I need some help here. I am training my wife for her first marathon. She walks 2miles in 31mins and has a bpm of 131. She runs the same distance in 34mins and has a bpm of 145. She has run a 1/2 marathon in September and is 5’4" 120lbs. Very slim. Resting bpm of around 60. I have never had this myself where I can walk faster with less effort then run. Can someone let me know how I can help her!
4XIronman finisher(10:35:17)
How can it possibly take her 34 mins to run 2 miles? I’m not sure anyone can actually “run” that slowly…
Did her half take nearly 4 hours?
Just under!
2:55
15 minutes per mile is not running or jog. More like jumping up and down and then taking a step forward.
Dude, you need to teach her how to run before worrying about races. She might as well walk the marathon if that would be quicker.
Maybe try some strides or something so she can actually feel what running should feel like. Or cut the heels off her shoes.
Is there a medical reason why she couldn’t run?
I need some help here. I am training my wife for her first marathon. She walks 2miles in 31mins and has a bpm of 131. She runs the same distance in 34mins and has a bpm of 145. She has run a 1/2 marathon in September and is 5’4" 120lbs. Very slim. Resting bpm of around 60. I have never had this myself where I can walk faster with less effort then run. Can someone let me know how I can help her!
4XIronman finisher(10:35:17)
It is generally agreed that running is more efficient than walking once you get over 5 mph. If you’re going much slower than that, there is no real advantage to running. Race walkers can do marathons at about 7 min mile pace, but this is much less efficient that running at that pace.
If you walk and gradually increase your speed, you will find that walking will gradually start to feel awkward, and a a certain speed you’ll feel like breaking into a run. For me that is around 4.4 or 4.5 mph. I personally don’t see any point in running any slower than that. Click below for some background info on racewalking:
Additional info on walk vs run:
Since everyone else seems more interested in taking the p!$$ than helping, how about this:
Your wife’s situation is not uncommon in total newcomers to running. Basically her muscles are trained to walk, not run so she finds the action of running extremely tiring. It’s the cumulative thing that’s the initial problem. To get through this properly takes time (otherwise she’ll probably get injured). Given that she can already run a 1/2 you can probably skip the months of walk-running work that I’d normally recommend to a total beginner. It’s difficult to suggest things without seeing here, but I’d probably suggest:
Strengthen her tendons/joints/muscles. 3 times per week for 6 weeks. Focus on good form and no more than moderate weight for 3x8reps of: Deadlifts, Reverse Lunges, Step Downs, Calf raises, Hamstring Curls. Follow that with core stability work (not just crunches - use gordo’s old plan if you can find it) and stretching. The rest of the week have her do long walks (up to 2hrs 2 or 3 times a week). THIS IS ESSENTIAL PREPARATION FOR STAGE 2!
Teach her body to store and return impact energy efficiently. Keep the walking in place (for an extra challenge, make it hillier), and spend six weeks working on low-impact plyometrics on a soft level grassy field, and work on (in order) Week 1 - unweighted lunge walking. Week 2 - add strides as well. Week 3 - add skipping as well. Week 4 - add skip marching as well. Week 5 - add bounding as well. Week 6 - add another set of strides. Do the drill for 20-30 secs, then walk back to the start point. Do each drill 4 times. After you’ve done the drills, spend the rest of the session (up to 60 mins) doing brisk walking. You’ll probably have to demonstrate each drill in turn (really get her to focus on good technique for each).
Get her back out running, but using the strides form. Run for 2 days, then take a day off. Start with 5mins running and get her to keep the pace comfortable. Increase the length of the run by 5 mins after each day off so that you get: 5, 5, off, 10, 10, off, 15, 15, off, 20, 20, off, 25, 25, off, 30, 30, off, 35, 35, off, 40, 40, off. Keep going until you reach 60 mins. Once she reaches that, she can start to build a long run (as the second run of one of the week’s blocks). Get her to count her footfalls and aim for a constant 180 steps/minute - if the drills have been done properly she should now be able to manage that).
Walking is more efficient than running. You use more energy to run than to walk at those speeds. If that is the speed she is going to keep, she would be better off walking than trying to run.
At some point, say around 4-6 mph, maintaining a walking gait becomes very difficult and most people shift to a jog. During the race, unless she is going to run/walk at that transitional pace or higher, she is better off walking.
Mike
I would suggest that she’d actually be better off ‘learning to run’, then running…