RED Episode 320: Remembering Jeff Galloway

Jeff Galloway didn’t just teach people how to run. He taught people how to believe they belonged out there, whether they were chasing a PR, coming back from injury, or starting from zero. Coming back after his passing is hard, so we’re honoring him the best way we know how: by sharing moments where his voice, his patience, and his practical wisdom shine.

You’ll hear Jeff tell the story of how the Run Walk Run method took shape, starting with a room full of brand-new runners and a simple goal: help them reach a finish line without getting hurt. We talk through the mindset behind walk breaks, the pacing tools he recommends like the magic mile, and why “conservative early” so often turns into “strong at the end.” Jeff also shares how he adjusted interval lengths for his own racing, including what helped him qualify for Boston when it really mattered.

We also revisit his race-weekend coaching that runDisney runners know so well: how to approach a two-course challenge, how to keep day one from stealing day two, and a no-nonsense recovery plan that includes quick refueling, compression sleeves, and a cool water soak. Then we shift to the Atlanta Jeff Galloway 13.1 weekend and what makes it special, from the scenic course past iconic landmarks to the community impact, plus the finish-line moment Jeff always stayed for.

If Jeff helped you start running or keep going, we want to hear your story. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs a boost, and leave a review so more runners can find these lessons and this love.

There is also a virtual and in-person race weekend on April 25, 2026 honoring Jeff Galloway in Atlanta Georgia.  Find out more here:  

https://runsignup.com/Race/GA/Atlanta/TheGallowayRun 

Remember to share your memories so we can flood the next episode with them as we head to Springtime Surprise.  Thank you, everyone.  Please email us at info@runeatdrink.net or give us a call and leave a message at 941-677-2733.

Transcript

Welcome And Show Format

SPEAKER_04 1:11

Hi, I'm Jeff Galloway, and you are listening to the Run Eat Drink Podcast.

Returning After A Loss

Share Your Jeff Galloway Story

How Run Walk Run Began

SPEAKER_01 1:22

Welcome to the Run Eat Drink Podcast. We feature destination races from across the country. And after the race, we take you on a tour of the best local food and beverage to celebrate. So whether you are an elite runner or a back-of-the-packer like us, you'll know the best places to accomplish, explore, and indulge on your next run feature. Hey, welcome to episode 320 of the Run Eat Drink Podcast. I'm your host, Amy. I'm flying solo for this episode, and uh welcome back. It's been a hot minute. It's been a hot minute, and uh it's it's been a little hard. It's been a little hard for us to get back on the mic after losing Jeff Calloway. As he is America's coach, he is an Olympian, he is our and he is a friend and a family member of the show. Give me a high five and put the metal around my neck and celebrate that with me. I'll never forget memories like that, or the first time he was on our podcast, and I was so nervous to talk to him, but he was just so friendly and putting any so quickly, and he was always so willing to come on our show and talk about his races, talk about his run-walk-run method, talk about any upcoming challenges he had coming up in the run-walk-run challenges and any races, any retreat, anything that he had coming up on his calendar, or any questions that we had. He was always willing to come on the show and talk about things celebrated his one of the last times he was on our show was to celebrate his 80th birthday and talk about his coming that we were so hoping it would happen. Some of these are the opportunities we had to get to Jack on location. Some of these would be opportunities that we had to catch right into the weekend event when he was in his or at his own race weekend. So we thought we would live together times that we got to chat with him. And bring back that that voice of positivity before we take you back in time and lay that for you. We'd also like to ask you a favor. So many of you have stories and inspiring stories about the ways that Jeff has helped you start running, overcome injury, cross-finish liney things in your life, in your running lives. So we would love to ask you to tell us tell the Reddit Nation about those times and ways you've been impacted by Jeff Galloway. We would like to share those with the Renegation Nation and create an episode of inspiration and motivation as we head into Springtime Surprise, which is another Run Disney weekend coming up in here in April. So this week we want to ask any and all of you in the Renegation Nation who have been impacted by Jeff Galloway to call or write into our show. Uh you can email us at info at Run EDRing.net. That's info at Run EDRing.net. Or you can call us and leave us a message that we can play in your own words. And that's it. 9416772733. That's 9416772733. Tell us how he impacted you so we can create that special episode letting the Rencation Nation and the world know about Jeff's impact. And we can keep that love and that inspiration going. And now here's a series of chats with our friend Jeff Galloway. Hey everybody, it's Amy from the Run Eat Drink podcast at RuneatDrink.net, and I am so privileged to say that I am here with America's running coach and Olympian Jeff Galloway. And I want you to know this is me telling you all about the e-coaching and all the tools that he provides to help people run injury free. He is someone that I pay to coach me. This is not a commercial for him. He is one of the most amazing people and amazing motivating teachers I have ever met. So, Jeff, thank you so much for being with us today. So, we want to talk to you a little bit about the running portions. Your run walk run method has been around for quite some time. How did you go from your Olympic experience to coaching people through run walk run method?

