Running/Walking in intervals

I've had some questions about the running method of intervals. The interval running I've been following is the Jeff Galloway method and I'm sure some of what I will say here is repeated on his web site. But these are my opinions and how I've been using his program for training and running.

The basic concept is that if you add a walk interval before you get tired, this gives your legs a break/rest and allows you to push further and faster than if you were running straight. The key is to walk before you feel like you need it. If you wait until you feel tired then your body isn't going to get rest during the walk interval; it will be trying to recover from being tired instead of giving your body a break.

Honestly, although in theory it makes sense, I didn't really believe that you could do run/walk intervals and be around the same average pace as running straight. I figured it would be slower overall because it feels easier than running straight.

I used the Jeff Galloway method for training runs when I was training for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon in 2012. I ran with Colleen a lot, and we ran the same trail/loop for the most part. We talked often about the run/walk and whether or not it worked, and at one point we decided to test it out. So one day we ran the loop straight (no walk intervals) and the following day we ran the same loop in 4:1 run/walk intervals. We didn't push for a certain time either day and just paced what felt comfortable for us at the time. Amazingly, this proved that either method can get you the same time result. We were within a 10 second pace per mile over a 5 mile period between the 2 runs. Here are the mile splits:

North Park North Park 2/2/2012 5:08pm 2/3/2012 4:09pm Distance Split Sum Distance Split Sum 1 10:25 10:25 1 10:09 10:09 2 10:42 21:07 2 10:11 20:21 3 10:28 31:35 3 10:20 30:40 4 10:25 42:00 4 10:39 41:19 5 09:54 51:54 5 10:30 51:50 5.07 00:40 0:52:34 5.01 00:40 0:52:30 Avg pace 10:22.1 Avg pace 10:28.6 best split 02:25 best split 02:14 worst split 02:49 worst split 03:01

The run on February 2nd was the straight run with no walk breaks and the run on February 3rd was the run in intervals of 4:1.

It's interesting to note that with the straight run we had negative splits. I assume this is because we were used to interval running so we made a conscious effort to take it easy (i.e. slow down the run pace - not aiming for a certain time but just slowing it down) the first few miles since we were running straight. With intervals, when I run in general I do tend to run at the speed of the running interval, which is faster than I can maintain on a longer straight run. (This is probably the one drawback of training in intervals- if you want to run straight in a race or something like that, you have to rein in the pace of your run so you don't burn out by running too fast, too early.)

With run/walk intervals our run pace is definitely faster than with the straight run. During the straight run our average pace was 10:22. I have to estimate our pace for the run duration of the walk/run intervals based on the Garmin data, but it looks like we averaged between 9:00 and 9:30 pace for our run durations, which is significantly faster.

Also, looking at the splits, there was more variation with the interval training but that's also to be expected.

About a month after this, I ran the March Mad Dash, a 5 mile race on my normal running route (and the one we ran above). This proved I could keep up a faster pace on a straight run. I have to note that at the point I did the race, the race was shorter than my long run duration and I was consistently training at 5 miles each time I ran so I'm sure that made a difference. The race recap is here, and running the same loop (North Park) straight through with one walk break I maintained a pace over the 5 mile duration of 9:27.

I am definitely happy with the Jeff Galloway method and here are some more thoughts about other benefits.

• I ran the Hershey Half Marathon relay using the interval method (somewhat modified to tailor how we felt) with little training. I would not condone running a big race without training but the run/walk intervals helped me get through it. We maintained a fairly slow pace with a goal of 12:00 (pace) but at the end of our portion I felt great and like I could have kept going.
• The intervals help me go further because they give me short term goals to focus on, instead of dwelling on the entire duration I'm about to run.
• The intervals can be tailored to your speed or the shape you are in. Starting up again the last few months I'm only doing 1:1 which just recently transitioned to 2:1.
• Intervals actually help burn fat. So in my mind hopefully this will help me lose weight. Any exercise helps but I keep reading that intervals are the fastest way to burn actual fat because you're changing things up.