Charles Sayles's e-Mail to the Ten30Pace Group

 

From: Charles Sayles [mailto:csayles@sbcglobal.net]
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 11:10 PM
To: ten30pace@yahoogroups.com; ten30Leggers@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Joni Yung; Dana Mosell; Albert Shum; Julie (the Flyer) Miller
Subject: Las Vegas Marathon race report And New Galloway Walk Breaks

Hello ten30pacers from Charles Sayles

In the Galloway book we got when we joined the Leggers, Galloway discusses the Run-Walk Method. On page 42 of this book, for a time goal of 4:30 to 4:59 (basically the 10:30 pace) Galloway suggests 1-2 minutes of walking every 6-7 minutes of running.  From my observations most mentors in the Ten30Pace group use either 6 x 1 or 7 x1.  On page 152 of this book Galloway suggests run-walks for older runners.  For those who are 40-49 he suggests walking one minute every 5 to 10 minutes and for those 50-59 he suggests 1 or 2 minutes every five to eight minutes.  The 6 x 1 and 7 x 1 do fit in that range.

This fall a new Galloway book was published entitled “Running Until You’re 100”.  I got a copy and so far I have read about half and I have read the part about run-walks.  In this new book he has different set of run-walks than before.  These are for runners over the age of 45.   For a 9 minute pace he recommends run 2 minutes walk 30 seconds.  For a 9:30 pace he recommends run 2 minutes walk 40 second.   For paces between 10:00 and 11:29 (that includes 10:30) he recommends run 1.5 minutes and walking 30 seconds.  This was considerably less running and walking time than I had seen before.   When one runs as many marathons as I do each marathon run is just a training run for the next marathon.  So I decided to try this technique at Las Vegas by running 2 minutes and walking 40 seconds.   I saw the potential of this method. In the latter parts of the race it would be easier to get the body moving again when there only 2 minutes to run and not 5 minutes, and hills also should be easier since you would only be running 2 minutes. 

In the big Las Vegas Marathon start I was about 6 minutes behind Sharon ’s 5:30 pace group in crossing the start line. My goal was to run for a 5:14 to 5:27 finish.  At Mile 5 (to the extent that the miles were correctly marked - see Sharon ’s Les son 8) I was running at an 11:10 pace which would put me on track for my first sub 5 hour marathon.  I crossed the half-marathon timing pad with Sharon .  She was about 2:44 and I was at 2:38 which would be a 5:16 finish for me.   In running the two minute time I looked at this like running once around a track and wound up running it at a much faster pace than I should have.  My pulse went to 152 well over the 142 for longer runs, and during 40 second walk break my pulse dropped to the 130’s as opposed to the usual under 120 for the 1 minute walk break following a 5 minute run.  And from mile 18 to 24 I ran into the same loss of energy that I had experienced with 5 x 1’s or 4 x 1’s.  This time I partly attribute the problem to Sharon ’s Les son 2 of not drinking and carbo-loading.  My excuse was not the slots (though I did lose 5 cents).  I wound up touring with a 50 States Marathon Club runner.  I had met this runner in March 2004 when we were both running our 20th marathon in our 16th state.   Subsequently we both finished the 50 States and the Las Vegas Marathon was to either our 76th or 77th.   As a result I skipped lunch and did not drink as much as usual.  The upside was only two pits (ties a low); the down side was that this marathon took me 7 minutes more than the California International. 

For me I do see the advantage of these shorter run-walk times, particularly for older runners.  I need to practice them when running long distances.  And the next time I will try the run 1.5 minutes, walk 30 second.

This was a fun marathon for me to run.  The day before at the Expo, Sharon had given me a Clif Bars bid with “77th MARATHON ” on it.  I pinned this on the back of my 50 States Marathon Club finishers t-shirt.   On almost every walk break, some body would come by and say “Awesome” or “Wow I hope I can do that someday”.

Another fun part was meeting one of my Team-n-Training coaches.  For my first marathon I trained with the San Jose area Team-n-Training.  At Mile 23 I caught up with a San Jose area Team-n-Training runner.  We talked a few minutes and continued our journey to the finish line.  At about Mile 24 a man steps off the curb and jogs along side her asking her how she is doing and how she wants to finish.  He was very encouraging to her.  When he finished talking I asked “Is your name John and are you a coach?”  He said “yes”.  I then replied:”You were my coach in the spring 2001 when I trained for the Anchorage Marathon”.  Then he remembered me.  When he learned that I was running my 77th he said that I had passed him.  It was good to see him again

Charles