SPEAKER_04 8:52

The year after I was in the Olympics, I had a change in careers, and I really had to do some soul searching as to what I really wanted to do. And what kept pinging me in my thoughts was this running thing is so great for people, not just myself, but others. And I saw the changes in folks as they started running. But there really weren't any opportunities back in that day and age to support yourself financially when running. But I wanted to, and so what I came up with was to start a running store. And I opened the very first running store in the U.S. fidippities, and we're still around.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

And that's in Atlanta.

SPEAKER_04 9:38

It's in Atlanta, but the whole provision was that the store could provide the finances so that I could then, as people came in the store, teach them how to run and tell them how to avoid injury and what to eat and all this stuff. And I've continued that to this day.

SPEAKER_00 9:58

Now, you have worked with a lot of people on your run one run.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Can you explain some of the key people that helped you formulate the method?

SPEAKER_04 10:07

I was asked to teach a course in beginning running out of FSU back in. I guess it was 1974. I opened my store in 73, 74, I was asked to teach the class, 22 in the class. None of them ran, and they were from different walks of life. It was very similar to what our training programs, our gallery training programs are like now. But I really learned as much from them as they learned from me, and how to set up the run-walk run and how to listen for huffing and puffing when it was very subtle, and then how to keep people motivated when they got down. Every one of those first 22 of my students finished either a 5K or 10K, and none of them got injured. And I stayed in touch with them, some of them, for several years. Research on our ancient ancestors indicates that they didn't run more than about 200 yards at a time. It's easy like it was because we can take that break, the whole body can revive itself, can restore any of the weak links that are getting irritated and then be able to keep going and going. So we're really just going back to our roots when we use Run Walk Run.

SPEAKER_01 11:54

You used it to qualify for Boston. How did you do that?

SPEAKER_04 11:58

I when Boston had its problems in 2013 with the bombing, I wanted more than anything else to get back and run it. The first time in 10 years. And I drew off the experience of helping others run fast times, some very fast times, by using Run Walk, Run when a number of them were running non-stop. One guy improved his time 25 minutes in a marathon and broke three hours. And a lot of others who were right on the cusp of breaking three hours, running non-stop. When they used run, walk run. They actually ran faster than three hours. But I started out with longer running segments, like two or three minutes, and found the second didn't work for me at this stage on the run. So I worked my way down for one 30 seconds and walking 15. And it worked like a charm. I used that enough to have complete confidence in it. And indeed, that is what brought me there.

SPEAKER_02 13:11

And what did it feel like to cross that finish line?

SPEAKER_04 13:13

I was I made some mistakes, some rookie mistakes in the marathon, and I was right on the cusp of making it, and I gave it everything I had, and it was so amazingly satisfying to be able to do that under adversity.

SPEAKER_01 13:27

Hallelujah. You talk a lot about mental training, and you provide a lot of resources for runners. Talk a little bit about some of the resources that you offer and ways that people can actually find support from you and from the Galloway programs.

SPEAKER_04 13:44

First of all, in the principles of the program, these are all cognitive tools of having a magic mile to set up pace, and then that pace can then dictate what run-walk-run strategies would work best. And then throughout the program, there are cognitive tools to gain control over everything, pacing and so forth. But at jeffgalloway.com you can find access to all of those tools. We have a massage tool called the buffer, the BFF, that is simply amazing in how it invigorates the muscles. And it's really the best single source of massage that I've ever seen. And of course, you can give it to yourself and get an amazing massage out of it. But we have a wide range of books and coaching platforms. One of them is customized training that our training director, Chris Twiggs, does and conducts it in a marvelous way. And it's uh it's an inexpensive form of coaching. It doesn't have the direct interaction, but you there are chat rooms and stuff like that. So whatever you're interested in, we probably have some version of it at jeffgalloway.com.

