Walking and running - heresy?

I was listening to the Confessions of a Runner podcast this morning during my run which sparked an internal debate I've been engaged in all day.


Jodi, if you happen to read this, it's a great podcast, and I can really notice how it's improved even over just three episodes.

Anyway, to the point of this post...Jodi had some pre- and post-race audio clips of her first half-marathon which she ran recently. She talked briefly about half- and full-marathon participants who have a walk/run strategy...run 1-2 miles, walk a minute is the most common method.

By the way--what I'm about to say in no way should be construed as me putting Jodi down, contradicting her, or saying she's wrong. She is a great blogger, a great podcaster, and a very strong person. She happened to mention one side of a discussion that goes back and forth in the running community--I'm sharing my thoughts on the other side.

To some, this may sound like "cheating"...after all, if you're running a race, then you should run the whole thing, right?

UGH, I hope not!!! Let me say right up front that I am a run/walker, at least in distances above 10K. Last year in training for the Chicago Marathon it was run a mile, walk a minute. This year, it's more like run 2 or 3, walk a minute. As I mature and strengthen as a runner, will I ever get away from this strategy? Hm...probably not. For a few reasons:

• Walking during a water stop allows you to take in the entire cup of fluid, versus trying to drink while running and end up with half of it on your shirt.
• Walking gives your leg muscles a break and allows short recovery time.
• Run/walkers can generally go farther distances than straight runners.
• Running gurus I look up to like John Bingham and Hal Higdon strongly endorse the strategy.

Podcaster, runner, and all around good guy Steve Runner over at Phedippidations had a great podcast from July of last year on this very topic, entitled Run Walking. He spoke much more eloquently about this than I ever could.

So, I'm curious readers...is run/walking kosher, or do you think it's cheating? Remember these are opinions, folks, and opinions are like belly buttons...everyone has one... (C;

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