You ran HOW MUCH?!

Happy Saturday, everyone!  I hope everyone enjoyed their long runs this morning and found a way to beat the heat.  Today was a rest day for me and with my longest run ever on the schedule for tomorrow (6 miles!) I thought I'd make a quick post about how I've made it from the couch to feeling confident about a 6 mile run!

When I first started running early this Spring I started using a "couch to 5k" app that I downloaded for free from iTunes.  The program was a three day per week training program where you would run for a certain amount of time then walk for a certain amount of time for a total of about 30 minutes each day.  Every week the running periods got a little longer and the walking periods got a little shorter... At least that was the theory.  My husband and I started the program together but we weren't very motivated and usually only ran one day a week or so and it seemed like it we weren't making any progress at all.

After about 2 months of working on this training plan we made it to... the 2nd workout of week three.  Not great progress!

We were determined to build distance so we threw the "couch to 5k" plan out the window and just decided to see how far we could run without stopping... which turned out to be a whopping 1.5 miles.  Not much when I think about it now but I was pretty proud of myself at that point!  We had signed up for our first 5k (which you can read about here) and it was just a few weeks away so we started adding .5 mile each week and got up to three miles without stopping!

After that 5k, I wanted to add more distance to my training (because I was secretly wanting to sign up for the Princess Half Marathon when registration opened!) but running more than 3 miles straight seemed impossible to me!  My new-found obsession with runDisney ended up leading me to hearing about Jeff Galloway and suddenly my outlook on running changed completely!

Jeff Galloway creates the official runDisney training programs (which can be found here) and I was reading through the Princess Half Marathon plan for beginning runners and came across this...

Wait!  An Olympic runner is tell me it's OKAY to WALK?!

That's right!  Jeff's training plan is all about the run/walk/run method!  I was completely blown away... I thought to be "runner" you had to run the whole time?!  You mean walking is allowed?!  Well this changed everything!

I immediately implemented Jeff's run/walk/run method and haven't looked back since!  I was already running about 3 miles at a time when I discovered this plan so I started out with a run:walk interval of 4:1 (run for 4 minutes, walk for 1 minute, repeat!) but everyone has their own happy pace, so try different intervals until you find what works for you!

I have discovered that I think it's easier to run the whole distance (instead of using run/walk intervals) if I'm running 2.5 miles or less... my legs just don't like the whole start/stop thing when I'm not doing it for very long.  I'm also now using a 5:1 interval during my runs to try to build endurance.

Here are a few of tips for Jeff Galloway training program users:

1. Find a good interval for you now and as you get comfortable with that interval, increase your running interval so you keep improving.
2. There's no shame in adjusting your interval during a run if your body is telling you something is wrong!  My suggestion is to adjust the "running" parts of your runs down instead of adjusting your "walking" parts up.  If you walk for more than 1.5 minutes your legs will start to stiffen up and you won't want to start up again.
3. If you're using the Galloway method in a race (or in a training location where there are a lot of other runners, like running trails/tracks) don't come to an abrupt stop when your "running" interval is over!  Move to the side of the trail as you're slowing down and look behind you before you stop... You don't want to get run over and other people don't want to trip over you.
4. Your shins will also thank you for not stopping abruptly during your run... people who stop quickly tend to stop their feet.  And people who stomp their feet tend to get shin splints.
5. There are Jeff Galloway training groups around the country... Join one if there's one near you (you can check out the locations here).  There's not one in my city (or state for that matter) but I hear they're awesome!  You're a lot more likely to stick to a training program if you do it with other people.

Has anyone else had success using the Galloway method?  What are your tips for new Galloway users?