Short Stops During Long Runs

[Urlea]

You aren't completely wrong to worry about short breaks. Once you are at a good pace/running rhythm it can sometimes be difficult to pick that back up again post water-stop or even after a stoplight. That happens to a lot of us, but we eventually find that sweet spot again.

Hydrating on a long run (Anything over an hr.) is very important. Especially if you live in a warm climate where heavy activity means more sweating. But, there is nothing that says one must stop moving to do so. Most half & full marathoners just grab a cup at the aid station and speed walk until they've downed it.

I personally prefer to carry my own fuel belt w/ water bottle. Then I can take a sip here or there whenever I want rather than feeling like I have to gulp down a glass of water at an aid station.

HTH!

Ditto to everything Michelem said!

[Grog]

I don't run in warm weather so this only applies to cool (not cold) temperatures (I guess between 0 and 15 Celsius, 32 to 60 Fahrenheit):

Any run over an hour, I bring water. Over 1h15m, I usually take some sort of food, too. It so happens that on runs over an hour I also walk every 15 or 20 minutes for one minute. I don't stop entirely, I just walk. I use my walking breaks to drink. If I am eating as well, I might try to struggle whatever I am eating (a small square of Ritter's chocolate, for example) out of my pocket/fuel belt in the 15 seconds before I stop to walk so I can start eating right away and also have time to drink in the next minute or 75 seconds.

I find that walking for one minute or so allows me to conserve an even pace throughout my run (or race), or even to achieve a negative split (shorter second half than first half). I just feel energized when I start running again. (I also use the walking breaks for positive self-talk. ) If I don't stop to walk now and then, my speed just gets slower and slower.

BUT: if I walk for more than 90 seconds it will a lot harder to get going.

You will have to experiment a bit to find what works for you...

[limewave]

I have found the same thing to be true as Grog said.

When I trained for the marathon, I read an article in Runners World that encouraged run/walking long distances. Part of the point was to give yourself a little breaks throughout the run so you wouldn't completely cache out your legs.

I gave it a try. I knew there would be breaks every mile at Chicago which I planned to utilize. So every 10 minutes on my long weekend runs, I walked for 20-45 seconds. You don't want to walk for too long, because your legs will start to cramp.

I found I had negative splits when I did a couple half-marathons in training. And I ended up having a good marathon for me. I was by far less sore the next day than DH who pretty much ran the entire marathon without walking at all.

Here's an article on walk/running:
http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/walk_breaks.html