2/3 running, 1/3 walking??

I just ran (well, ambled is perhaps a better descriptor) a half marathon in Virginia. Throughout the second half of the run, I was always either passing or being passed by a fellow runner. Only she was a run/walk runner, alternating between running and walking the entire time.

She passed me for good with less than a mile to go. So it worked for her.

I believe Jeff Galloway (former Olympian) was a proponent of run/walk.

Kat,

Doug is right, Jeff Galloway, an Olympic marathoner and long time coach is a strong advocate of walking breaks. A number of elite distance runners have used walking to keep their heart rates down to the right level during bouts of heavy training. Walking is also used with new runners. Walking can easily extend a training session. As to posture, stay focused on staying relaxed while you run and not hunching over or raising your shoulders. Walk on!

BJ

For mere mortals doing the Leadville 100 a common strategy is to walk the first 25, then jog only on the flats, do the uphills as best you can, jog the slightly downhills, and walk the steep downhills.

Walking has great merit.

Fartlek=speed play! I wasn’t going to play the age card! My hat’s off to you.

You can still do 4 miles an hour walking, so it seems fine.  But for me, running is always a game of motivation.  Once I stop running, I dread starting back up again.  So I generally try not to stop until I am done.  We’re all wired a little differently on motivation though.

I can stay motivated on what I consider interval training.  For me, interval training involves almost a sprint – no more than a quarter mile, maybe less – with rest or walk periods in between sprints.