Since I started my running life just over a month after my 2nd open heart surgery, I needed to start out slow. Very slow. I needed the rest between my short run spurts. I started with 30 seconds of running and 2 minutes of walking. I would do that for 20 minutes. Over time, I worked up to running for 2 minutes/walking for 1 minute. Repeat. I believe overall, it's better for you to take periodic walk breaks. Better for your joints, better for your longevity as a runner, but here's my confession:
I've been using that belief as a crutch.
When I started out, I was still recovering from a very invasive surgery. My goal for that first race, 5 months after surgery was a 2:1 Run/Walk ratio for the entire race. I did it. Yay Me! Even though I had "mastered" my 2:1's, I stuck with that run/walk ratio throughout my half-marathon and marathon training. Over time (umm, years), I worked up to 5:1 run/walk ratio and then stopped. I could run/walk for 10+ miles with 5:1's. That was good enough. I will probably always take regular walk breaks in any race I complete. My pace is more consistent over time with walk breaks; it gives me built in time to take in fluids and nutrition for longer runs.
I don't know why, but this bothers me. Not the taking walk breaks in races, I think that's crucial. It's the fact that I never tried to increase my running time to more than 5 minutes of nonstop running. Even though I know I can run for a long time, not knowing if I could run for 30 minutes without stopping makes me feel like less of a runner. Which I know is crazy, I would never think that about anyone else, but as it is with a lot of people, I judge myself harsher than I judge others. I also run pretty slowly, but that bother's me less. (Although I do hope to get a little faster over time)
This is my current quest. 30 minutes of nonstop running. I've been working on this for a few weeks and I'm up to 24 minutes :-)
Next: Work on speed and stringing longer run sessions together with the walk breaks. We'll see where my running goes from there.
My official Triathlon training begins June 1st with CES. I'm excited and nervous. I want my running to be as strong as possible since I'm going to need a lot of practice time in the pool/open water (Lake Michigan) and on the bike :-/
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