Galloway - Who's Tried it?

I'm curious though.

I have done Galloway, minus the walking. This was based off his early 1980's book. Did overdistance and mile repeats up to 13 miles. Worked pretty well. Have not done Gallow specific for 15 years though.

Does anyone know where I can get a copy of that early 80's book by Galloway?? I do not want the 2nd edition or later that have the "walking recomendations." I used to own it, but my ex kept it. (Spoils of war...) Anyway, any help would be great.

JJ Walker wrote:

I have done Galloway, minus the walking. This was based off his early 1980's book. Did overdistance and mile repeats up to 13 miles. Worked pretty well. Have not done Gallow specific for 15 years though.

Wow! Due to Letsrun, I thought Galloway never advocated anything without using walking. I should have guessed he had other methods, but those aren't talked about on here. He mentions walking (which seems to help 'normal' people bridge the gap to running) and the hardcore runners denounce him.

I think the title was Galloway's Book of Running. Used to have a copy, but not anymore.

The More You Know... wrote:

JJ Walker wrote:

I have done Galloway, minus the walking. This was based off his early 1980's book. Did overdistance and mile repeats up to 13 miles. Worked pretty well. Have not done Gallow specific for 15 years though.

Wow! Due to Letsrun, I thought Galloway never advocated anything without using walking. I should have guessed he had other methods, but those aren't talked about on here. He mentions walking (which seems to help 'normal' people bridge the gap to running) and the hardcore runners denounce him.

That´s because nowadays he claims that even world class runners can benefit from walking breaks.

Is this the original?

http://www.amazon.com/Galloways-Book-Running-Jeff-Galloway/dp/093607003X

Paperback: 287 pages

Publisher: Shelter Pubns; Nw&Rev edition (October 1, 1984)

Yes, that is the original. Fatty McFatsos would really be crushed to read what he had to say before Galloway's wallet realized that "finishing is winning".

The More You Know... wrote:

Wow! Due to Letsrun, I thought Galloway never advocated anything without using walking. I should have guessed he had other methods, but those aren't talked about on here. He mentions walking (which seems to help 'normal' people bridge the gap to running) and the hardcore runners denounce him.

The hardcore runners denounce him not because he says that walk breaks will help normal people but because he claims that ELITES will benefit from walk breaks.

This point has been made countless times on these forums. How many times do dimwits such as yourself need this drilled into your head before you get it straight?

I have Galloway's 1984 book and have referred to it now and then over the years. Although there is a section on walking, his marathon racing training section contains the following quotes: "To run a marathon you need to run 26 continuous miles" and "if you extend your long run to 26 miles or more, and run at the pace you've trained for, you can avoid encountering, much less hitting, the wall". I still believe those statements are true. In fact I believe that if you have done everything correctly, there is no such thing as a wall.

By the way, there is praise in the book by a numer of well known experts in our sport including Bill Rodgers, Kenneth H. Cooper, M.D., Frank Shorter, Joan L. Ulliot, M.D., Arthur Lydiard and others .

Big Stick wrote:

That's it. It was the first running book I bought and I still have it.

He had programs for different time goals, all based on 3 phases of training. 1. base with all slow running. Long runs increase almost weekly 2. Add hills. 3. Add speedwork.

He really advocated long runs. For a marathon, he had them at 26 plus miles, depending on your time goal. He says in his book that they are the single most important part of your training, regardless of the distance.

My oh my, how things have changed.

Out of curiousity, what were some of his hill workouts and speedwork? Thanks.

herbst wrote:

Out of curiousity, what were some of his hill workouts and speedwork? Thanks.

I'll go in the basement some time this evening and get it. Check back.

I improved 50 min. my first year using it, getting to 3:20. I then felt I could do better with something else. I worked my way to 3:06, but it took several years to accomplish this, even with many 70+ mile weeks and a few 80's in there too. Makes me wonder if sticking with Galloway would have been better.

My dad has the first Jeff Galloway book... I need to borrow that from him.

herbst wrote:

Is this the original?

http://www.amazon.com/Galloways-Book-Running-Jeff-Galloway/dp/093607003X

Paperback: 287 pages

Publisher: Shelter Pubns; Nw&Rev edition (October 1, 1984)

as others have said, that is the original. the art work is a bit 70s or 80s ish.

but it is a good book. i still refer to it.

As a middle-aged re-entrant runner, I used Galloway time-goal programs for a couple of marathons including my first successful Boston Qualifier. For the time goal races, I only walked through the water stops, that is, I didn't do anywhere near as much walking as he recommends during the race. I still use planned walking/hydration breaks in my long runs, though less frequently than Galloway calls for. During one training cycle using Galloway I ran a small marathon as a scheduled 26 mile long run in the build up, completing the race at a training pace and using the full up run/walk approach. The thing that most impressed me is how quickly I recovered from that effort.

I've since moved on to other training programs and have significantly dropped my race times in the last couple years, but still use some elements from the Galloway programs. As mentioned above, I still use the run/walk routine on most long runs. I use the high quantity mile repeat workout sometimes and I do one moderately long weekday run, which is something I started on those plans.

My evaluation of Galloway is that it's a sound way for a relative novice runner to build up mileage and complete a marathon. The run/walk approach certainly leads to faster recovery which is helpful to those who find themselves too beat up by a long run to effectively train on successive days. His claim that racing with a run/walk strategy makes sense for higher mileage competitive runners (whatever that means) is questionable at best.

As I recall Higdon (or some other former high level runner/writer from one of the mags) once tried his walk breaks at each water stop and swore it actually helped him finish faster than he expected. Obviously clearing lactate faster is one big benefit to taking the breaks.

That said, his pyramid of training described above is pretty sound: build base mileage, add distance, add hills, add speed. And his presciption of "overdistance" a logical extension of that. Also, I believe he trained with Bachelor and Shorter for the '72 Olympics (in Florida?)

Personally, I feel the 1st Self Coached Runner (1984) was one of the most thorough early guides to marathon training in the way it described each component of training, each physiological aspect addressed, and why you needed to do certain types of workouts.

Orville, no disrespect but Bill Rodgers has endorsed every single running/fitness book published since 1977 (or close to it.) His endorsement--as with running shoes, he's loved every company that has thrown money at him--is fairly meaningless. And I'm a big fan of Bill since back in the day.