What run-walk is
Run-walk alternates short running intervals with brief walking breaks. It lowers the impact load of every workout while still building cardio fitness — the standard recommendation for newer runners and a favourite of Jeff Galloway's coaching method. Pheidi applies it automatically to beginner plans and lets you customize the ratio in Settings.
Which workouts use it
Only easy aerobic workouts get run-walk intervals:
- Easy Run
- Long Run
- Medium-Long Run
Quality sessions (tempo, intervals, hills, fartlek, race pace) and recovery runs are never broken into run-walk — those are short enough or specific enough that intervals would change the training stimulus.
Who gets run-walk
Run-walk is applied automatically when your experience level is set to Beginner. Intermediate and Advanced plans run continuously and do not use run-walk intervals. Custom run/walk minutes in Settings only take effect on plans where run-walk is applied — set them at Beginner level to override the phase defaults below.
Default ratios by phase
As you progress through your plan, the run interval grows so you spend more of each workout running and less walking. The walk break stays fixed at one minute.
| Phase | Run | Walk |
|---|---|---|
| Base | 4 min | 1 min |
| Build | 6 min | 1 min |
| Peak | 8 min | 1 min |
| Taper | 8 min | 1 min |
Customizing the ratio
At Beginner level you can override the run and walk minutes in Settings. The custom ratio applies to every eligible workout in your plan — Pheidi stops using the phase-based defaults once you set values.
- Run minutes: 1–30
- Walk minutes: 1–10
Leaving either field empty restores the phase-based defaults above.
How it shows up
Run-walk workouts display the ratio in the workout title so you always know what's coming, for example:
Easy Run — 3.0 mi · Run 4min / Walk 1minThe same ratio is honoured in the calendar export (.ics events) and the Garmin watch export (.fit files) — your watch beeps at each transition. See Watch Export for details.
Run-walk intervals live inside the Pheidi app — sign in to try them.
See also
- How Training Plan Generation Works Periodization, phase splits, and where run-walk fits into the build-up.
- How Watch Export Works How run-walk intervals get encoded into Garmin FIT files.
- How Mileage Progression Works Volume-aware progression rates for beginners and beyond.