Run Faster with the Run-Walk Approach

Tara Parker-Pope of The New York Times wrote a story "Better Running Through Walking" that introduces the concept of the "run-walk" method of run training. Parker-Pope is using the run-walk method to prepare for her first marathon.

Bobby McGee, an internationally certified running coach, agrees that walking can help running. "Even the most advanced athletes can benefit from some walking," says McGee. "It helps you recover faster and increases your muscle endurance without breaking down muscle tissue the way running does." McGee says that walking's low intensity teaches your body to rely on fat instead of quick-burning carbohydrates, which leads to improved endurance. Walking also allows for greater overall training volume with less impact. McGee's new book Run Workouts for Runners and Triathletes incorporates the run-walk method. (Download sample run-walk workouts here.)

Elite endurance sports coaches Joe Friel and Gordo Byrn are also proponents of the run-walk protocol. In their Iron-distance triathlon training book Going Long, they offer guidelines for the marathon leg of triathlon based on McGee's years of coaching experience:

• Use run/walk for all runs longer than 30 minutes.
• Use walking as the rest interval for all workouts involving running above zone 3.
• Use run/walk for all longer brick workouts (those over 2.5 hours).
• Depending on your abilities and fitness, periods of running should last 5-15 minutes with walking recovery periods lasting 15 seconds to 1 minute.
  

Both Going Long: Training for Triathlon's Ultimate Challenge and Run Workouts for Runners and Triathletes offer more detail on how you can use the run-walk method in your run training. Get started with run-walk by downloading several free sample workouts here (800 kb pdf).