Weeks before the arrival of Jeff Galloway to the country, I was invited by Lit Onrubia after he crossed the Finish line at the Rizal Day 32K Run to attend in one of the scheduled lectures. On the other hand, a few days after,  Jerome Cartailler, BDM 102 veteran/PAU runner and resident chef of Oakwood Premier also extended his invitation for me to attend a “shorter” version of Jeff Galloway’s Lecture at the said hotel. I learned later that Jeff Galloway stayed at the said hotel during the duration of his stay in Manila.

I opted to join the lecture at the Oakwood Premier as it suited to my schedule for the said weekend. Twenty minutes before the scheduled start of the activity, I was already at the venue with another runner. Jonel Mendoza of FrontRunner Magazine joined later and Lit Onrubia of Chi Running was also there as he acted as the host and moderator of the event.

As soon as Jeff Galloway entered the lecture area, Jonel and I approached him and we started a conversation with him. As usual, Jonel was the more articulate and talkative one for the introductions and Jonel “trapped” Jeff Galloway with copies of his FrontRunner Magazine as he gave Jeff lots of them. The “blitzkrieg” approach led to a special pose for picture with the guest lecturer!

I could sense that Jeff Galloway knew things about me and Jonel (He could have visited my blog or had been well-informed by his Hosts about the running community and the running magazine of Jonel). He started a topic where he informed us about his son, Brennan Galloway, a running film producer who made lots of running films about the famous “minimalist” ultra trail runner, Anton Krupicka. There you go, Jeff knows that we are ultra marathon runners!

After a few conversations with the guests and Jeff, the lecture started at least 10 minutes late from the schedule which was okey with us as more interested guests were entering the venue. At least, 40 guests were present during the lecture.

Jeff Galloway had been in the country when he was still in the active military service as he was with the US Navy in his younger years. He knows about Subic and Olongapo, of course! He did not mention the particular year when he was here in the country. I could only guess that he was here during the Martial Law years under the administration of former President Marcos. (Note: Dr George Sheehan, a runner, writer and lecturer was also with the US Navy rising to the rank of Navy Captain).

Jeff Galloway Lecture was geared towards his “The NO PAIN Marathon Program”. Let me quote the brochure which was available for all of us that explains the Jeff Galloway Method of Training:

• Minimum workouts needed: 20-30 minutes on Tuesday and Thursday plus a weekend run.
• Weekend Run gradually increases to goal distance in gentle increases, followed by short runs.
• Walk breaks are inserted into every run, from the beginning, to erase pain and fatigue
• Avoid running too fast by using a “magic mile” prediction exercise (MM).
• Many surveys have shown that taking walk breaks early and often result in faster finish times.

The “Magic Mile” can predict current potential and set long run pace. You should be able to time yourself for one mile (4 laps around the oval track) about every 3 weeks and the following Run-Walk-Run Strategies should be followed depending on your pace (per km or per mile).

Pace Per Km	Pace Per Mile	Run/Walk Amount
4:58	8:00	4 min/30 sec
5:16	8:30	4 min/45 sec
5:35	9:00	4 min/1 min
6:12	10:00	3 min/1 min
6:50	11:00	2.5 min/1 min
7:27	12:00	2 min/ 1 min
8:04	13:00	1 min/ 1min
8:41	14:00	30 sec/ 30 sec
9:19	15:00	30 sec/ 45 sec
9:56	16:00	20 sec/ 40 sec
10:33	17:00	15 sec/ 45 sec
11:11	18:00	10 sec/ 50 sec

 More interesting insights and information were gathered during the “Open Forum” where Jeff Galloway was able to answer questions from the guests. Some of the pointers were the following:

• He does not recommend stretching exercises  for long distance runners
• Extensive Long Slow Distance Run (LSD) every 3 weeks in the Marathon Program
• More Long Runs For Endurance rather than Speed runs
• “Speed Training” is NOT recommended for the 1^st time Marathon runners. They should simply enjoy the experience and have fun
• On Core Strengthening, he recommends two (2) workouts: “Arms Swinging with Light Weights” (natural form when running) and Abdominal “Crunches”
• Running is controlled by the Brain Function
• On running compression tights, no benefits on the performance of a long distance runner. However, there are studies that compression calf sleeves are the most beneficial to runners. He highly recommends such apparel to long distance runners.
• Water hydration during the race is the only thing that is needed during a marathon race.
• It takes 24-48 hours for the body to absorb the replacement electrolytes from Sports Drinks like Gatorade, PowerAde, Propel, Pocari Sweat, and others.
• Carboloading from foods rich in carbohydrate taken a day before the race is beneficial.

On a personal note, I don’t agree with his answers about his view on the unnecessary need of sports drinks and food being ingested during the marathon race. In a country like ours, the heat and humidity make our body metabolism faster and there is a need for sports drinks and food to be taken in somewhere along the marathon distance. He thought that Philippines is like Taiwan, South Korea, Japan or the United States where the temperature is too low that a runner could hardly perspire during a marathon race.

I could follow the Run-Walk-Run Galloway Method in an ultra running event to last and finish the distance but I will never walk in a Marathon Race where my goal is to finish a better PR best time.

Ironically, in my collection of running books, I found out that I don’t have any of the books written by Jeff Galloway.