The Run Walk Run Method (aka “Jeffing”)
I recently read Jeff Galloway’s book. The Run Walk Run Method. “Run Walk Run” is Jeff’s trademarked term for his method of run/walk intervals, but to make it easier I’ll refer to it as RWR, or as Liz calls it, “jeffing,” ha ha. I’ve been trying out the RWR method for the last couple of weeks- when I’ve been doing it longer I’ll do a post on how it’s working for me. This is mostly a review of the book. I have a couple negatives which I’m just going to get out of the way. The first is, I felt this book was mostly geared towards beginners. There’s all sorts of statements like “become a runner without beginner’s aches and pains,” and “motivates beginners to get off the couch and run.” Even the testimonials at the end are full of “I started running again using your method after twenty sedentary years!” I have NO DOUBT that this method is great for beginners, sedentary people, people who are very overweight or recovering from cancer or open heart surgery; but I’m coming to it from a different perspective. I’m fighting my personal bias that tells me this is a “downgrade” for me, and I wanted evidence that isn’t true. I would have liked more details of Galloway’s own story- he was an Olympic runner before switching to a run/walk method. I’m sure there are plenty of other stories like that, and I wish the book was more focused on that angle. The other negative is probably coming, again, from my personal bias. The whole time I was reading I felt slightly defensive, and it was only afterwards that I figured out why. You know how, as runners, we’re constantly being told that “running is bad for you?” So annoying! In a way I felt like this book was taking that stance. Galloway is basically saying “Running is bad for you (unless you do my Run Walk Run method.)” I know- that’s an exaggeration. He doesn’t actually SAY that. But he is saying that run-walk intervals are better than straight running, which made me want to argue with him. HOWEVER! Let’s just imagine how that argument would go. Me: “I don’t agree with you that continuous running is bad for you!” Jeff: “Oh really? How has that been working out for you lately?” Me: “Er… fine. I’ll try your method.” And that’s basically where I’m at. So now let’s talk about the good things in this book. Among the benefits of RWR (according to Jeff) are fewer injuries, less fatigue at the end of long runs and races, improved race times (in some cases) and a few points I didn’t expect. One thing he recommends is…. running through injuries. NOW we’re on the same page! Of course, with a caveat. You can’t do it with every injury. But the rule of thumb would be, if you can walk, then you can do RWR intervals, even if you’re just starting with 5 seconds running/55 seconds walking. Coincidentally, even before I even read this book, that’s exactly what I was doing with my current hamstring issue. I just couldn’t stand the thought of getting back in the pool, so I went out determined to cover a three mile route however I could. At first I was only running for about ten or twenty steps before I had to walk, but I finished three miles like that. Each time I went out I ran more and walked less, until I got to the point I’m at now (more about that in a bit.) Galloway would say that the physical benefits of doing this include increased blood flow to the injured area, which speeds healing. But the mental benefits are even bigger. Instead of feeling helpless and depressed in the face of an injury, you can take control of the situation. Even if you end up walking the entire time, fine- next time you can insert some short running intervals. If you’ve made progress but the injury starts to hurt again, no problem. You can choose to adjust your run/walk intervals accordingly. I can personally attest that it worked for me, and this was my favorite chapter of the book. Another benefit- according to Galloway- of RWR is the way your body uses endorphins. Galloway claims that RWR intervals lessen the fatigue and irritation to your body, so endorphins that would normally be used to kill pain can now go to boosting your mood, which means you’ll feel even better after a RWR session that you would from continuous running. I can’t say I’ve noticed that- I get a huge boost of endorphins both ways- but I thought it was an interesting point. So, now for the actual RWR intervals. Surprisingly, Galloway says that runners have found they have just as much recovery from a 20-30 second walk break as from a longer walk. In a 60 second walk break, there can be a significant slowdown in the second half, and it can be harder to start running again. He likes shorter running and walking intervals. For example, if a runner is doing 4 minutes running/1 minute walking, he would recommend instead doing 2 minutes running/30 seconds walking. Here’s the pace chart from the book: In case you don’t know your mile pace, there’s an entire chapter dedicated to the “magic mile,” explaining in detail how to do a mile time trial. (Again, I felt this was geared towards beginners.) If you go online, you can find some different RWR pace calculators, like this one: This chart obviously shows longer walking breaks. I think you can just experiment to see what works best for you. Although I’m not running an 8 minute mile pace, I am doing the RWR interval of 4 minutes running/30 seconds walking. I really don’t want to run any less than that, and I also like the short 30 second walk break. But I might experiment with different intervals in the future, just for