SPEAKER_01 14:55

So you have books, you have e-coaching tools, you have race retreats, you have running schools like the one here in Orlando today at the Track Shack. What do you have coming up that you're excited about in the fall as we head into prime running season?

SPEAKER_04 15:12

The culmination of our training programs year is at our race, the Jeff Galloway 13.1 and Barb's 5K. And this year it'll be the 15th through the 17th of December. It's a marvelous weekend. We have Billy Mills, an amazing institutional speaker there, along with a lot of other really amazing people. So if you're really looking for an update weekend on a scenic course, and it actually has uh more downhill than uphill, come to Atlanta and we'd love to see you there.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

As Jeff said, there's more information on JeffGalloway.com. I want to thank you so very much for taking time to talk with us about your run method method and about the resources and how running can be for everybody. Running, walking, the program is just amazing. And I can tell you, if you go to jeffgalloway.com, you'll see the resources, you'll see how it can work for you, whether you're an advanced runner or just a beginner like me. And thank you so much for taking the time to interview with us today. Great job, Amy. This is a wonderful podcast.

Last Minute Challenge Advice

SPEAKER_00 16:25

Here we are with Jeff Galloway. Jeff, thank you so much for taking time to talk with us. We have one question for you. For those of us who are participating in the wine and dine two course challenge, what are some last-minute pieces of advice or some motivational words you have for us? We love them so much.

SPEAKER_04 16:45

First of all, you need to restrain your enthusiasm on the first event. So make it a real easy effort. For most, that means walking. But if you're going to run walk-run, make it more heavy on the walk on the first day. And then the second day, you want to warm up gently. So walk as much as you can during the first three to five miles, and then get into a run-walk-run that works for you. Remembering that the best part about any challenge is the finish. And there's nothing more empowering than passing people at the end. Nothing.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. So thank you so much for the last-minute pieces of advice. We'll have those mantras ready.

Atlanta Race Weekend Highlights

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Yes. Welcome to the fifth anniversary of the Jeff Galloway Half Marathon weekend, including Barb's 5K and Jeff's Half Marathon this Saturday and Sunday. And I'm with the man himself. Jeff, thank you so much for talking with us about this happy anniversary.

SPEAKER_04 17:51

Thank you. It's a big one for us, and we have a huge medal. So I'm really looking forward to uh presenting it to you at the end after you and Dana, of course, have had your ceremony too.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

And you will stay at the end of the half marathon until every last runner has an opportunity to get that from you, right?

SPEAKER_04 18:10

Absolutely. I'm looking forward to it. And to see the looks on people's faces, it's a joy.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

It is. It's an amazing race. And do you have any special memories from the last five years that come to mind when you're thinking about all that you've done for the running community with this race?

SPEAKER_04 18:28

The most significant memory has happened a number of times every single year, and that is the exhilaration that people have when they did not think they could do a half marathon. And they come across that finish line, and everything comes together at once. You can see it on their faces. And then I get the feedback as the months and the years go by about how it's changed their life in so many positive ways.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Okay, now for those of our viewers on the Runny and Drink podcast that have not been to your weekend, can we talk a little bit about that course?

SPEAKER_00 19:07

Can we go over your scope and give us a little bit of a journey of what we're gonna see?

SPEAKER_04 19:13

We we start at the highest elevation on the course, which obviously is a very good thing because everything goes down from there, which means that there's more downhill than up. There is a significant difference in elevation change between the start and the finish in the park. I'm estimating it to be about over 200 feet in elevation change, so it's quite a bit. Now we do have hills on the course, but there are a lot more downhills than uphills.

SPEAKER_03 19:42

Which is good.

SPEAKER_04 19:42

And it's just a beautiful course. You go right by the Margaret Mitchell House and the Martin Luther King Center, you make a turn right there. You head out on Freedom Parkway to the Jimmy Carter Library, and come right on back to our belt line, which is a rail trail, with a beautiful vista of the whole downtown and midtown area.

SPEAKER_01 20:05

Nice and flat part of the course, too.

SPEAKER_04 20:06

It is, and gently downhill for quite a ways. Then there's a really beautiful loop around Virginia Highlands, which is one of our best neighborhoods in the whole area of lands. Just really interesting houses. You make a little loop right here before you head to the park. You have a loop around the park, and then the last two miles are in the park the whole way. Beautiful course, and there aren't any significant hills. Matter of fact, once you reach the 10-mile mark, you're pretty much over the significant hills. It's really downhill and then a few general rollers, and then to the finish lines.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

Where you are, where you are, and the whole race weekend, it supports several different organizations, but the Conservancy is one of them.

