Went to the osteopath this morning and mentioned that I often do run-/walk/run- about 2 minutes running and 30 seconds walking.
She advised that I stop that as they are two very different movements for my body. Rather, she suggested to slow right down to a more comfortable pace. I said that slowing down would lower my cadence and lead to more heel striking - possibly exacerbating the sore heel that I went in for.
So, I’m wondering: has anyone else had this advice?? I know that run/walk/ run is s thing and never heard that it could be too jarring. Also, I just can’t seem to slow down - I prefer to go my usual speed, take a walk break and continue running. I’m often faster than people running constantly (not that speed matters). I thought tun/walk/run was a good way to avoid injuries or to keep running while you heal.
Any thoughts?
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sofaspud
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What were you seeing the osteopath about? That might be relevant. That said, some health professionals feel obliged to comment and you are, perhaps or perhaps not done ever so nicely, constantly wrong footed.
I'm very much with the idea that running and walking are not the same thing (I find the insistence that people should not attempt C25K if they can't do a brisk 30 minute walk utterly exasperating) but that doesn't mean you can't combine them in a session (what about warm up and cool down?)
I've learned a lot from my son's specialist occupational therapist about differences in people's pacing needs so I'd say if it feels to you as though it is meeting your needs, you are enjoying it and not getting injured, keep up the good work!
The usual reasoning behind recommending brisk walks is not from the mechanics of it but as a means of kick-starting the cardiovascular system to getting used to an increased level of activity.
Some folks get out of breath just from walking short distances.
Hello! thanks for your response. I went to the osteopath because I've had a tight hip flexor for months and now a sore heel.
I explained to her that I was doing 2 minutes running/30 second walking and I think it was that that horrifed her! She said running 30 minutes and then walking 5-10 minutes was fine but doing it in the shorter intervals like I was (jeffing) was jarring to the body...
The osteopath is the one with eyes and hands on your body so we probably all need to bear that in mind. And you've got 'issues' - but did she look at your running and walking motions? Or expand at all? Certainly worth further questions before taking the advice if you felt happy with what you were doing.
A lot of people on the forums here use jeffing and I've not seen any reports of problems using that approach. A web search finds lots of training programmes that use it. Here's a link to the original Jeff Galloway site: jeffgalloway.com/training/r...
Yes, I have checked out Jeffing and agree that it is a good approach. I was just so surprised to hear a healthcare specialist's opinion that the short intervals I was doing 120:30 were too jarring.
I was listening to a Podcast during the week. A lady who ran marathons started to do run/walk/run method and managed to get a marathon PB and beat her previous best by about 20 minutes.
Wow - 20 minutes! Do you know what timing run/walk she was doing? As I noted, the osteopath took issue with my short timing (120:30), saying that it would cause too much disruption to my body.
Hi sofaspud, not a clue about the walk/run thing, but I've been practicing increasing my cadence and with practice it should be possible at low speeds. It just involves the steps being very small to go slower.
Thanks for your response! Yes, it is counter-intuitive but I guess I could focus on smaller steps almost on the spot. I'll give it a try. Hope your running journey is going well! What is your current cadence?
When I'm thinking about it- around 180, when it slips - around 175. I don't find it's something that needs to be thought about all the time, but if I'm aware of it at the start of a run, I tend to carry on for the rest of the run.
Hi I’m doing the opposite from you. Doing 1 min run 5 mins walk whereas your doing more running. I’m doing it that way as have osteoporosis. Hope I’m not jarring as well . I see Jeff Galloway recommends it. What about Japanese slow jogging , then you might not have to walk .
This seems to me a bit of an odd thing to say, as it seems to dismiss walking entirely! I wonder, though, if your therapist is actually concerned more about the transition between running and walking? Jeff Galloway provides some running drills called "acceleration gliders" that amongst other things help focus on a smooth transition between walk-run-walk jeffgalloway.com/2014/06/23...
Alternatively, if you'd like to try what she suggests but don't want to worry about impact on your heels while running more slowly, I wonder if you have seen the Japanese Slow Jogging technique? The basis of it is to land each step on the forefoot beneath the hips, but maintaining a fairly quick cadence, but at a very gentle pace: slowjogging.wordpress.com/
I've never heard of walk/run being bad, from my experience it really helps me.
I had to go to a physio due to niggles in my buttock which were caused by my sciatic nerve and overall weakness on the right side. Once the imbalance had been worked on and I'd been pummeled on numerous occasions she told me to restart running as 5 minutes walk / 1 minute running. Under her guidance I worked slowly up to 1minute walk/ 5 minutes running and it has resulted in an improvement to my cadence
Similarly, after my ankle injury in September last year, the physio I used told me to restart by alternating between 20 seconds of jogging and 40 seconds of walking.
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week3run1 ✅. 3 x 17 mins with 1 min walks. 
