The Galloway Method

OK so I am now entering new territory with my training. Up to this point, I was doing (pretty much) the exact same thing I'd been doing for months. That is, running three times a week with the mileage like this: 3, 3, 6.

Now I'm moving into a stage where I'm going to 8 and above. No more 6 mile long runs for me. Right now, it will be 4 miles, 4 miles then a long run (up to 20 miles) on Saturdays.

Eeek. It's scary and a bit exciting. I haven't done an eight mile run since I had a stress fracture in my foot two years ago.

I am also using the Galloway method for the long runs. That seems to be making a world of difference ... even in the short 6 miles. It's amazing. I feel so much more energized at the end. I definitely think this will make a big distance when it comes to the marathon.

So background on Jeff Galloway, he's a FAST marathoner, who's done tons of marathons. And won some. He has runners on a system (based on goal time) where you walk/run. The ratio is about pacing. How fast do you expect to run? Well first he asks, "How fast do you usually run?" For me, if I'm doing a short 5K I can run between 8 and 8:30 minute miles. If it's a longer run, it's closer to 9 minute miles.

But Galloway says that you should run long runs about 2 minutes slower than average. So we're looking at about an 11 minute mile. That way, we should use this to add in our walk breaks. Ashley and I have been doing a 10 minute mile for three minutes then walking for one minute.

Here's the ratios for TRAINING runs:
8 min/mi—run 4 min/walk 35 seconds
9 min/mi— 4 min run-1 min walk
10 min/mi—-3:1
11 min/mi—2:30-1
12 min/mi—-2:1
13 min/mi—-1:1
14 min/mi—30 sec run/30 sec walk
15 min/mi—30 sec/45 sec
16 min/mi—30 sec/60 sec

There are several reasons to do this. A lot of people (my friend Erika included) hate the idea of ever walking during the race. But I just want to finish ... preferably without dying. So I am all about walking. I want to run most of the way, of course but I'm down with the walk.

Here are a few reasons that Galloway gives for walking:

• By using muscles in different ways from the beginning, your legs keep their bounce as they conserve resources. When a muscle group, such as your calf, is used continuously step by step, it fatigues relatively soon.

• Most runners will record significantly faster times when they take walk breaks because they don't slow down at the end of a long run. Thousands of time-goal-oriented veterans have improved by 10, 20, 30 minutes and more in marathons by taking walk breaks early and often in their goal races.

• The mental benefit: breaking 26 miles into segments, which you know you can do ... Even sub-three hour marathoners continue to take their walk breaks to the end. One of them explained it this way: "Instead of thinking at 20 miles I had six more gut-wretching miles to go, I was saying to myself one more mile until my break.' Even when it was tough, I always felt I could go one more mile."

• The weak areas get overused and force you to slow down later or scream at you in pain afterward. By shifting back and forth between walking and running muscles, you distribute the workload among a variety of muscles, increasing your overall performance capacity. For veteran marathoners, this is often the difference between achieving a time goal or not.

• Walk breaks will significantly speed up recovery because there is less damage to repair. The early walk breaks erase fatigue, and the later walk breaks will reduce or eliminate overuse muscle breakdown.

Personal best 5K

So on Monday, July 4, I ran my best 5K race. I 've done the race (the Sunshine Festival on St. Simons Island) for the past two years. But this time, I finished in 26:40. Whoop whoop. Just add on 23 more miles and that will be my marathon. All done!

Me and 700 other runners (the guy in the bright green shirt won in 17 mins)

There I am!!

My favorite part of the race

YAY!

Also this weekend, Ash and I tried the Galloway Marathon Method. Quick backstory: Jeff Galloway is a super fast marathoner who has developed this run-walk system. It's different for everyone, but for me, I'd run three minutes and walk one. This keeps your muscles loose and lets you finish long distances with less fatigue (you wouldn't do it on your short 3-4 mile runs). Ashley and I did it for our five miler and it was ah-mazing. It went by super fast and we weren't tired at all. That's definitely something that we're going to be doing!

Diet for marathon prep

So for the race, I've had to do a lot of pre-running work. That is, rearranging my workout (weight training) schedule with Jim to mesh with the running days. I've (with Jim's help) also had to figure out a diet that would let me get leaner (fingers crossed) while giving me enough carbs/energy to make it through the long runs.

We've come up with a good balance. Of course, I haven't tried it yet so we'll have to see how it goes. But it looks good. And Jim knows his stuff. I am going to start carb rotating during the early phase of training. I will have days (running days) with a relatively heavy carb intake then days with a medium and then a low (carb intake).

Here's what it will look like:

Monday = medium carb

Tuesday = High

Wednesday = Low (no workout)

Thursday = High

Friday = Medium

Saturday = High

Sunday - Low or Medium

I'm really lucky to have so many healthy, strong and knowledgeable people who are willing to share their experiences and talents with me.

Shari Duncan, a natural body builder, power lifter and certified nutritionist has also given me some ideas. Here's what she said:

• As your weekly mileage goes up with your training so should your carb intake... Keep to clean eating though; the wrong foods will definitely negatively impact your overall performance. From what I understand about nutrition for endurance athletes in training.. the following is a general breakdown for macro-nutrients:

50 – 65 % calories from complex carbohydrates

15 – 25% calories from fat, unsaturated as much as possible
20 – 25% calories from protein. I'd recommend the higher percentage

since you are weight training
(on non-training days... I would decrease carbs ~40% and increase protein ~30% and fats ~30).

• Limit higher glycemic and fried/ high fat foods (especially pre-run) Some "good" carb snack choices are whole grains and pastas, dry cereal,plain popcorn, yogurt, bananas and other fruits.

"Nenikekamen"

In Greek, Niki means "victory" and that's what I'm looking for ... victory. But I have a way to go. This the beginning, not to be dramatic, but it is. Today is June 21, 2011. I'm looking down the barrel of a 20-week training program. On Nov. 5, 2011, I'll be running a marathon ... 26.2 miles, the Savannah Rock-N-Roll Marathon.

I've decided to create a separate blog about this. The training ... the gear ... the products etc. That way the folks who aren't interested in running won't have to read it on my home blog.

Moving on ... So WHY the marathon? Well, for most athletes and myself included - although I don't consider myself an "athelete," it's THE way to test your endurance. Just finishing makes you one of the "elite." Less than 1 percent of the population - the worldwide population - has completed a marathon. There's also a historical connection that I find fascinating. It was first mentioned by the Greek historian Plutarch - the legend of Pheidippides. This was a Greek runner, who was sent from the town of Marathon to Athens to announce that the Persians had been defeated (by the Greeks/Athenians) at the Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. It is said that he ran the entire distance without stopping. Guess what that distance was - yepper. 26.2 miles. The distance from Marathon to Athens.

But right after after proclaiming his message "Nenikekamen" (or "We have won") to the city, he collapsed from exhaustion ... AND DIED.

This painting was completed by Luc-Olivier Menson in 1869. It shows Pheidippides (naked) gasping out the victory notice much to the chagrin of the Athenian people who look horrified. I don't know what they were most upset about - the fact that he's naked, the fact that he's dying or the fact that the largest army on the planet (at the time, the Persians) is about to lay the proverbial "smack down." That would be revenge for the defeat at Marathon.

Suffices to say, however, I hope to do better than ol' Pheidippides. First of all, I don't plan to die. Secondly, even if I do drop dead, I don't plan to be naked. Seriously ... why wasn't he wearing clothes?

I think that's a pretty good starting point. There will be much more to come.