Quick Tip: Running and Taking Walk Breaks…
This is a loaded topic, I know. So let’s get right down to business and talk walk breaks.
Are they good? Are they bad? Should run/walkers be chastised?
Like I said, it’s a loaded topic.
Can We Be Real for a Minute?
Most runners have had to take walk breaks during a run/race at some point.
That’s just a fact.
Even those of us that hate taking walk breaks, and feel almost like we are cheating if we stop to walk/rest during a race, have taken one during a long run/race.
So before you get all high and mighty on those who use the run/walk method for their training and racing strategy, I just wanted to point that out.
The Truth About Walk Breaks
Why the Angst About Walk Breaks?
I wish I had a good answer for this question.
There are some in the running community that do believe that stopping to walk during a race does make you less of a runner and that you are somehow less deserving of calling yourself a half marathoner/marathoner/ultra marathoner if you walk during a race.
Really?
I just can’t wrap my head around this logic, especially when some of the guests that I’ve had on the show in the past have run some times that I would love to be able to run while taking strategic walk breaks during their races. (Specifically, Bruce Van Horn and Tim Price)
My Take on Walk Breaks
I’m in the camp that says you do what you need to do for your training/racing, but when it comes to my own training and racing I hate taking unscheduled walk breaks. It makes me feel like I didn’t do enough training to be ready for the race I’m running.
But here’s the thing, I strategically stop to walk during just about every race I run. If I’m in a race where I’m going to take in fluids along the way, I’m going to walk through the aid station to avoid spilling water/Gatorade on myself and/or choking while trying to drink on the run.
So what makes what I do different from someone that runs for 5 minutes and walks for 30 seconds? Or walks for 30 seconds after every mile? Or runs 1 minute and walks 1 minute?
Nothing really. I’ve got my strategy and they’ve got theirs.
At the end of the day, you do what you need to do to get to the finish line and I’ll do the same.
And once we get there, let’s have a beer and shoot the shit for a bit after congratulating each other on a job well done.
Cheers Mate!
Where Do You Stand on Walk Breaks? All In? Not a Fan? Straddling the Fence with Me?
I followed the Galloway run-walk-run method almost exclusively for the past 5 years. I firmly believe in strategic walk breaks from the beginning of a run/race. I think waiting to take a walk break because you just can’t stand to run anymore doesn’t offer the same benefits of pushing back fatigue and giving you mental breaks. I’ve been testing out straight running longer & longer distances and the only thing I have noted for sure is that my knees feel achy around 7 or 8 miles the same way they would at 23-24 miles with walk breaks. So for now, walk breaks will be part of my race strategy and definitely part of my training plan as the easiest way for me to control pace. Thank you for starting this conversation though – most of those I’ve talked to who are against it have never tried it. And race records don’t record HOW you crossed the finish line, only that you did.
I knew you’d like this one Sarah! 🙂
I knew Sarah would too! I have a few issues with taking walk breaks. One is walking seems to jolt my momentum. The few times that I have stopped to get a drink of water, it felt so abrupt like my body just needed to keep moving. Second, mentally, when I walk, it feels like I am not following through with my goal. I start a run of whatever length I’m doing with the intention of running the whole distance. When I stop to walk for any reason, I feel like I am not meeting my goal. And last, when I was watching the Olympic Marathon trials Saturday, I didn’t see any of the elites stop to take walk breaks, not even when they were getting fuel. I know I am not at that elite level but I aspire to have the mentality of an elite runner and walk breaks don’t fit into their race plan that I know of. Maybe some did walk, but I didn’t see them do that and I bet that wasn’t in their race plan. For people like Sarah, that purposely take walk breaks, that is their goal from the start of their run so they don’t have a problem with not following through with their goal. So I am not judging people who follow the walk/run strategy. I am just telling you my issues with it.