SPEAKER_04 20:55

Our major beneficiary for all five years has been the Piedmont Park Conservancy. You see, the cleanup and the caretaking of the park is not funded by the city, even though it's a city park. So the Piedmont Park Conservancy has stepped up and they do an amazing job. And I can testify from having run through this park for several years before the Conservancy took over. There's really night and day. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Jeff, thank you for taking us through the course. Thank you for the last five amazing years of this race and for all you do for the running community. We love you as our running coach and friend, and we can't thank you enough, and we can't wait to get out there and see you at the finish line.

SPEAKER_04 21:44

Then we need to do that. So I'll see you tomorrow and then on Sunday morning too.

Recovery Between Back To Back Races

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Definitely. Thank you. I have just gotten to have lunch with one of my mentors and my heroes, and my e-coach, Jeff Galloway. Jeff. We talked about so much. I have been on this weight loss journey where we've lost close to 80 pounds. Congratulations, fabulous. And we've been e-coaching together for many years, and we just started this new cycle. It's given me some shorter intervals to try. And I have achieved the last long run beyond the distance for Sunday. What words of invite do you have for me and for our fellow runners on this entire hour?

SPEAKER_04 22:40

When you have a challenge, in other words, two different events, you just want to be as gentle on yourself on the first one as you possibly can. If you spend even a little bit too much based on the weather on that first day, which a lot of people do, they feel so good on that first one, and they take off, and then second day, guess what happens? The resources are there, so. Always better to err on the side of being more conservative than you ever think. The bottom line, in most races today, when there's a a race on Saturday and one on Sunday, you can pretty much walk the first one in most of and that is my general advice. Oh, good. And then is there anything special we should do for recovery in between the two? Absolutely. The three things that work best are first of all having a reloading meal right after. And that would be within 30 minutes. So you want to have, if it's a 10K, for example, you would want to have about uh 150 to 200 calories of simple carbs. And if you had something like the Endurox R4, that has a little bit of protein and has really been shown to reload the muscle glycogen better than anything else. But you only need no more than 200 calories of that. And then the thing that I failed to mention is compression sleeves during the 10K and after the 10K. Like wearing them? All day and all night.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 24:21

Now that sleeves you don't have to put sock on them.

SPEAKER_01 24:25

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 24:25

Sometimes the sock actually puts pressure on the foot in certain places. But that's individual. And avoid that. Yeah, you have some work. So then the final item would be a soak within four hours of finishing that first course. A soak of 15 minutes in a cool tub of water, 78 degrees or cool.

SPEAKER_02 24:51

And those things you think we had, I had the knee surgery in 2014, and that's just we have issues that flare up from time to time, and those things, that's great advice to mitigate that.

SPEAKER_04 25:05

Prevention is always better than trying to deal with uh during the race.

SPEAKER_01 25:10

Your advice is so key to keep the stride length short, yes, and to insert more walk rates.

SPEAKER_04 25:17

You need to and change it up, yeah. If if something's not working right, at least temporarily, take an extended walk of three to five minutes to restat everything.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Look, we cannot thank you enough for taking the time to eat with us, to talk with us, to get our minds right for those positive launchers and that the last-minute advice, and for all that you do, for everyone, all the runners that you lived changed and touched, especially for me. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_04 25:54

It's my privilege to help people, but you and Dana and I have become close friends over the years, and I'm there for you. You know them. And so whenever there's a little ripple on the pond, I'm there to try to settle it down a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 26:14

I encourage you to go to jeffgalloway.com and find the amazing resources that make it possible to enjoy, as you say, every endorphine.

SPEAKER_04 26:25

So get out there and empower yourselves.

SPEAKER_00 26:30

We are here at the Run Disney Race Expo for the 2019 Wine and Dine Half Marathon weekend, and look who we caught up with. It's our coach, it's America's coach, Olympia Jeff Galloway. Thank you for talking with us.

SPEAKER_04 26:45

Oh, Amy, great to be here.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

We need your advice. We are here running the two-course challenge, and it's a 10K on Saturday and a half on Sunday.

SPEAKER_01 26:56

We know you know that, but just in case anybody doesn't know what that is here, what advice do you have for us as we head into this challenge?

