Intervals of Run/Walk – a brief summary of what you need to know to go forever!

I have a new friend named “Joyce” who is about to embark on her first 5K run event after a four years hiatus.

She’s going to do the Galloway Method of which I have spoke about and is my “go to” style of running (Jeff Galloway info and links) for every event I do. (run interval walk interval)

Here’s the scoop in a nutshell – click Jeff’s link to dig in deeper.

You run for a designated time (ex: 3 minutes.)

You then walk for 30 seconds

repeat

so as an example:

My suggested time intervals for her (this being her first time attempting it) was a three minute run with a 30 sec walk. This is also my suggested interval for nearly everybody interested in trying this style out.

Based on personal experience and my background in physiology and sport – I don’t want her going much more than 30 seconds on her recovery because lactic acid tends to spill out into the muscle.

Lactic Acid wont affect your performance (you burn lactic acid for fuel.)  It does however cause a burning sensation on the start of the next run interval and why have that?  30 sec is plenty of recovery time to top off ATP levels and get your breathing back.

Another suggestion I have for her is as she continues to improve on her Galloway method over the months is to notice when she is looking at her watch wanting a rest period.

Three minutes is a good baseline start but if you can modify the run period you’ll cover more ground with not much additional effort.

For Instance I run a 3:45 and rest for 30.  

If I was continually looking down at my watch to see how much time is remaining before I rest at the at 3:30 mark – I would know I was pushing it a bit too far. It isn’t coming easy and natural now.

I could and should then back off my run interval to 3:20.

You strive to rest before the run gets tough. Each Interval.

 Make it easy, this equals more fun and no reduction in your pace. Over time the interval will get longer but should not reach the painful, tough stage.