I get it Jill, and I’m right there with you to a point. But when it comes to elites, I don’t think that is a totally fair comparison. Obviously, they are elite at what they do, so comparing us as mortals to their standard is a bit far fetched in my opinion. Also, while it’s true you didn’t see them walk, you also didn’t see how many dropped because they were no longer in the race. At the elite level, when it’s all about wins, if they aren’t having their best day they will sometimes just walk off the course to save themselves some wear and tear for the next race on their schedules. So they are typically going hard with the hope that they will make it to the end, knowing that if a blow up occurs it’s no big deal. As opposed to myself, who know’s I’m going to get to the finish line no matter what, where a strategy that includes a walk here and there isn’t that big of a deal. Also, while you can still go sub-3 hours with a couple of short (and we are talking 10-15 second) walk breaks, you’re not going to make an olympic team walking, just too many great athletes for that thought to ever cross their minds.
I guess I don’t like being thought of as a mere mortal! While I may not have the God given talent of an elite, I still feel I am worthy as a person to reach MY potential as a runner whatever that may be. So thinking like an elite to me is not far fetched. No matter how talented someone is they still have to work hard to reach there potential. I’d rather walk off the course too after a blow up than try to push through. I just think that no matter what level your at as a runner, you can still take yourself seriously and work at trying to be the best you can be. And thinking like an elite is not a comparison the way I’m thinking of it. It is more of a guideline or an inspiration. They are the best after all and why not try to use their example.
I get what you’re saying Jill, and don’t disagree for a second. There are multiple ways to run a marathon, and do so to the max of your potential. A few breaks to walk won’t compromise your maximal effort by any means. It may sound counter intuitive that walking can help you get to the finish line faster, but it is counter intuitive to think that training at a slower pace will help you run faster and we’ve both seen the benefits of that.
Not saying it’s the only way by any stretch. Just that it is a viable way and something that should at least be considered as a strategy to try and see how you (in the general sense, not you specifically) react to it during a race/long run.
I get what you are saying too, Denny. I guess it is a mind set more than anything. Maybe you can ask an elite runner during one of your podcasts someday what they think about walk breaks. I would love to hear what they say. I know you had a talk with someone that runs under 3 hours for a marathon that walks some but what about a runner like Meb or Galen. Do you think they would purposely walk during a race, especially a race shorter than a marathon? And yes, maybe if I walked during a race, I could potentially run a faster time than if I ran the whole thing but it still would be hard for me to feel like I met my goal of “running’ a marathon or any length race if I walked during it. To me, running and walking are too very different forms of exercise.
I think that at that level (elites of the elite), that no they are not going to walk during a race. The difference between winning and losing is too thin. I mean, if you just run a 6 minute mile at that level, you’re completely out of contention for winning because they are consistently knocking off 5:15s like it’s nothing, and sub-5 minute miles when they are really racing. That’s why, to me, comparing us mortals to the elites in this sense (a strategic walk break) is virtually impossible. For me, I’m measuring a successful marathon in terms of several minute chunks, and for them it’s seconds. So for me, if I can walk for 30 seconds to take in some fluids, that is nothing in the grand scheme of the race, but for them that’s the difference between a top 5 finish and a top 100 finish.
Get it! Got it! Done! Let’s run soon after Gasparilla! And take a few water/walk breaks!
Jill – I think there is a distance for almost everyone where walk breaks become part of their strategy (for some it’s a 5k, for others it may be a 50 miler). Volunteering at the Disney marathon the past two years, it wasn’t many runners deep into the field before they were walking through our stop at mile 16.3. I know for you it is still a matter of philosophy, but you are still very new to endurance running and haven’t trained long distance through a Florida summer. Using run/walk as a training method to prevent injury and speed recovery doesn’t mean you need to use it in a race. Hopefully Jeff G. comes to Lakeland this year and you can come chat with him, but there are other great runners from way back in the 1990s (the last running boom) that all discovered that walking during their races made them faster. We all know that success at any endurance event is as much mental strength as it is physical preparedness – and for those that embrace the run/walk, the walk gives them a mental boost as much as it does a physical one.
Also – there is a technique in coming out of the run, once you master the glide in & out it is much more rhythmic. I agree, if you think of it as “stopping” – then it may be hard to get ‘started”, but for me it is all just continuous motion at different paces.
It makes a lot of sense the way you put it Sarah.