GUEST BLOG: Calling All My Friends
Calling all my friends and readers for help. This weekend I am doing the Wallis Sands Half Marathon and due to my injured Achilles have not built all the way back up to run the entire distance. Therefore, I am thinking strategically about how best to run/walk the event and come in around 12 minutes for time. Keep in mind right now my 5K pace is only about 11 minutes because I still can’t push hard. This is a mathematical question, in addition to knowing the course and the best times for quick pace walking to keep within a good pace.
Doing a run/walk is important to re-build the strength and stamina to go longer distances according to most magazine and websites I visit. Runner’s World’s Jennifer Van Allen writes about Start with run/walks. While it’s tempting to just go out and run as fast as you can for as long as you can, you’ll ultimately run longer, feel stronger, and stay injury free if you start by adding short bouts of running to your regular walks and gradually increasing the amount of time that you spend running. Our Start Running plan, which you can download here, will help you safely add running to your routine and build up to a one-hour workout with a run/walk ratio of 2:1. Want more of a challenge? Work out for the same amount of time, but build up to a run/walk ratio of 4 minutes running/2 minutes walking, then 6 minutes running/3 minutes walking.
This is great and I am looking for your assistance in using the right plan for this, especially for any of you that may have done a similar distance coming back from an injury. Thank you in advance for your ideas and comments, keep the wind at your back and sun on your face and run!
