To Run Faster and Longer, Run for 4 Minutes and Walk for 1

I’ve been hooked on exercise lately. Running in particular.

I found a good way to run, so this article is for:

Beginners who find it hard to keep running for long
People who want to build endurance while cutting their risk of injury
People who want to improve their survival rate in the Backrooms

Check it out!

I Did Great Yesterday#

Yesterday I pulled off some big results.

5 km sub 30 min#

One of my running goals was “run 5 km in under 30 minutes.” Once I can do that, getting from my house to Akihabara (Tokyo’s electronics district) by running is faster than taking public transit.

And yesterday, I finally did it!

I ran 5 km in 28:27.

10 km sub 60 min#

So, time to take the train home… or so I thought, but yesterday was wonderfully cool, and I felt like I still had some gas in the tank.

By the way, apparently there’s something called Level ! in the Backrooms. It happened to pop up while I was zoning out on YouTube right before I left.

backrooms-freewriting.fandom.com

Apparently you have to run for your life down a long hallway while an Entity chases you from behind. And the hallway is 10 km long. To prepare for the day I get thrown into this Level, I decided to run 10 km.

I hadn’t set a target pace, but when the notification for passing 9 km came in and I checked my watch, there were still 6 minutes left until the one-hour mark. Hey, maybe I can actually make “10 km in under 60 minutes.”

So I squeezed out the last of my strength, and somehow I got this one too.

15 km sub 100 min#

By this point I’d gone completely reckless, and I made up my mind that I was getting home without taking the train, no matter what.

I couldn’t hold 10 km/h all the way, of course, but I ran 15 km for the first time.

The Case for the Run-Walk Method#

I watched a YouTube video that was basically “run for 4 minutes, walk for 1, it’s great.” Apparently it’s called the “Run-Walk method” or “Run-Walk-Run” in the English-speaking world.

This ONE change made running 5x easier as a beginner

My pace calculator: http://www.mypacecalculator.com/runwalk.htmlFollow me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/runswithemily/My other channel: https://www.youtub...

www.youtube.com

From what I found online, taking breaks at the right times improves your athletic ability more than just running non-stop. Instead of holding 99% effort the whole time, alternating between a 110% load and a 60% load supposedly makes your heart and everything else go “I have to adapt to this max load!” more easily.

There’s also a training method called “interval running” along those lines.

Both so-called “interval running” and the “Run-Walk method” repeat “running” and “resting (or slowing down)”, but they apparently differ a lot in purpose and exercise intensity.

Feature	Interval running (HIIT, etc.)	Run-Walk method
Main goal	Improving speed, maximizing cardiorespiratory fitness (raising VO2max)	Improving endurance, managing fatigue, preventing injury
Intensity	High. Run at a near all-out pace that leaves you gasping	Moderate. Run at a comfortable pace where you can hold a conversation
Feel	Training where you “push yourself” and “endure the pain”	A strategy for “managing” yourself and “going long, easy”
Role of rest	A short recovery to prepare for the next sprint	A planned break to head off serious fatigue

Even ignoring those long-term benefits, as the video says, for some reason this way of running makes running longer/faster feel easier/more comfortable.

Thinking “I get to rest in 4 minutes anyway” makes me want to push the pace a little, so running for 4 minutes and walking for 1 ends up faster in the end than running for 5 minutes straight.

On top of that, probably thanks to the regular breaks, covering a longer distance feels easier too.

This benefit seems to be backed by research. A 2016 study compared marathon runners who used the Run-Walk method with runners who ran continuously.

The result was surprising. The finishing times of the two groups were not significantly different. And the decisive difference showed up after the race. The group that used the Run-Walk method reported clearly less muscle soreness and fatigue than the group that ran continuously.

Participants using the run-walk strategy (RWS) switched from running to walking every 2.5 km for 26.2 miles, using the aid stations as a cue. Each walking period lasted 1 minute. Participants using the run-only strategy (RUN) had no walking periods. During the race, metrics such as heart rate and speed were recorded using GPS-enabled heart rate monitors. Upon completing the marathon, RWS participants reported less muscle soreness and fatigue compared with RUN participants. RUN participants reported more extreme fatigue than RWS participants. Interestingly, marathon times and average heart rates were similar between the groups.

Run/Walk Or Run Only? » ForeverFitScience

There has been a great deal of research on the run/walk method (and other run / walk methods) and it has been associated with decreased levels of injury in

foreverfitscience.com

In other words, the Run-Walk method is a very smart strategy that could deliver performance on par with continuous running without wrecking your body.

In fact, I used this method yesterday too. Using the “custom training” feature on my smartwatch, I set it to repeat 4 minutes of running and 1 minute of rest indefinitely. It also warns me whenever my pace drops below 7 min/km while running, which is my masochist mode.

Conclusion#

So, if you ever find yourself needing to cover a long distance at a decent speed, the “run 4 minutes, walk 1” strategy seems good for both body and mind.

Use it if you ever no-clip into Level ! “Run For Your Life!”

↑ Made with nano-banana.