LEFT: Jeff Galloway

Jeff Galloway, a former Olympian, is the inventor of the Galloway run-walk-run method. I first heard of the Galloway method when I signed up to do my first half marathon, at the Marathon of the Palm Beaches, with my local Team in Training team.

People that are new to the sport of running, along with older and injury prone runners, can definitely benefit from the Galloway method. Jeff recommends training for long distance races using a certain run to walk ratio. For instance, a new runner might start out at 3 minutes of running, followed by 2 minutes of walking, and keep repeating this ratio for their entire workout.

I did my first half marathon at a 5:1 run/walk ratio. But when I first started running, I was only capable of a 1:3 run/walk ratio, due to exercise induced asthma. My breathing has greatly improved since I started running just about one year ago and I managed to loose 24 pounds in the process.

I have completed a few more long distance running events, since participating in my first half marathon, and currently have my goals set on completing a full marathon towards the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010. I will continue to use the Galloway method for my future training sessions and running events. I now am capable of a 1 mile to 1 minute run/walk ratio, but it took me almost a full year to work up to this level.

Galloway is also the author of over 14 books, including Galloway's Book on Running.