Springtime Surprise Weekend 2025 (April 3-6)

[sandam1]

So the mental hurdle is getting that ratio down not only to several minutes, but to 60 to 90 seconds of running and then a walk interval. I know it in my head that this is correct, having read more than one Galloway book, but still not quite as accepting of the idea when the feet hit the road. That said, yesterday's results are telling me to adjust my intervals down and see how they go later this week. Part of why I posted yesterday's results is just to document how it went and provide data (even if just how not to do it) to anyone else reading.

I'm going to channel what I've heard my running coach say way too many times (and please read this with as gentle of a tone as possible) - was what you were doing before working for you now? If not, what do you have to lose by trying r/w/r as designed?

In response to your first question: for SS, I just hope to finish ahead of the balloon ladies. It may turn out that I have something like a 13 min/mile pace for the first few miles to build a buffer and after that do a mix of walk and jog just to keep a 16 min/mile pace. We'll see how it goes.

Have you thought about starting with a pace group? Let them do the work for you (and keep you in check). A 13:00 mm pacer would be doing 30:30.

I know the prevailing wisdom is to max out the walk at 30 seconds, but my heart and lungs have different wisdom, and it's worked for me, and that's all that matters.

100% THIS! Chris always recommends trying what the pace chart says as that is what works for most people. But every runner is an individual so if it isn't working for you, tweak it until you find what does.

 

[nancipants]

I really need to try doing 40/20. That 2:1 ratio will help me meet my 10k POT goal better than1:1, but 60 seconds tires me out too fast.

 

[PrincessV]

I’m no expert: I’ve just been doing run-walk intervals for a few decades, long before I’d ever heard of Galloway or any special “method”! I’ve never had a single prescribed ratio: I change it up often, depending on distance, goals, weather, mood, etc. Lately, I’ve been doing :25run/:30walk and it works just as well as when I’ve done :30/:30, or :30/:45, or :45/1:00, or :20/:40, and so on. Sometimes I’ll skip a run interval and walk a little extra. Sometimes I skip a walk interval and run a little extra. Sometimes I take an extra walk break every 1/2 mile; sometimes I do it every mile. Sometimes I only walk a full 5 minutes before starting any run intervals. Sometimes my run intervals are really fast - sometimes they’re really slow. Aside from keeping things from getting boring, I think changing it up often also better mimics race conditions, when it’s often just not possible to stick religiously to your intervals: it’s good practice.

But if I can make one single suggestion, it’s to practice slowing smoothly from run to walk and speeding back up to run again. There does not need to be any feeling of sudden “stops” I sometimes see folks complain about. That takes some practice before it gets lodged in as muscle memory, AND shorter run intervals will help with that a lot: you don’t want to run so long that you’re out of energy and need to abruptly drop to a much slower pace - much better to gradually slow that roll into a walk!

 

[Mr_Incr3dible]

I'm going to channel what I've heard my running coach say way too many times (and please read this with as gentle of a tone as possible) - was what you were doing before working for you now? If not, what do you have to lose by trying r/w/r as designed?

Have you thought about starting with a pace group? Let them do the work for you (and keep you in check). A 13:00 mm pacer would be doing 30:30.

1. I have nothing to lose by trying the r/w/r method as designed, it’s just that as I said, what I thought were short r/w intervals are still too long, so I will adjust them downward. Again, I’m being very candid about all of this, just in case someone else can benefit from my lessons learned.
2. Pace group? Well, when you say it like that, it seems to make sense…
And to be completely honest, it had not occurred to me to start with a pace group simply because I’ve never done that before. But now that you mention it, it is a good idea, and one that I will likely do.

 

[Kerry1957]

Pace Groups..
I have used them three different ways during Disney races.

1. Stayed with them from the start and followed their intervals.
2. Started with them and ran my own intervals, but kept their overall pace so joined them frequently (kind of hop scotch or maybe leap frog).
3. Started with them and then did my own thing with the goal of finishing in front of them, whether a little or a lot.

I have also switched methods a couple of times during a race. For example during a Marathon the pace group I wanted to stay in front of (method 3) caught up to me so I joined them to let them pull me along (method 1).

 

[Dopey 2020]

On the topic of RWR, I’ve found several different calculators on line, this is one I like.

https://race-planner.com/run-walk-calculator

Can be used to calculate running pace or time or just about anything you want to figure out if you have the other variables and set it to what you are looking for. Fun to play around with different times and see what you’d have to run at to meet your overall goal.
Like others, I recommend everyone try RWR, you might be surprised. I’d also say even if you think you’ve got it down, change it up on occasion and see what else works. Every PR I’ve ever ran has been intervals and most were different, somewhere between 2:30/:30 and 4:00/:30.
See everyone in about a week and a half! Safe travels and a good race to all joining in for Springtime Surprise