It's A Marathon Not A Walkathon!

I've done it in every marathon I've run in. Much to my chagrin, I've done it in each of the countless half-marathons I've run in. Embarrassingly (horribly so), I even did it in the incredibly short Lincoln Tunnel Challenge 5K. Over the (running) course of any of the aforementioned races, there has come a point where try-as-I-might, I simply could not run another step. With each of my successive strides becoming shorter than the last, my running progressed from a healthy pace to a slower pace to a fast walking pace and, finally, to a normal walking pace (concurrently, the level of both my pride and my enjoyment of the race mirrored my pace in perfect symmetry). And, once I began to walk, I was never able to reclaim any semblance of a steady, sustained running pace at any point thereafter. I doubt there are many runners who begin a half-marathon or a full marathon and plan to walk. I doubt there are many runners who actually want to be walking during a race of any length. Obviously, it slows you down. But it also breaks your rhythm, causes muscle stiffness which makes it that much harder to begin running again and, depending on where you actually begin walking, makes the finish line seem so much farther away than it might in actuality be.

It was with this anti-walking mentality that I was taken slightly aback after reading Tara Parker-Pope's article, Better Running Through Walking, in the New York Times on Tuesday. Discussing her training methods for November 1st's New York City Marathon, Parker-Pope writes about her decision to utilize the "run-walk" method, popularized by the distance coach Jeff Galloway, a member of the 1972 Olympic team. Instead of simply walking when you can run no further, the run-walk method encourages runners to actually plan to walk while in-marathon, "Depending on one’s fitness level, a walk-break runner might run for a minute and walk for a minute, whether on a 5-mile training run or the 26.2-mile course on race day. A more experienced runner might incorporate a one-minute walk break for every mile of running". The article goes on to discuss how the run-walk method is ideal for "older, less fit and overweight people to take part in a sport that would otherwise be off limits" and then cites specific situations where older runners actually performed better while employing this technique. The article also points out that, "taking these breaks makes marathon training less grueling and reduces the risk of injury...because it gives the muscles regular recovery time during a long run". Parker-Pope concludes her article by stating that, eventhough many running purists snicker at the run-walk method, "I’m
convinced that those of us run-walking the marathon will have the last laugh".

In talking about traveling to the moon, President John F. Kennedy once said, "We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard...". It is this same sentiment that underlies any runner's decision to run a marathon. We know that traversing the 26.2 mile path between the start line and the finish line is going to be difficult. We know it is going to be painful. We know that there will be times when we will have to fight the urge to simply quit. In spite of these tidbits of precognition, we decide to do it. We persevere because of the pride and sense of accomplishment we know awaits us at the other side of that finish line. But, we also know that to do it half-assed is akin to not doing it at all. A marathon is a running challenge, not a walking challenge. Nobody signs up to walk a marathon. While I'm sure using the run-walk method would cut back on injuries and soreness, I feel that if you're not sore or in pain the day after a marathon then you hadn't given it your all during the race. Now, this is certainly not to say that you can't walk at all. Many people walk during a marathon (I even admitted to doing so in the first sentence of this post). But their walking wasn't planned nor was it intended. It was the result of their having given every ounce of energy they had. And that, dear readers, is exactly what running a marathon is all about.

While it's safe to say that I don't agree with Tara Parker-Pope's article about the benefits of employing the run-walk method during a marathon, there is one thing she is correct about. Those runners who decide to follow Parker-Pope's advice will most certainly have the last laugh.....since they'll be the last ones on the course!