Jeff Galloway approach to R/W/R London Marathon 2014 -Help!

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  • So much for feeling smug about getting all the training in. Was about to get changed for running club tonight when thunder and lightening started and snow began swirling down out of the sky. I dithered about still going to the club but chickened out: worried that I would take a tumble and then be injured for no good reason. Liz, daughter, who stops at nothing to get her running in, apparently did 4 very scary miles on sheet ice, with cars sliding at her from all angles. She was out nearly 2 very unproductive but adventurous hours. I had to laugh at that,  as she is a 1:29 half marathoner.

    Moral of the story: age does occasionally bring some wisdom. I had a glass of wine in front of the tele Instead. Where I'll find the time to make up the mileage, though, goodness only knows. Still.... Enjoyed the wine 

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  • can you use the run and walk method after you have run 13 miles without stop to complete 26.2 miles. 

     

  • You can use it whenever you want but it is better to use it from before you are tired out as it keeps the energy levels up for longer. Not sure if it will help you regain energy you have lost If you start using it late in a race. We have all found that over distance you pretty much do the same time as you would without walking but don't have the usual drop off in pace you have when running continuously. Ultra runners use walking strategically as a matter of course. To me a marathon is an ultra, as I have never done that distance before. I have been amazed at the difference it has made for me.

  • Chris - everything I read says don't try to make up lost mileage - the odd session missed won't make a difference.  Just do your next session as planned. If you try to make it up, you will be piling miles too close together, and that might be the straw that breaks the camel's back (or in my case, the calf muscleimage

    Catherine - of course you can, but as Chris says, you get the most benefit if you use it from the start.  In fact, Jeff Galloway says that the walk breaks you take during the first mile are the most important.

  • jangok wrote (see)

    ps. Is anyone else doing the Silverstone half marathon?

     

    I am!

    Have been lurking on this page-very interesting.  I am a very slow back of the packer and am running VMLM.  I was thinking about doing the run-walk pacer group at London, but fear it may be too fast for me.  I'll see how the training goes and keep lurking.

  • Welcome, Lainey.

    I think I saw somewhere that the run-walk pacer at London will be doing 9/1 - which is way more running than JG suggests for the pace. I may be wrong about that.

    Unless something changes drastically in the next 8 weeks (8 weeks - Argghhh!!) I will be doing either 30/30, 45/30 or 60/30.  I think. Until I change my mindimage

  • 8 weeks???image I am not doing London, I am doing Llanelli but I think it is the same day. 

    Wish I had started the JG method earlier actually as I probably would have built up more mileage by now, but I am convinced it will get me round in one piece which is my main objective

    Chris - sometimes it is better just to skip a run than risk injury. skipping the odd session here and there won't hurt 

  • I'm sure you are all right and I may just have to let Tuesday's lost run be lost. Luckily it is a low mileage week so not so critical. It is the first run I have missed, so not too bad really.

    JG has suggested that I do 60/30secs or 40/20secs at Blackpool next week. He has given me permission to track the 11:22 pacer, who should finish in 2hrs 29mins. I'd like to think I could do faster but I'm not sure where my fitness is up to. The above are the sort of racing R/W ratios JG suggests in races, Lainey, certainly not 9/1 mins.

    God, is it really only 8 weeks to London. Now that is scary. Hope the weather improves.

    Sorry Barbara missed your questions last  night. I do a bit of strength work, but not much as have been so busy at work.....and is most weeks. I do a lot of flexibility work as I am prone to arthritis and stiffen up easily. The chiropractor work has transformed things and I see him one night a week too. He gives me a lot of advice on how to strengthen weak areas. That in itself puts my running associated work up to 4 sessions.

    I am just going for finishing at London this time. I have a range of aims from: 1. (minimum) getting to the end upright; 2. Finishing in under 6 hrs; 3. (would be very pleased finishing between 5:30 - 5:45; 4. (Ecstatic) anything less than 5:30. Number 2 is the most likely I think form how my 20 mile run went.

    Any thoughts from the rest of you re aims?

    C

  • I posted a question about pacing, and got the response that last year, the RWR pacer was doing 5/1 and aiming to finish in around 5:15.  Someone also said JG should hang his head in shame, encouraging people to jog/walk. LOL - bring it on!!

    Aims... well, when I started out I was thinking around 5:30, but secretly hoping I could be close to 5:00.... maybe under 5.  

