as non-stop runners do. He has plenty of testimonials from previously doubtful marathoners who set new PRs with his program. According to his book, a marathon is a marathon, whether you ran, walked, or crawled the distance.
What is a walking break? It's just walking for a minute or so, at least once per mile. Galloway says roughly every 5 - 8 minutes. He doesn't even stress fast walking, though my ironman friend Mark advises that you keep a brisk pace. When I first heard of this, my reaction was that a marathon suddenly became possible.
He also stresses that on a LSD run (Long Slow Distance), that you reduce your speed. I can do that! Since my speeds proudly range from Slow to Slower to Slowest, I can happily go from Slow to Slower and will even entertain Slowest on a long run.
So now Jeff G. and I are good friends -- albeit the fact that he's never heard of me. He has given these aging bones hope of finishing those 26.2 miles.
Now if I can just get my bruised ego to shut up when I stop and walk during mile one.
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