RTTC #219 How to Do Intervals in a Crowded Race Environment

In this episode of Running to the Castle, Dr. Ali answers a listener question about how to manage run/walk intervals in crowded runDisney race environments, especially when dodging other runners makes the experience frustrating instead of fun. 

She explains how your interval choice impacts your strategy, and offers practical solutions like syncing with a pace group or nearby runners using similar intervals, temporarily walking through congested areas, and taking advantage of open stretches to run. 

Dr. Ali also introduces the idea of using speed workout strategies like 30-20-10 intervals or progression runs to safely “break away” from the crowd and create space, emphasizing that sometimes the smartest move is to adapt rather than force your plan in tight conditions. 

The episode reinforces that crowded races require flexibility, awareness, and practice, not perfection.

Episodes Referenced: Episode 214 with Christina

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Transcript

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Hey, how's it going? Today I'm talking about how to do intervals in a crowded race environment. This is Running to the Castle, a podcast for injury-prone Run Disney runners on a journey to running magical miles. Join me, Dr. Alley, as I share the secrets I've gathered as a runner, doctor of physical therapy, and coach. You'll learn the exact ways I get my clients to the castle strong without feeling broken or held together with KT tape as they cross the finish line. I got this question via my hosting site for my podcast. So thank you so much for asking this question. And this listener says, Dr. Allie, I heard you on Rise and Run and came over to your channel. Thank you so much. You have a ton of incredible topics to listen to. I ran a wine and dine 10K for my first run Disney and did not have a great experience. Can you talk about how to do intervals in a crowded race environment? Trying to run on the left and walk on the right while dodging people was super frustrating and not enjoyable. Okay. Yes, it can be incredibly hard to do your run walk intervals in a crowded race environment. So there are a couple of things that come to mind when we're when I'm giving advice on how to do the runwalk intervals. So one of the first questions is what are your run walk intervals? Are they 3030? Are they 1530, 4545, longer than that, shorter than that? What are they? So that's one thing to keep in mind. And the reason that's important is because what your intervals are, 30-30, I use that as an example a lot because I'd say 98% of the runners who come to me are using that when they come to me. Doesn't mean they use it ongoing. I'd say that's the most common run-walk interval. So if you're using 30-30, one of the easiest ways is go find a pace group. Hopefully the pace that you want to do is near you in your corral. Even if it's not, you could even just get with them for a little bit because they're in such a large group and they are all doing the same run-walk intervals. They typically are doing 30-30 at the back of the corrals. Might be different further up. I don't know. I haven't been there. And so you could at least stay with them for a little bit of time. So you know everybody is running and everybody is walking at the same time. Okay. So that's one thing. If you're doing, like I said, the 30-30 interval or whatever interval you do, is the pace group that also does that interval near you. And I should note, following like Jeff Galloway's method of run, walk, run, he recommends doing a specific interval based on what your estimated finish time is going to be, based on your magic mile. I don't know all the ins and outs of it. I don't necessarily follow that, but I do know that the pace groups do follow that. So if they are in your corral, then you, and you were placed there, you didn't, you know, choose to drop back to different corrals, then you're likely finishing in a time similar to them. So that could give you a clue as to what intervals you should be running based on that recommendation. Again, I don't go by that. I help my runners figure out the run-walk intervals that they should do that best fit their needs in their body and how they are training and want to run and everything like that. But that's something to keep in mind. Okay. So you could run with a pace group. So that's one way of doing it. Another way of doing it is see if there's somebody else running similar intervals to you and just get on their intervals with them. And you can stay behind them or go in front of them. But if you line up your intervals with them, then a couple of you, at least two of you, are doing the same run-walk intervals. So at least you won't have somebody, if let's say they're in front of you, suddenly stopping in front of you, right? So um you at least would be stopping at the same time. So it didn't really matter. And if they're going the same pace as you, then you kind of just like cruise along and and go with them, make a friend, right? So those are some options on just based on what pace you're running and what intervals you're doing. Another way to do your run-walk intervals is if it is super crowded, this doesn't exactly answer your question. This is my recommendation, though. If it is super crowded, just walk. Just walk for a little bit. It's not worth the frustration. It's not worth the risk of somebody getting hurt, whether that be you or another runner. And just wait it out for a little bit. You know, there are tight spaces, you know, some of the behind the scenes area, some of the in the park area where it's just a little bit tighter. Those may be times that you're just walking. Other times that you may be walking and just kind of forego your run walk intervals are times that other runners are going to be slower. So uphill or on slipper, slippery surfaces. And you may just need to commit to just walking those. And that's okay. The best time to do your run walk intervals is on the long highway miles. Now, of course, if you're doing a 10K, you don't have those long highway miles. So what you can do instead is walk during those crowded, crowded spots. And then when it opens up just a little bit, run fast during your intervals or skip your intervals for just a little bit of time and run maybe not super fast, but just stay running for a short period of time to just get through that section. The easiest way to have space running at Run Disney is to find your chance to make a break for it. And one of the things that I do with my runners is I have four different types of speed workouts. Now, the main goal for speed workouts in general, not any individual one, but the main goal of speed workouts is to get you faster so that you can, you know, have a bigger buffer between you and the balloon ladies, have more time for character stops, maybe get a proof of time so that you start in a higher up corral so you have more time to wait in line at character stops, right? Like that's what I'm going to run Disney for. I love the magic of it all. I love the just the environment, the community. And I like to get character stops. So Springtime Surprise, this um couple of weeks ago, I ran from character to character for the 10K. And I decided there while