The miles are getting longer just as the temperatures are getting hotter. Summer running in Florida is not easy, but Jeff Galloway’s Run Walk Run method makes it more manageable. After the post-vacation motivation slump, I made it a point to stay on top of my training plan as June got underway. My first long run was set for Saturday, June 6th with 9 miles on the schedule.

This is the point in training when I never really know how the long runs will go.  What was working for 6-8 mile runs can definitely go south with higher mileage and summer temperatures. My comfortable pace hovers around 14 minutes per mile using a 30/45 interval. For non-runners, that means I run 30 seconds and then walk 45 seconds.  I just do that on repeat for the entire workout. The walk breaks are meant to help with recovery in between running intervals and they definitely keep my heart rate down.

This is called the Run Walk Run method which was developed by the late Olympian Jeff Galloway. I don’t follow the method to a tee, but for me, this is what gives me the endurance to keep going for sometimes hours at a time. Galloway recommends adjusting the running interval to either increase or reduce your overall speed. The walking interval is never supposed to be longer than 30 seconds. That doesn’t work for me very well so I do it the opposite way! I adjust my walking interval from 30-60 seconds (usually) and almost always use a 30 second running interval.

For this nine miler, I decided to mix it up and do some speed work. I had success trying out 800 meter (1/2 mile) repeats on a short run in May so I decided to try doing mile repeats on a much longer run to see how it went. I started with a one mile warmup using an easy 30/60 interval. This usually results in a slow pace for me, which is exactly what I wanted for that first mile.  I didn’t want to be winded before I even started the speed work!

In mile two, I started the mile repeats with a 30/30 interval. 30/30 seems to be a slow or ‘easy’ pace for a lot of other middle to back of the pack runners; however, I usually run out of steam using this interval. It definitely translates into a faster, slightly uncomfortable pace but I cannot sustain it nearly as long as I can with my preferred 30/45 interval. As an example, I used this 30/30 interval for the Celebration 1/2 Marathon on a warm and very humid morning in January. I knew I would need that interval to get a PR. It was going well, but I just could not keep it up after nine miles. Luckily, I had done so well up to that point that I was able to slow down with an 30/60 interval and still get the PR! I only beat my time by a few seconds but I was thrilled after ten YEARS of chasing another new 1/2 marathon PR!!

I digress! Back to training. So I started my mile repeats. That means I ran one mile with 30/30 intervals and then walked a quarter mile to recover. Then I simply repeated that pattern until I had run six miles at my ‘fast’ pace with recovery walks in between. After the last recovery walk, I went back to an easy 30/60 interval for a half mile cool down. And that was it! What really surprised me was how good I felt. I challenged myself with the faster intervals and instead of being completely exhausted, I could have kept going!

This was a massive confidence boost! Each of the mile repeats was under 13 minutes per mile which is awesome for me! And what came as a huge surprise is that my average pace over the entire nine miles was 13:36 minutes per mile! If I can just find a way to maintain that pace for nearly triple the distance, I could end up with a sub six hour marathon in New York! That is still a lofty goal, but a new 26.2 mile PR definitely feels within grasp! 

I can’t give all the credit for this successful workout to the Run Walk Run method though. I usually listen to podcasts while I run, anytime I want to run faster I listen to music for an adrenaline boost. And for this one I had the Hamilton soundtrack in my ear the entire time!

Click below to watch my Instagram reel highlighting this run, Powered by Hamilton!

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This is long already so I’ll keep the commentary more concise for the next week of training. As usual I did two short midweek runs and the most exciting thing about them is that sometimes, I wear pink…hot pink! I wore my hot pink shirt for two miles on Tuesday. Then decided to put on my hot pink shorts for three miles on Thursday! I mixed up the intervals on Thursday again and swapped my usual 30/45 interval and tried 45/30 for a mile.  That was very difficult even for just one mile and I was a sweaty mess at the end of it! Maybe I got a little cocky after the speed work the weekend before!

By the way, the hot pink was all part of a costume for the Disneyland 10K in January.  Laura and I dressed as the Yo-Yo slinging flamingos from Fantasia 2000! It was a huge hit and one of the most fun races we’ve ever done!

Next up was a ten mile long run on the weekend. Double digits already on June 13th! I drove about fifteen minutes away and ran a favorite route of mine through the gorgeous lakefront neighborhoods of Hamlin and Summerlake. I used to run in this area all the time before we moved from an apartment there into our current home.

I managed to get an early start at 5:47am, but it was already a lot warmer and more humid than the week before. I didn’t have any pace expectations so I decided to stick with my usual 30/45 intervals. Despite the heat, the run got off to a pretty good start. Miles 2-7 were all under 14 minutes per mile.

The sun was still holding back 2 miles later at mile 4!

The sun was definitely up with no cloud cover and I was feeling it. I didn’t slow down too much, but by the end of mile eight I was contemplating throwing in the towel and just walking the last two miles. It was very much a mental game from that point forward. I just had to keep moving, one step at a time. I thought I had skipped several of my running intervals in favor of walking but I must not have based on my per mile paces. Luckily those last two miles were mostly downhill so I guess that helped.

After ten miles, I felt the exact opposite of how I felt after nine miles the week before. I had nothing left. The overall run was actually much faster than I was shooting for, but I paid for it.

Between this 10 mile run and some yard work the next day, I was out of commission for several days. Even after a massage on Monday, I was still extremely sore and didn’t run again until Friday. But that next run will have to wait for the next post.  

Like I said at the beginning, summer running is not easy and you never know what you’ll get on any given day. You win some and you lose some, but the training must continue. They say summer training leads to fall PR’s and I’m happy with the results so far! Let me know how your summer training is going in the comments below or on social media!