    But with the injury, my goals are:

    1) Finish

    2) Inside 7 hours (otherwise they will be reopening the roads)

    3) But ideally under 6 hours

    4) And if my leg is fully fit, maybe under 5:30.

     

    I'm nothing if not optimisticimage

  • my aim is to finish, not thinking about any time goals for my first one

  • jangok wrote (see)

    Hi Lainey!

    I'll be a slow back of the packer at both Silverstone and the London Marathon image Are you run/walking too? I'll be the one bleeping every 30 seconds!

    Hows training going?

    J


    Hi jangok,

    yep, me too doing both!  I'll be at the back.  I never thought about run/walking until I read about the pacers and wondered if I should get aboard the pacing train! I have been running (I am slow 13-14min/mile on LSR) but wondered if the run/walk strategy and having a group may help. I do wonder if they will be too fast as I am aiming for sub 3 at Silverstone and I would be absolutely over the moon with sub 6 at London.  Training is going well, 12 miles done at weekend and 14 this weekend.  How's yours going?

  • Which forum did you post the question on Barbara?

     

  • Sorry to but in Chris, but it's Spring marathon forum.

    Link

     

  • I'd much rather hang around with runners who applaud the effort of others, whatever their level, than those who sneer.

    Mathschick... I keep on trying to not have a time goal.  I'm not sure I really believe myself, though, IYKWIM.

  • Looked at the message re JG approach. I didn't dare respond as I would have struggled to be polite. I always think in the end people like that get what they deserve so I left it to Kama.

  • I just looked at it too, I think some people make inflammatory comments for the fun of it. Best just to ignore. Anyway, as we have said before even the best ultra runners regularly do run/walk. 

    Did 6 miles this morning again at 30/30 and again hitting a 13m/m pace. I just feel so good when I finish one of these run/walks. image

  • I need to get my act back together this weekend. With exhaustion still lurking from last  weekend's 20 miler, a hell of a week at work and the impact of this week's storms on my training, I feel like I have lost the plot a bit. I keep telling myself, if I was a real athlete I wouldn't let myself be sidetracked from my goal so easily, but the week was what it was, and I just need to move on from it......After all I have a half marathon to run next weekend.

    mathschick, you are looking good again. We have a lot to thank JG for.

    It would be great to hear how others lurching on this thread are doing with their training now we are getting nearer and nearer to the big day.....And any previous successes they have had or know of when using JG's approach. 

     

     

  • Chris - I think I finish every run/walk with that runner's high that I have heard about image

    You do just need to put the week behind you, elite athletes generally don't have full time jobs etc to deal with and you do, so don't worry about it, just move on! With the big day approaching and me doing a kind of modified version of a plan because of the biking and swimming I do (I am doing a half ironman in June) I know I probably haven't done as much running as I should have, so going to try for around 13 miles tomorrow. 

    Are you going to do 30/30 in the actual marathon? I was thinking I am because it works so well for me

  • I'm going to consult with JG about the marathon when I get nearer. He has suggested 60/30 or 40/20  for next week's half marathon. Glad I'm doing it as it might give me a better idea of my real fitness. Quite excited really.  I am going to try both of the above ratios when running this weekend to see which feels most comfortable

  • Hi all

    Chris asked me to join in. I tried the method for the first time in January 2012 and I was surprised to learn that I was as fast as with continuous running. It took me some more months to completely adjust and I started a schedule in September 2012 towards the marathon end of May 2013. I did not stop training with this method since and am now training to the ultra on March 1,

    Make no mistake this method is not only for 'slow' runners. I do notice that I am faster on the long training runs. Last Sunday I ran a 32 mile training run and I was way quicker with a conservative ratio than on an earlier 22 mile training run with longer running segments.

    The only thing: start with the walk breaks from the beginning! Don't pay attention to spectators or other runners, just do your own thing and be confident. You will probably overtake lots of them later and you might skip walking segments at the end. But DO take them at the beginning. I guess they are the most important segments.

    I did not feel a thing after my 32 miler from last week.

    Just give it a try. But... there is more to the schedule that just RWR

    You can be really fast with RWR! Also i feel that posture is always better with RWR since you don't get tired.

    If you have questions about the methid just fire away. I think I have some experience now image

     

  • RunningMax I wanted to ask you how you do your speed work so that you keep to the correct pace. I have a Garmin but find it more difficult to manage as I'm juggling walk as well as run segments. I have never done any speed work at all before using the schedule from JG as I really am a novice in this area

    C

    ps Also can you give examples of how you have improved to inspire us newbies

  • @Chris what do you mean with the speedwork and the pace? Which Garmin do you have? Is there a RWR alert? I have a 910 and 610 and simply program the alert. That said it will be overruled by a programmed workout. But I run my mile repeats or before the 800 repeats without a walking segment. Just did 8x1600 today.

