Last night I went with some friends to see Jeff Galloway speak at Phiddipides in Midtown. Aside from the fact that he was an Olympic athlete, author of many books on running, and local Atlanta legend, one reason we really were interested is because we are using his run/walk method to train for our half marathon coming up the end of February. Let me first say that I am by no means an avid half marathoner or marathoner… Ten years ago I attempted the Bermuda Marathon and finished it but with lots of injuries due to the fact I never trained properly and assumed in my 20′s I could do anything once. Lesson learned. So, here we are a decade later and my goals are completely different. They are to finish feeling good, have a good time, and train properly without injury. Enter Jeff Galloway into the equation and I’m literally off to the races. So, what is so spectacular about his method? Here are a few of his many helpful suggestions…
1. Run every other day. Your body needs time to recover. Do some cross training or rest on your off days.
2. During the week run 30 to 45 minutes (whatever distance that is for you) and do your long runs once on the weekends.
3. He uses a unique walk run method based on how fast you run a mile. So, for me I walk 2 minutes and run 2 minute. This alternating gives your body a break as you train. As your time gets faster the running periods get longer and walking period shorter. Jeff told us last night that he and his wife are running one marathon every month this year and they are choosing to alternate one minute run and one minute walk the whole way.
4. Eat properly and don’t forget your vitamins! He feels that everyone no matter how young or old needs a complete vitamin.
Now keep in mind this is merely an abridged version of his many books and talk last night so I would suggest for more information than you ever knew you wanted on running and on his clinics go to www.jeffgalloway.com
Helpful Hint -I use an iphone app called interval trainer pro that lets you listen to music and the app will prompt you when it is time to run or walk
photo courtesy of tribal runner
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Tags: ally may, jeff galloway, running