I was there, like which ones I wanted to stay for and which ones I didn't. And some of them were because, oh, I see them so often or I know they're on the course a lot. I'm not going to stay today. Other ones that I either haven't seen on the course before or don't really see in the park, I was like, oh yeah, I'm I'm waiting for you. And so that's how I made my decision. And, you know, speed workouts in general are there to help you do that, right? But the individual speed workouts that I have my runners do, that I do myself, are for specific situations like this. If you go back and listen to Christina's podcast interview um a couple of weeks ago from her princess half marathon weekend, she talked about specific instances where she was like, oh my God, I practiced for this. This is exactly what I was doing during X workout. This is exactly what I was doing during my Hills run. This is exactly what I was doing during my 30 2010. This is exactly what my progression run was for. She gave very specific instances. So you could go back and listen to that. I'll link it in the in the show notes in the description. But that's where some of the speed workouts that I have my runners do come from. As an example, the 30-2010. This is a great example of how to be able to get by some slower runners. Maybe they're doing four across, which you're not supposed to do, but it happens, right? And we just, we just want to get around these people for whatever reason. 30 2010 is a great speed workout to practice that. It's 30 seconds of jogging, 20 seconds of running, and 10 seconds of sprinting. And we could just reverse that. And we do 20 seconds of running, 10 seconds of sprinting, and 30 seconds of jogging. That's what you can do to get around these people. It helps you practice instead of just doing two set intervals, right? Two set paces where it's I'm running at this pace for 30 seconds and I'm walking at this pace for 30 seconds. Again, assuming you use 30, 30 run walk intervals, but the 20 seconds of running, that's a solid clip. And then 10 seconds of sprinting, that's all out. And then you bring it back down to a jog or a walk. And so then it's still your 30-30 run walk interval, but it's not the same pace, right? It's two separate paces during the first 30 seconds. So now you're like trotting along, you're trying to get around them and realize, oh, I'm not going quite fast enough. Now I'm just going to sprint for 10 seconds. And you stay off to the left and you sprint for 10 seconds. And then you slow it down to a jog or a walk. But if you slow it down to a jog, you can stay on that left-hand side, right? And you do that for, you know, two rounds of intervals, maybe three rounds for of intervals. And maybe there's a big open space. And so now you have more room to maneuver and not have to manage your run-walk intervals around anybody else. Right. Because I'm noticing that with the amount of time that happens between waves to set waves off, it allows for throughout your race, there are just gaps where it's not nobody, but there are these gaps where it is, it's much more open. And then when you get to that open space, you can kind of do what you want. Now, of course, you still should maintain runners on the left, walkers on the right, but you can only control you. And I can guarantee you, not everybody else is following the rules. Very unfortunate, but that's just the way it is. And so if you are doing super short run-walk intervals, 15 seconds, 15 seconds, as an example, you may just hover around the center. Now, of course, be careful because sometimes there's the elevated bump for the lights, um, not the lights, but the reflectors on the roadway and things like that. So you have to be careful of that. But you may just kind of hover around the middle. So then you go slightly to the left when you run and slightly to the right when you walk, but being all the way to the left doesn't make sense because then you have to get all the way to the right. And it just doesn't really make sense. And so you kind of just hover in the middle. But the just the best way I have found is trot along for a little bit of time. And then when you see an opening, you take it. Like, have if you've ever watched cycling, like Tour de France or something like that, like everybody's in the Peloton, which is that big group of cyclists. I cannot believe I am giving a cycling reference right now. Royal is the cycling fan, and I have watched Tour de France so many years that this is now an example I am giving. But you have all of those riders in the Peloton, and they actually it's strategic because you can have drag and not have to cycle as hard. You know, the people in the front are doing most of the work and they're just like rotating through. And then at one point, one person makes a breakaway and it's a big deal, right? But they make a breakaway and they get away from the Peloton. Think of it like that for you. Stay in the group for a little bit of time. And then when you see an opening, take it. And you can utilize what you've practiced with 302010 to get you there. Or you can utilize what you've practiced with the progression run, where you're progressively going faster and faster each time you run to get out of that grouping to give yourself some more space. And then you don't have to worry about other people who are stopping. You don't have to get worry about getting around large groups because there will be segments where or sections where there's just not as many people. One last thing to do that's not a great recommendation, but it is a possibility. And so I want to put forth different possibilities. You start off just flat out running during when when your wave goes. So then you are ahead of all of the, you are ahead of all of those people, but you haven't hit the next group of people yet. And so you may just start your race away from everybody else first. So you're less likely to have to dive into that. But with the nature of Run Disney and so many runners using run walk intervals, it is it is very challenging when you are in the crowd. And not everybody raises their hand when they're gonna stop. Not everybody looks around. Um, some people cut across very suddenly when they see characters. Like I feel like sometimes people, like, of course, yes, sometimes people just aren't paying attention, but also sometimes just like the excitement of it, you like kind of forget, oh, I like there are people around me. I need to be aware of them because you saw some entertainment that you want to go look at, or you saw some character that you want to go look at. And you just get excited, or you see the bathroom, like a real bathroom instead of the porta potties, and you're like, oh, now's my time. Better run over and get there. And and you kind of forget, or they forget. But if you can break away from the group utilizing those different speed workout strategies, which is exactly why those are the speed workouts I recommend because they work very well with run walk intervals. And then throughout the race, you will be utilizing them. And so then you've had lots and lots of practice for it. And so then you can just break away from the crowd and have just fewer bodies to have to deal with around. I hope that was helpful and thank you so much for asking the question.