Is Run/Walk for wimps?

Good afternoon all,

Yet again it has been some time, and yet again I can only say that life has got in the way!  Still, lets not dwell on my blog post-less mission but move on to my quote of the post... (Did anyone else just sing that like a radio jungle?... No? Just me then!)

Thank you Martin Luther King!

This brings me on nicely to today's post theme - 'Is the run/walk ratio' for wimps?  

Since London Marathon, as you know I have been trying to improve the quality and speed of my 5/10k.  I would say considering it has been a year bar three weeks, I have not been particularly successful.  Yes, I have, in the last year, obtained a 5 and 10k PB, however they were both obtained before October of last year.  Since then I have been plagued (as always) with illness and injuries!

I am now just 3 weeks and 3 days away from doing my second ever half marathon (1st May - Milton Keynes) and have not run more than 11.6km since London!  I have currently hung my trainers up as I have an injury in my left leg, which due to 2 recent races (accounts below) is not only refusing to leave but is also having knock on effects on my right leg and back... but that is all I am saying on the matter, as it even bores me!

So back to run/walk, I know that I will not (even if I had managed to train for past 2 months) be able to run the whole half marathon, and generally in races, I run the first half like a bat out of hell and then burn out and crawl the second half.  

I have started to train using the run/walk method, I have been playing around with ratios and trying to work out what works for me, unfortunately I haven't found that out yet (due to the above mentioned, what we shall not speak of again in this post) but what I have found out is it works!  Over distances I have regularly covered, I am running them in the same time or faster, but finishing stronger.

A quick explanation to anyone that doesn't have a clue what I am talking about.  Run/walk is where you complete your distance in blocks of running and walking.  So far I have tried the ratios; 5:1, 7:1, 8:1 and 10:2  (minutes running:minutes walking) all have been fairly successful for the shorter distances, however I know I need to slow them down slightly to be able to carry on for the half marathon distance.

So where and when have I been using this strategy recently other than training?

Decathlon 5k, Stevenage:

So my fiance thought it would be nice to book me onto this race which just happened to fall on Mothers Day.  It is part of a series of races the sports and camping shop Decathlon are providing for free... yes I did say FREE!

So, like you, I was thinking must be pretty poo, if its free, but that, my running reader friends, is where we are/were both wrong!  The start was in the main large car park at Asda, there were tables with snack bar pieces and bottles of water.  The course was well marked and marshaled, all of whom were encouraging and happy.  

When you finished you popped into the Decathlon store (clever!) to receive your medal and goody bag.  The bag was a decathlon sports bag (like the ones you used for school PE) and contained water and an energy drink.  The medal was pretty decent as well!

All in all a fantastic race considering it is free, well done Decathlon!

My race wasn't quite as fantastic, the congestion at the start had me running far too fast, and before I had hit the first subway I couldn't breathe.  Add in the hills at the beginning and this put pay to my perfect 5:1 ratio.  

I ran the first 5 minutes at 6:49 pace and after that ran a minute her 90 seconds there 2 minutes here ... I think you get the picture.  I worked out that I had completed 5k (the course was just slightly over) in 36 minutes and 6 seconds which considering I walked for about 15 minutes of it meant I was running at some pace (for me) during the short parts I did run! 

I completed the 5.4k course in 39:30 averaging 7:19/km.

Lee Valley 10k

This race was was around the beautiful Lee Valley parks, starting at the White Water Centre and is run by Active Training World.

I had all good intentions to start and stick to a good run/walk ratio and finish the race feeling good.  Well I did do better than the Decathlon 5k and managed to roughly stick to 8:1, but then it went down hill slightly and even more so the nearer I got to 10k.

I think this again was due to my running to fast when I was running to start:
6:47 pace for first 8 minutes, then 7:03, 6:52, 6:48.  Still its ok, but it has given me an idea what pace I need to run at in my running parts so that added to my walking pace will give me the over all pace I want for the half marathon... (7:40/9:30 ish).

I finished the course 10.16 in 1:15, however I had done 10k in 1:13:51 (I pretty much stopped and crawled to the line after my watch registered 10k) which was only 12 seconds slower than my current 10k PB.  So all in all considering circumstances (we shall not talk about) and the fact I was dead very early on, and it was quite warm, and how much walking I had done, I was chuffed with the time.

So to answer my question is run/walk for wimps? It certainly is not, you are more likely to run faster during your running, and when done properly you are less likely to feel tired in the later stages of the race and after.  However, you do need to get the ratio right for you, and make sure you don't over do the running pace to start, as you will not be able to maintain it!

More to follow as my training continues at how the run/walk ratio works for me.  But for now, i am going to love you and leave you.. my next race is on Good Friday, 10k in Victoria Park.

Much Love
FBB
xx

Here is a video of me finishing the 10k.