Walk breaks: 休息是为了走更长远的路

Of late, I noticed a number of posts about walk breaks in the SGRunners Forum. There were some folks who claim that walk breaks work, while others are skeptical.

Here's a balanced view by Ultra:

“To walk or not to walk”…….it is relatively subjective. Typically I would advice runners to always “listen to their body” in any event and don’t end up 1:30 PB for 21km yet a final chapter like the poor army officer who died in AHM 2007. For a season runner, usually we do not stop for a 21km and it depends on yourself whether your body can cope with it. 

Do not push your body beyond limit like many young army boys did and ended up exhausted after 12-15km or legs cramps etc. If you think you do not have the mileage to cope with a no stopper run (be it 21km or 42.195km), slow down your pace, walk a little or even rest for a few minutes. 

Like many other long distance running, never start off too fast in the initial 10km or ended up facing the wall or muscles cramps at the 2nd half. Always remember, we are not a professional runner making a living out of running, we are here to run safely and as enjoyable as possible to meet each of our self actualization. Even elite runners may malfunction and walk in a marathon or stop totally if their bodies are not functioning well on the actual day. 

Anything can happen on the actual day without warning including any sifus level here and we have experienced such a pain at one time or another. We can never be guaranteed a smooth run all the time. But a face value is nothing when your heart beat cease to operate. 

Never be a hero in any high impact exercise/events, as that would be too silly and not worthy at all. I have walked before in some of the bigger events when everyone else were expecting good timing out from me, but that was no shameful affair, safety and family responsibility comes 1st. A runner should learn to control the pride and prejudice to progress well. 

Remember…. Always listen to your body and those who laughed at you will make their last laugh. I have limited experience, so I am learning from all the other sifus as well. 

Ultra-sifu is right about the dilemma - to walk or not walk (runner's version of Shakespeare's "to be or not to be"). This is always somewhat controversial. Good runners do not have a problem running 42 km without stopping. Others point out how walk breaks help them. dkw's routine is to run 5 km, walk 1 minute (usually at a drink station), even in training runs.  saarhead is a good runner, but he also take walk breaks. For a novice, I find that walk breaks work, especially when taking on 42 km.

Most runners do not like walk breaks as they get passed by others. Runners who walk are perceived to be less serious runners, inferior even and whimpy at times. Well, just take a mental note of who they are, and the chances are that you will overtake them later on. Many runners do a great 21 km, but then suffer from cramps, etc later on. So if you ask them about their splits, you will often find that their second half is not so good. Many end up walking the last few km. 

That was what happened to me during my first marathon. Great sailing - no stopping - until 32 km, then cramps hit me. Ended up walking the last 5 km. I am sure many others who took walk breaks overtook me then! For the last two marathons, I tried walk breaks. I didn't cramp. In fact, I achieved a PB in my last outing. 

What made me try the walk break method? I was training for the Sundown marathon, and noticed that I struggled with the long runs, even after months of training (I started doing long runs for 2007 SCSM ... that was in Sept last year). Although the LSD runs became progressively easier with training, I wondered if there was a better method. I have heard about the walk break method some time ago, but the same reasoning stopped me from trying - "runners don't walk, they run!"

As chance would have it, I was in the Borders bookstore in Oxford, UK, browsing to kill time, when I came across a book "Marathon: You Can Do It!" by Jeff Galloway. Galloway describes his walk break method, and provides convincing reasons and evidence why it works. 

How can periodic walking lead to a better race timing? It is simply because walk breaks provide recovery for the leg muscles, however brief. One minute of walk break increases my time by 10 to 15 seconds. But the benefit is that I can run strong towards the end and make up for the time difference. 

In fact, Galloway advocates running non-stop for the last 10 km if you feel great or strong at 32 km. It is like conserving your energy and reserves for the last 10 km. Then finish strong. 

Walk breaks are also recommended for ultra marathons. Check out DO-sifu's blog on this.

Admittedly, this approach may not work for some runners, especially the elite and seasoned runners. If you can do 42k non-stop, by all means go for it! That's great! For an old guy like me, walk breaks work pretty well. At the end of the day (race), as Ultra-sifu says, it is no shame to run safe. In fact, it is a wise and logical thing. Also, no one will question your walk breaks when you get to complete a marathon for the first time or achieved a PB!

As another SGRunner dkw puts it: "People passing you? No bragging rights for being ahead halfway, clock stops at 42 completed." 

A PB is a PB, with or without walk breaks! 

For more information about walk breaks: 

Jeff Galloway training program 

Galloway - Everybody's mother by Michael Selman

Post Marathon Recovery

This may be a strange post, but as far as I could tell, there aren't many discussions about post race recovery, specifically post marathon recovery. Having limped around several times after participating in distance events, and laughing at YouTube videos about post race limping (see: The day after the marathonI), it occurred to me that recovery is just as important as preparation and training.

In Jeff Galloway's book on Marathon: You Can Do It!, he talks about how walk breaks help post race recovery. The message I get is to start thinking of recovery even while training for the race. So here is my recent post race recovery experience:

1. Incorporated walk breaks into the 42k race. I adopted a 6 min run, 1 min walk ratio, at 7 min/k pace. I took longer walk breaks when I was tired. True enough, I often caught up with runners who didn't take walk breaks. The walk breaks also helped lactic acid build up and allowed me to avoid the dreaded cramps! Another major motivation is that walk breaks help post race recovery... is that really the case?

2. Wore Pearl Izumi compression tights. The idea is to reduce muscle fatigue.

3. Continued walking after crossing the finish line for about 1k or 10 min. Or as much as I could with the heavy downpour and waiting in line to collect the finisher T, medal and bag. Ate a banana and drank a bottle of mineral water (hydrate and protein!).

4. Cold bath. But the heavy downpour was better than a cold bath to soak the legs.

5. Applied muscle cream after getting home and after a hot shower.

6. Continued walking that morning at the Cold Storage Kids' Run. It was really a walk/limp.

7. After the Kids' Run, it was time for a bagel and coffee before heading back home for lunch and a nap. This is where I experimented with something new. I put on the 2XU compression pants (bought at the Sundown expo). The claim is that this helped blood circulation and recovery. Time to put the claim to the test.



Surprisingly, I didn't feel my muscle aching while I napped, and woke up in better shape than previous races. Seemed good so far. Throughout the day, I also made a conscious effort to rehydrate with isotonic drinks and water. Had a nice steak dinner that evening! Sunday night yielded a good sleep, again with the compression pants.

The next day (Monday), I went for a 45 min walk with a slow jog tagged at the end of the 4k. There was still some soreness, but no pain, no serious aches. I could walk up and down stairs without holding on to the rails (I had to do that previously). I even went to work. That day, I rewarded myself with a massage at Laguna spa. Previously, I requested for more focus on legs. This time, I specifically asked for less attention to the legs. As it turned out, this was the recommended approach for massage (see my earlier post on Gems from Hal).

On Tuesday, I did another short walk and jog (2k). By that time, I felt completely recovered. No hint of soreness or aches at all. Wow.

On Wed, I took out my road bike for a 20k spin along the East Coast park. 10k easy tempo run around the tracks on Thursday, followed by another easy 10k on the treadmill on Friday. Good as new.

I am really pleased with this post race recovery. Much better recovery compared to earlier runs.

Looking forward to the next marathon at Phuket!