The only thing is no elite has ever tried it. So it is not actually proven to be wrong. Just because "real runners" say it doesn't work does not mean it can't work. Two races that I can think of that makes me wonder if it actually can is Chicago the year that Tergat was second and there was a mararthon in Indiana that a local semi elite took breaks during race and won it 2:30 range. I know they didn't walk but they had breaks which is close to the same idea.
Hey Skylon,
Then I guess I should have overlooked Bill Rodgers name instead of that of Bill Bowerman. I can imagine what you would have said if I had included the names of Joe Henderson, Jim Fixx and Bob Anderson.
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.
That first book was actually not bad. Then he cold out / went insane / something!
sold out
I think that when Galloway first started giving advice hewasserious about helping decent runners. I could be wrong, but I remember decent, local runners (sub 2:30) using his advice to run PR's. The walking stuff came later.
Yes, the first book has some tough workouts in it. 13x1 mile on the track.
MarathonMind wrote:
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.
It is Hal Higdon who advises walking through water stops. The idea is to ensure proper hydration as much as to give the legs a break. He ran 2:30ish as a master using this strategy and his son Kevin ran an Olympic Trials qualifying time that way according to his marathon guide book.
Add Tom Osler, Joe Henderson, and Ernst Van Aaken (not to mention those he coached like Norpoth) to the list of advocates of walking during training runs. Galloway may be unique in advising runners to walk in competition, though.
Sapo Grande wrote:
Yes, the first book has some tough workouts in it. 13x1 mile on the track.
Even the 10K workouts with 20 * 400m @ 5-7 seconds/400 faster than goal pace could wear on you. If you were running 5Ks, he said to cut the number of 400s to 12, but run them another 3-5 seconds per lap faster. That could, in theory, put you faster than Daniels' R pace.
I met him at a race in the Houston area in December 1986. He could still run around 32 for the 10K then (shadowed me nearly the whole race before I was able to get away from him late), but he was starting to push the walk/run bit.
I've thought about the walk/run bit for my long runs, especially in the summer heat. At that time, he was pushing a 9/1 plan where you would run for 9 minutes and walk for 1. Although I've never tried it, I often have wondered if such a plan would help keep the core temperature down just a bit.
You have it wrong. He says "can", not "will", as you incorrectly state. If you don't know the difference, you need to get smarter.
Wrong. It obviously helps some people finish faster. That has been proven empirically. For others it doesn't. It depends on the individual.
Haile Gebfriggenrsellasie gallawalks all the tizime
OK, I dug the book out. Some things from the book:
Page 52: "Over the past 12 years I've worked with runners at clinics, in running camps and in our runnint stores and I've developed a serios of innovations and planning techniques developed by Lydiard. I've come to visualize this program as a pyramid with a strong foundation of easy running, a transition zone of hill training and finally a speed progrram that grings a runner to his or her peak for a race."
Page 120: "From the ultra-distance runners I've learned you can walk for five minutes every 25-30 minutes and build endurance with less stress . . . . The goal is to stay on your feet for the prescribed distance. After you've finished a few marathons, and have set a time goal of 3:20 or faster for the next one, eliminate the walking breaks."
He advocates a pyramid of
1. base of slow running and a long run
2. second level where hills are added
3. third level where speed is added and you hit your goal race.
On Hills: Do them once a week in phase 2. Advanced runners can add a hill workout once a week in the base phase (phase 1). During the hill phase, they can do 2 hill workouts a week. Page 135.
Hills should be of a moderate grade, about 10-15% and 100-200 yards long. Build to 8-12 hills. Do them at 85% effort. The advanced runner should run them at 5k pace. The second hill workout of the week should be 3-5 hills, 60-100 yards.
Speed: The advanced runner can do 2 speed workouts a week, alternated with the second hill workout if you feel you still need the hills. Otherwise, just do 2 speed sessions and no hills. You lower the pace of the second speed workout by 5 seconds for 400's (the book says 440.). The regular speed session will be run 5-7 seconds faster thant current 10k goal pace for 10k training and build to 20 x 400. Only do 8 weeks of intense speedwork. He has mile repeats for marathon training.
Here's a pyramid of a marathon schedule based on a marathon time goal of 3:20
BASE
Week 1-15
M 1-3 miles
T 4-5 miles
W 0-3 miles
T 4-5 miles
F 1-2
S 0
S Long-start with longest run in 2 weeks, increase 1 mile per week up to 12 miles
HILL weeks 16-18
Add hills on Tuesday. Long run for week 16 goes down to 7, then goes up to 14 for week 17, then back to 8 on week 18.
SPEED weeks 19-32
M 3 miles (weeks 20, 24 and 28, this is 0 miles)
T 6 miles (for weeks 20, 24 and 28, this is 5 miles)
W 0-4
T 5
F 2-4 (weeks 20, 24 and 28, this is 103 miles
s 0
S Week 19 starts with a long run of 16 miles and then alternates with mile repeats at 7:10 pace.
Week 20: 2 x 1 mile
Week 21 18 miles
Week 22 4 x 1 mile
Week 23 20 miles
Week 24 6 x 1 mile
Week 25 22-23 miles
Week 26 8 x 1 mile
Week 27 24-26 miles
Week 28 10 x 1 mile
Week 29 25-28 miles
Week 30 12 x 1 mile
Week 31 8-12 easy
Week 32 goal race.
For a time goal of 2:38, he has more miles in the base phase (Tuesday and Thursday are 9 miles each and go up to 12 miles in the hill phase) and the long run is increased to a total distance of 30 miles. Speedwork goes up to 13 x 1 mile at 5:40 pace and during the speedwork phase, the Friday run goes to 6-8 miles and Saturday runs are 0-5.
Weeks 20, 24 and 28 are easy weeks like the other schedule and the Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday runs are scaled back to half of the other weeks.
Quite a bit different from what he's selling now. I'm glad this was the book he had out when I started running and not the ones he has now. I couldn't imagine building a running base on walks and running 3 days a week.
Hope this helps.
Thank you so much for taking the time to do this.
It's not so much a question of "what" he is selling now but "who" he is/was selling to. I mean, a 32 week schedule peaking with a 25-28 mile long run!? That is a serious schedule intended for serious athletes. "What" Jeff is selling now is aimed at an entirely different market which did not exist in 1984.
BTW looks like a 3 week taper, although I believe all his schedules ended in a 3 week taper. Also, just to throw this in here- I have found a solid 16 miler at goal pace 10 days out a key part of the taper.
It's more than who he's selling to. I quoted the comment form his book to eliminate the walking breaks after a time goal of 3:20 is set because he now says that even elites can benefit from walking breaks.
He didn't seem to believe that when he wrote his first book.
Money talks.
Remember J. Galloway was a high-mileage guy once (vis the Fla Track Club + Shorter & Bacheler & Brown & Co.).
13 mile repeats plus a long run of over 25 miles, then whatever you want on the other days' reflects Shorter's methodology: a long run a hard track workout then whatever you want on the over five days. Those are both mental toughness workouts.
Think about it: you get out of bed and realize you are going to run THIRTEEN mile reps that day. Hmmmm.
To be fair, I met him (Galloway) at the Vermont City Marathon some years back, very nice guy.
Anybody else tried his plans? Results? I'm considering his marathon plan as my times haven't improved much the last two years.
Marathon PR is 3:08 by the way, 5k: 18:15
This is pretty valuable. Thanks for doing it.
Does he mention how long the rest should be for the 400m and 1M repeats?