    You can take walk breaks in the 800 repeats. I would have time per Lap on the watch then and take the break halfway?
  • Perhaps I'm over complicating things. I have a Garmin 610.

    If we take the Blackpool Half Marathon I'm doing as an example. Jeff has suggested I either do a R/W ratio of 60/30 or 40/20 (i.e. 2-1) during the race. I am trying to follow or beat the RW Pacer who is doing 11:22 m/m to bring his group in at 2:29. I have never done a marathon so slowly and my best time in the last 5 years was 2:22 at Liverpool in 2011 with an injured leg. The problem is I have had a lot of time off because of my injury and only really got going again in late Nov 2013 when I found this approach to running and a good chiropractor to straighten up my body.

    I am unsure of my current capability. Saying that I feel my body is stronger and more balanced (not necessarily faster) than it has been in 15 or 20 years. My latest MM, in Jan 2014 was 9:17 (for reference), which I know is slow but I am nearly 61! I think in JG terms this translates to a half marathon time of about 2:26 and a pace of 11:16 m/m. I am also doing London in April so need to bear this in mind.

    Half of me wants to test what I can do now and the other half of me wants to play safe and use it as a paced training run for London. You can guess which thought is winning.

    Supposing I decide to go for 11:16 pace, how would you use your Garmin watch  to pace it. Which of the following have you found works best:

    1. Do the recommended R/W pace say 60/30 and set intervals on my watch at this rate so I can check the Run average and then the Walk average pace as I go along, separately, having previously decided what the  two paces should be.
    2. Do the recommended R/W pace say 60/30 but just set my Garmin for average pace per lap (i.e. per mile) and just try and work where I am with my pace out from that. This is what I am finding difficult.
    3. Set my Galloway timer on 60:30 and then use my watch to track my overall m/m pace per mile
    4.  Set my Galloway timer on 60:30 and track the time taken from crossing the line on my watch
    5. Or is there another, better, way of doing it?

    Sorry this reads a bit complicated but I suppose what I'm really saying is please tell me how you sort out pacing so you can control what you are doing.

    C

  • hi runningmax, good to have you on the thread

    Chris - I have nothing to suggest as I have no idea about pacing, I tend to do a run and then look back and see what happened. Has your 610 got a virtual partner? could you set that to the pace you want to go at and set the alert to beep at the right times but have the virtual partner showing most of the time so you can see if you are on track?

  • Thanks Mathschick, I never thought of that. Will look tomorrow.

    C

  • @ chris: ah I see what you mean but.... that 'feel' of your right speed will come with time. I made a table once to see how fast I 'should' be running for a certain average speed with all different ratios. You won't lose much time with the walking breaks, especially not if you keep walking pretty fast (small steps, no overstriding etc). I can check if I have that on my laptop. BUT: I nowadays find that - with the experience I have now) you don't have to worry too much about the average in the beginning of the run (especially with a HM distance or further). You sem to be slow at the beginning because in the first mile, your 'walking breaks' makes up 'more time' than at the end while averaging the speed. Does that make sense? So the virtual pacer is not completely helpful but it is a start I suppose.

    Just go out for a training short training session, set the watch on the run/walk alert you want to try at the race, look at your running pace and see at the end what the average pace was. Repeat that on the next training sessions and you will - slowly - get the feel of it and know exactly how much you will have to add to the average while running xx speed during the running segments at xx ratio.

    Do you know what I mean? I now know exactly that for instance on a long run (say the 32 miler from last weekend) if I use a 1/30 ratio I will end up with a certain average. 

    I will check for the excell table now because by looking at it, you will get a better idea and it helps during training.

    where would we be without the cloud. Found it but... how can I attach it now. Obviously not. Send me a private message with your mail address and I can send it over. You will have to fiddle with min/km maybe but there are calculators for that image

  • Thanks RunningMax. I think, well I know really, that I'm a control freak, and so been finding it difficult not being able to "manage" my pace. Will private message.

  • Hi all

    (Barbara, not sure if this was a discussion we had)

    Some of us were trying to use the RW walk run calculator last week and it wouldn't work. I went on it this morning and it was working again. Just google and you should be able to find it.

    C

  • 13 miles this morning image

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