Jeff Galloway, a legendary running coach and 1972 US Olympian, passed away earlier this week at the age of 80. Jeff created the Run-Walk-Run Method of training. This method was a highly accessible, sustainable running philosophy that made distance running accessible to the masses.
Galloway’s method focused on alternating running intervals with walk breaks throughout the entirety of a run. This type of training got runners listening to their bodies, taking breaks, running at a conversational pace and enjoying themselves when running.
As I gear up for the inaugural Wine Half Marathon on May 9, 2026, I’m using Galloway’s method. I’ve been running for fitness for the last 30 years, and Galloway’s Book on Running was the first book I bought when I made a concerted effort to quickly put one foot in front of the other. Looking back on Galloway’s training, I think there are a lot of parallels about how to approach our careers.
Galloway: The Most Important Training Principle: Hard or long runs must always be followed by easy days: The stresses of running require rest for the body to recover and improve.
Career Philosophy: Hard and long periods of work must be interspersed with easier ones. Working on an important project with an aggressive deadline? Get to work, work at your top capacity and turn in a great work project. But when you are done, reward yourself for your accomplishment, step back to evaluate what you did, learn from the experience and tuck it into your brain to use in the future. Taking a reset after a grueling work period allows you to avoid burnout and lets you come back to your next big assignment fresh and enthused.
Galloway: Running Slow in Order to Run Fast: Steady, relaxed running over several months is enjoyable and cuts down on injuries and creates a base fitness level.
Career Philosophy: Doing work that you enjoy and work that you can do well over months and years will keep you enjoying what you do, and this “base career fitness level” will allow you to flex to meet new challenges and accomplish new tasks when needed.
Galloway: Define Your Goals: Why do you want to run? What do you want to accomplish by running? Do you have a timeline or achievement in mind? Use these inputs to define what your running goals are.
Career Philosophy: Defining your career goals will help you identify what you need to accomplish in the short and long term. It will also let you know what inputs will help you in your career—such as education, credentials, job title, or what company you want to work for. Defining your goals will let you put the necessary pieces in place to build a successful career.
While Galloway’s approach was considered unique in 1984, it has helped runners train injury free and accomplish their running goals for over four decades. You may be at the beginning of your career or you may be an accomplished career “athlete”. Keep following the Run-Walk-Run philosophy of doing the base work, enjoying the work as you do it, rest when you need to and set goals. Our work lives are a marathon, not a sprint.