SPEAKER_04 27:04

The more drummed you are on yourself on the 10K, the more resources you'll have in the half marathon. So walking most of the 10K is the safest thing to do. And if you have any balloon ladies coming up on you, then you do a little bit of running and walking towards the end. But in fact, there are very few people that are swept in the 10K. So take it super easy. So we're pretty safe there.

SPEAKER_01 27:33

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 27:33

Yes. And then, depending on how you feel on half marathon day, you can be gentle during the first half of that. And then that would depend on which run-walk run is gentle for you.

SPEAKER_00 27:46

And do you have any nutritional or refueling and rest steps between the two races?

SPEAKER_04 27:52

Yeah, that's very appropriate. First of all, compression sleeves during the first race, during the afternoon, and even sleeping in the compression has been a good recovery mode. Okay. Soaking your legs in a cool tub of water within three hours after your tent pills.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

So it doesn't have to be an iced path?

SPEAKER_04 28:14

No, it doesn't have to be this needs to be cool water tap. Okay. About 78 degrees of water. And then walk around, and you can definitely go to parks and stuff, but you don't want to walk extraordinary amounts. Don't overtext back. And then refuel, you want to make sure within 30 minutes that you have a snack that has about 150 and 200 calories in it. Mostly just sugar and not fat. And then enough so that you are restoring your energy level throughout the rest of the day. But don't overeat.

SPEAKER_02 28:56

Don't overeat. Don't overdo it.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

Same food and wine for the post half marathon celebration. Right? Yes.

SPEAKER_02 29:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:04

That is all incredible advice. We will take it to heart and share it with anybody who might be considering the challenge next year.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

But you also have something very exciting coming up in the next few weeks and months. Tell us about what you have coming.

SPEAKER_04 29:21

We've got the Jeff Galloway, Barb Galloway weekend in Atlanta. One of our favorites. And it's just beautiful force. Actually, of a fast course, because the starting elevation is a lot higher than the finish. But it goes past the market Mitchell House, the Jimmy Carter Library, the Martin Luther Queen Center, a lot of historical aspects of Atlantic. Beautiful. And it's fun. We have Galloway face groups. And I am at the finish line until the last person finishes. And we can attest to that here. Yeah, and I'm pleased to do it. And the other thing is this year, first time we have a relay. So if you want to bring family members or friends into this, we have a relay. And one of the lakes is only about two months. So when you can really get someone that's new to running.

SPEAKER_00 30:11

Excited and shorter distance. And how can people find out more about this upcoming race and any future races that you have?

SPEAKER_04 30:20

You can either go to jeffgalloway.com and we have the logos up on the front page. Or you can go to JeffGalloway131.com.

SPEAKER_02 30:30

Okay, we will link to that. And thank you so much for all the advice you always give us and that we share with our fellow Run Cationers. It's amazing to have you as a friend of the Run and Drink Podcast. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_04 30:44

Well, I'm honored to help, and you are doing a great job with your podcast. So keep your good work.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

We certainly welcome Jeff, can I get you to say hi?

SPEAKER_03 30:58

I'm Jeff Galloway and you're listening to the Run Eat Drink podcast? Yes.

SPEAKER_04 31:05

Hi, I'm Jeff Galloway, and you're listening to the Run, Eat, Drink Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 31:11

Are we going? Yeah. Hi, Amy! We're with your favorite person ever.

SPEAKER_04 31:16

Amy, I'm sorry that you're not here. You will be back. And you just have to realize that this thing will heal. So back off, stay below the threshold, and you're gonna be back running with us. We look forward to that.

unknown 31:31

Yay!

SPEAKER_01 31:32

Bye, Amy Lynn! For all that you do for everyone, all the runners that your lives have changed and touched, especially for me. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_04 31:45

It's my privilege to help people, but you and Dana and I have become close friends over the years. I'm there for you. You know them. And so whenever there's a little ripple on the pond, I'm there to try to settle it down a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 32:04

Oh I encourage you to go to jeffgalloway.com and find the amazing resources that make it possible to enjoy, as you say, every endorphin.

SPEAKER_04 32:16

So get out there and empower yourself.

Final Thoughts And Request

SPEAKER_01 32:20

That's a wrap. Stay tuned for more accomplishing, exploring, and indulging next week. Before we go, we just want to take one more moment to ask again anybody in the Renication Nation please call or write in and tell us about the impact that Jeff Galloway has had on your life.