Quote:
Originally Posted by Runner Coug
Do you mind me asking about your marathon times Solon? Have they improved each time using Jeff's program?
I've thought more than once about giving his technique a try, but I just can't bring myself to walk that often. Jeff ran a 1/2 that I also ran back in April, and I was just behind him until about mile 9. He would stop to walk about every 45 seconds, which I thought was weird. After mile 9 or so, I didn't see him again. I don't know if he dropped out or what. I couldn't find his time in the results.
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I've definitely improved over time, but it hasn't been a steady progression since each marathon was pretty different. My best time is a 4:25 - just over 10-minute miles - and I'm pretty sure I could have beat it on my last run (4:40) but the weather was pretty rough (Harrisburg, PA in November) and there was no timing mat at the starting line (so I lost 5 minutes in the crowd leading up to the starting line).
I'll run a sub four-hour someday, but the most important thing to me is a quick recovery time - which I think is the best feature of the Galloway technique. I almost always have to work on Monday, so I really don't want to kill myself off during a Sunday run. My goal is consistency, so I just strive for a steady pace and maybe a little bit of a negative split. Besides, I'm just running for fun (and if you saw my thick body you'd know that I just can't be a serious runner). This is why I like Galloway. I suppose it might work for more serious or fast runners, but I wouldn't know.
I usually run 6 miles a day, and walk for 45-60 seconds at the halfway point. On long runs (13+), I run for 9:15 and walk for 45, and end up with about a ten-minute mile (depending on terrain). I have a good friend who runs 20 minutes and walks 5 on trail runs - and he's an ultramarathoner (pretty fast too), but doesn't do it at all on street runs.