Next Steps: Run-Walk-Run

We have read Spark. Like Sir Isaac Newton, we have noticed the difference between bodies in motion and bodies at rest. Last Sunday, we asked the question, “What Next?” Last Sunday, I experienced the answer to that question in vivid and personal terms.

In Missoula, Montana the morning dawned behind an icy fog at 8:03. In a room above the local running store, more than sixty people gathered. Their eyes held a mix of hope and apprehension, excitement and anxiety. They had registered to train for the Missoula Marathon and Half Marathon in July. Most are new to the distance. Many are new to running. Some are new to movement.

On January 18, national running guru Jeff Galloway inspired a diverse audience that filled the Wilma Theater here. His core message to us all was, “You Can Do It!” Those people at the Runners Edge on Sunday took him at his word. Some of them question their sanity in doing so, but they have invested a leap of faith in Jeff’s promise, and in themselves.

Jeff’s training for distance is kinder and gentler than average. Galloway programs begin earlier in the year and add miles more gradually. Slow running alternates with mandatory walking. The training pace is two minutes per mile slower than race pace. Beginners jog 15 seconds and walk 60; speedsters run four minutes and walk one.

Begin slowly, and slow down. How can that be a formula for success? The answer is in commitment over time. It takes a month or two longer to train for an event under this regimen than under programs. Galloway has worked with hundreds of thousands of people, developing and honing his approach. He claims an impressive high rate of success and equally impressive low rate of injury. He leads us to improve, one small step at a time.

In addition to walk breaks, the program relies on a powerful network of support. Not only does the large group train together, but smaller pace groups are formed. Pace mates ensure that everyone goes slowly and walks on schedule. No one is left behind. If someone falls behind on a given day, another member stays with them for encouragement and support.

Galloway’s marathon book pulled me into running as a mid-lifer more than a decade ago. Jeff is a master of designing training programs that work on the physical, mental, and emotional levels. Now we are offering his program in my own home town, and I get a front-row seat as co-director of the program. I am SO jazzed!

What’s next? For me it’s “run-walk-run.” What’s next for you?