Galloway Training Method

“Will the Galloway Method help me to complete a half marathon faster, or to complete a full marathon at all?” This is a tough question. I’m loathe to suggest any particular training plan or specific solution, because everything needs to be individualized and catered to each person. However, let me break down the key element to Jeff Galloway’s philosophy of racing.

Mr. Galloway believes that, in order to stay fresh for the entire race, you need to take a walk break every so often. His charts for pace vs. distance and how frequent walk breaks should be taken are readily available on his website (www.jeffgalloway.com), so I’m not going to get into that.

The benefits to walk breaks seem obvious: your body is given an opportunity to recharge the batteries and you’re able to continue to compete for longer than if you ran the whole way through.

Truth be told, there are no shortcuts to distance running. The “trick” to becoming a better, faster distance runner is to run more. That’s where a thorough training plan comes in. Long-term, if you want to be able to compete faster, you’re going to need to figure out some long-term training plans and a consistent approach to training.

Short-term, however, if you’re under the gun for a specific event, there’s nothing wrong with following Jeff Galloway’s plan. It will allow you to finish a race which you might otherwise have not finished, and will allow you to be more recovered and be able to more quickly return to training after the event, which will allow you to (long-term, again) run more, and get better for later events.

Here’s a rather pretentious, though unfortunately pretty accurate quote from John L. Parker’s novel “Once a Runner.”

“What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials. How could they be expected to understand that?”

Mr. Parker could have maybe phrased it differently (although his target audience was collegiate and post-collegiate competitive distance runners), but the truth remains: long-term, the secret to running fast is to run more. And it’s as simple as that. The more you’re able to run, the better you’re going to be.

_For more information about Trainer Will, including how he can give you private, personalized coaching as you train for your next race, including the 7 Bridges Marathon, 4 Bridges Half Marathon or 2 Bridges 5k, visit _http://runCHA.co/_ today._