Run/walk half marathon?: I'm in a bit of mess at... - Couch to 5K

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Run/walk half marathon?

Bazza1234 profile image
Bazza1234Graduate
9 Replies

I'm in a bit of mess at the moment. Sitting in a hotel in Honolulu - just waiting for the next few days to pass so we can get on that big bird to fly back home. After 7 weeks of hectic-ness my wife and I have had enough!! It has been great - the parts of the US that we have seen have been AMAZING! But enough is enough.

I did get in a number of runs over that 7 weeks - but all of the restaurant/cafe eating every day plus booze has taken it's toll on me. I am confident that I will fairly quickly regain what I have lost - but I will really need to get my "HEAD" back into order to do so. I have come to realise how difficult it is to follow any kind of running plan when your daily life is chaos (such as when living out of a suitcase for 7 weeks 😄)

So - I need a plan!!. Last year I ran a 14klm fun run using run/walk and I have one last opportunity to do HM this year before it gets too hot. I have for a while now harboured an ambition to do a HM in my 69th year this year and a full Marathon in my 70th year next year. I have found a number of run/walk plans of around 12 weeks duration which would slot nicely into the timing for this particular HM in September.

Has anybody followed such a plan for a HM??

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Bazza1234 profile image
Bazza1234
Graduate
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9 Replies
ju-ju- profile image
ju-ju-Graduate

well done you, sounds perfect, and I am so jealous of your 7 WEEK HOLIDAY...and that plan sounds a good idea but I havent seen one. I do see alot of nordic walkers on runs, and I saw one on the marathon so there must be run/ walk type plans out there??

Tomas profile image
TomasGraduate

Has anybody followed such a plan? Yes, definitely! Thousands and thousands of followers the Galloway method has run/walked both half and full marathons, and it appears to be a solid plan based on a lot of experience. So I'd say why not just give it a go? Get started on the 12 week training and see how you're getting on. Worst that can happen is that you get fitter without feeling comfortable enough to the HM (although, having read many of your posts, I have the impression that you tend to complete what you start), and best case is that you have a great HM in September. Seems to be a win/win situation :)

turnturtle profile image
turnturtleGraduate

Not yet, but I am about to. That's spooky. We are both baby boomers from (I guess ) the same year and I too am harbouring the same ambition. My HM is in September and I am on track with the all run training programme I'm following but after a non-stop 70 minute run yesterday, my joints are really protesting today and I have decided to revert to the Galloway method. It servoed me well last year when I ran/walked a 10K race at a faster pace than I managed yesterday. I then plan to go for the Yorkshire marathon in October 2016. If we both stick to our guns it will be interesting to compare notes!

Bazza1234 profile image
Bazza1234Graduate in reply to turnturtle

Looks like we will be twins over the next 18 months!😄

I have run a 10klm race non-stop in a bit over an hour -- but 21k is a long way and all I want to do is finish. Time and pace will not be relevant for me to do this so I want to start this training with no thought of it at all 😄

I have found a couple of plans that look suitable womensrunning.competitor.co...

running.about.com/od/halfma...

I have just realised that the HM that I am interested in is end of August so I will only have 10 weeks to prepare - but these plans start at quite a low level so I think I can leap frog the first few weeks.

What plan are you currently following?

turnturtle profile image
turnturtleGraduate in reply to Bazza1234

I'm following a Runners World plan but it is a 'one size fits all' regime and I think people our age don't loom large in their heads when they drawing these instructions up. Galloway is much more aware of the adjustments older runners need to make so I think I will follow him. At least I now know that I can run for 70 minutes non-stop if I choose. That makes me feel that walk-run is a considered choice rather than a cop-out!

Realfoodieclub profile image
RealfoodieclubGraduate

I used the normal Asics training plan but run/walked all my training session and that worked really well for me. I tried to keep to their speeds as well. Because you input all your own details it makes the plan around your speeds so the run/walk is taken into consideration. I only ran twice a week as I was training for a 2.5km swim at the same time but I was fine with that and felt ready when the time came. I got up to 17km in training before my event. Good luck.

Bazza1234 profile image
Bazza1234Graduate in reply to Realfoodieclub

I was thinking of doing this myself - but I am really trying to avoid introducing any pace element into the training. For example - based on a 32 minute 5k, ASICS wants me to run a 7:07mins per K race for 21klm. I can easily do that pace for for up to 10k, but cant see it happening over 21k. I ran a 2/1 run/walk ratio last year over a particularly hilly 14 k course - and modified that by reducing the ratio up the hills and running nonstop down all the hills. Managed a 7:30 mins per k average for that one . 7:07 over 21k would seem to be a bit ambitious.

But , as you say, ASICS does supposedly alter paces as you train.

How did you decide which ratio to use? I know what Galloway recommends but other trainers run/walk programmes do not explain how they choose run/walk ratios. Galloway only goes to a 4/1 ratio

Realfoodieclub profile image
RealfoodieclubGraduate in reply to Bazza1234

I was using a 2/1 ratio for all my training but on the day of my event my watch was in the wrong mode so I adopted 1/1 and since the event I have stayed with it for now as my times are the same with 2/1 or 1/1. I have thought of increasing but if I do I will do it steady as my heart rate is not the happiest at longer intervals. I have tried 4/1 but I am slower than 2/1 and my heart rate goes to 188 by the end of the 4min which I don't think is the best. I know Galloway says choose your ratio based on your speed. The slower you are the shorter the intervals.

Bazza1234 profile image
Bazza1234Graduate in reply to Realfoodieclub

I have been following a heart rate training programme (I posted a link to the book a little time ago). It is basically a programme for non stop running - whereby I do short easy runs at 75% of HRmax, increasing to 80% for long runs (which allows for gradual cardiac drift) and fartlek runs where I go to 90% and then walk briskly until HR returns to 75%(and keep on repeating)

My HRM allows me to see the final average HR at the end of any run, so using this principle my average heart rate during runs of varying length would tend to determine a suitable run/walk ratio to train at. What to use in the race itself is another matter. Starting out at 2/1 , I could soon see what maximum ratio would lead to a suitable HR training number

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