Hi, If you Running for 11 minutes and walking 1 minute or 1-2 minutes. How do you feel? if that Run/walk Ratio is working for you go with it.

I am currently using Jeff Galloway's eCoaching for my 1st Marathon in October. And I have been using various Run/Walk Ratios for my Training Runs. But I too, have been reading up on his suggestions and He usually stresses that if you start out at a 2-3 minute slower pace. And usually if your in the middle of the groups and there is alot of runners ahead of you at the start, you pretty much have to go slow anyway until you find your way to start passing people.

So at that point it's usually best to take your walk breaks often in the beginning of the Race, Then slowly as you progress through the race distance, start increasing your pace and adding to your Run time. with each 1 minute walk break, it will help with your Recovery to run through out the race. As you get close to the finish, You should be able to run longer with out any the walk breaks as you near the last 10k to 5k distance of the race all the way to the Finish!

Forestina

After much experimentation I've come to the conclusion that more frequent walks are the most beneficial for me.

I usually run 4-5 minutes (I don't time it, just whenever I feel like it), then walk 30-45 seconds. This works quite well for me.

In a marathon I make sure to start the walks before the first mile. Yes, I'm slow, over 5 hours, but usually about mile 22 or 23, I quit the walks and run continuously to the finish. Typically, the last 3 miles are my fastest, and I've never been passed in the second half of my 19 marathons and ultras.

Hopefully, it won't be too late for you to incorporate walking, I've found it very helpful, and I recover much faster than when I ran the entire way.

Good luck to you.

RochesterRunner

I am assuming you are doing the Med-City? Jeff will be here on Saturday at the Running Room at 9am for a talk and a 1.5 mile run/walk. The Running Room is down on Broadway across from the YMCA.

Good luck in the marathon. I will be there, doing a 5:30 or so marathon (my second).



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Susan

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