I know a lot of you swear by walk/run methods, but I find if I take a walk break my legs feel like solid wood when I start running again, really rigid and clonky, whereas if I just stop completely for, say, 30 seconds - to take a photo or look at the view or just rest in a patch of shade - I feel completely refreshed and can run on normally (or as normal as it gets for me!)
Any thoughts? What do you do?
I prefer solid running without walk breaks as it's harder to get going again than to keep going. Right now though I have a pain in my calf that causes me to stop for a moment. However, I often stop to admire a view and it would be sad to just trundle through the woods and fields without appreciating them. I would think trail runners must stop for refreshments, water, enjoying the environment, so I'm trying to be more relaxed with it all lately!
I am with you... a quick photo stop, or to cross a road... works wonders for me! 
I don't take walk breaks any more, but if I stop to take a photo, buy some water, traffic lights, to eat, to Pat a dog, look at the view or been run over. Then I need to keep my legs moving otherwise they never start working again after.
Today was supposed to be a long one for me, but the heat really got to me ( as did unintentionally going too fast ) so I stopped short and walked for a mile, I felt ok, but no ok enough to run, so I did 90/60 walk/run to get me home ( 3miles) the first few strides of the run felt rigid/clonky as you say but then, fine. So I'm thinking perhaps it's just practise, as I don't usually walk/run either. Must say I did rather enjoy the walk/run element
I do both! I am playing with different podcasts at the moment whilst trying to strengthen my knee and hip so have approached this with the run/walk method, but when I am focusing on distance would rather stop completely then re-start. Perhaps I'm just wierd but I tend to do what feels right at the time.
I often have a stop and I often have a walk break particularly if i am doing intervals... but never more that 30 secs or I cease up!!!
I usually run with no walk breaks , if in have stop at a road I forgetbto get going again ,then takes a while to get back in my stride.
Probably should add a few breaks into my longer runs but ! Just dont seem to . Hey ho ..
If it works for you then it works for you 😊
I much prefer running straight, even if I start getting out of breath or get a stitch, I'll slow my running down rather than walk. Also I find things like the c25k+ speed podcast very gruelling! So maybe I'm in agreement that for me keeping on running is easier than run/walking, although maybe that's a sign I'd benefit from incorporating more run/walking... Re stopping altogether, I've started incorporating street bits into my routes, joining parks and green spaces together to make longer distances up, and sometimes have to stop momentarily to wait for traffic. I think I sort of jiggle from leg to leg like benwill describes, but I'm really focused on keeping momentum, so I don't really tend to struggle to start running again once the road's clear. But I'll have a bit more of a think when I'm next out, interesting to think that stopping may work differently to walking, maybe it's psychological for me though...
I would prefer to run non-stop but the majority of my runs tend to incorporate a walk break for 30-60 secs... I really think (for me) its a mental thing as in the past I have "spoken to myself" and had 5+ runs back to back up to 10k non stop.
This weather and some general leg fatigue has put a halt to that though!!
I don't usually walk now, unless I've finished my run, maybe just stop on run momentarily then carry on..😊
Another one for just running with no breaks. The only exception might be to take a picture but I always worry I will lose my pace! Like Ruth_canal_runner, I will slow up for a bit if the going gets tough! I think it's about finding what works best for you🙂
2 runs ago was the first time I let myself stop at any distance... twice! First was dog duty so unavoidable and second was for a photo of the cows and calves- just had to!
I stopped completely then started and it actually helped my pace. I keep going off too fast in the first km but stopping helped me 'reset'. Generally I just slow down if tiring.
I think it is all in our minds!!! Right now, because I have been running long distances (up to 22K) deliberately VERY slowly ( ala Jeff Galloways instructions) and the only way I can achieve this very slow over the ground pace is to run/walk using very short run/walk intervals - I am slowly losing the ability to run for even 5 minutes non-stop , much less for longer 
Only in the last few months however , I have run a 10k race and a 5k parkrun PB at an average HR of over 90% of my maxHR. So what is going on??
I can kind of actually see what is happening by studying my pace versus HR numbers on Garmin Connect. It is plainly obvious to me - after studying a couple of test runs of 4 minutes running to 45 seconds walking intervals, that I am starting off the run each time too fast. So - in other words, after a walking break, my legs are not wooded - but rather giant sprinting springs!! For the first about 2 minutes of each running segment my pace goes high and then reduces down - while at the same time , my HR starts out lowish for the first 2 minutes and then goes high. I am now in the final phases of my HM training - have done the long longruns at the very slow pace required by the plans - now I am trying to ( in as "scientifically" manner as possible) trying to work out the "best" run/walk ratio to use during the HM. From a feeling point of view, I am aware that I am not enjoying doing a 4 minute long running segment - and I can see why from the Garmin graph - and it also results in an average pace which is too fast for what I want to do during the HM. So I am reducing the running time down a bit each day to find my own personal "sweetspot" - I reduced it to 3 minutes running yesterday and still didn't enjoy it and it still didn't slow me down enough - so will try 2 minutes today - the graph of pace versus HR really has a crossover point showing the most advantageous point where pace is not too slow and HR is not too high of around a 1.5 minute running segment.
After this HM though - I feel that I am going to abandon run/walking and go back to 5-10K continuous running only - and I am going to have to retrain myself to do that. Where I alive, at both parkrun and my local running club, nobody has ever heard or run/walking, Galloway or even C25K!!
Thanks all, that made really interesting reading.
