Broken Endurance Blog #1: Why So Many Runners Misunderstand It
Today’s post is the first installment of the Broken Endurance blog series brought to you by renowned running coach Bobby McGee, who has spent decades refining the art of running efficiency, working with some of the world’s best athletes—including Gwen Jorgensen (Rio 2016 Triathlon Gold), Flora Duffy (Tokyo 2020 Triathlon Gold), and Ben Kanute. His expertise spans from triathlon champions to marathon Olympians, track athletes, and even race walkers.
Broken Endurance is not new. It is not a hack. It is not a shortcut. It is, however, one of the most misunderstood strategies in endurance running.
Most runners know it as the Run/Walk/Run method, or “Jeffing,” pioneered by the late Olympian, coach, and marathoner Jeff Galloway. That alone should make people pause. This is not a beginner’s crutch. It is a legitimate performance strategy.
What Broken Endurance actually is
The principle is simple: planned, proactive walk breaks inserted from the very beginning of a run or race.
Not walking because you are tired.
Not walking because you blew up.
Walking so fatigue does not accumulate unnecessarily in the first place.
That is the key distinction.
Broken Endurance is not surrender. It is structure. It is an intentional way of managing the cost of a run before that cost starts to spiral.
Why so many runners resist it
Most resistance to Broken Endurance is not physiological. It is psychological.
Ego. Period.
You still hear things like, “At least I ran the whole way,” or “This is a running race.” But racing is not about purity. It is about getting from point A to point B as effectively as possible under your own steam. The clock does not reward stubbornness. It rewards execution.
Broken Endurance challenges the old idea that endurance is mainly a test of toughness. It reframes it as fatigue management. And for many runners, that is uncomfortable because it asks them to let go of appearances and focus on outcomes.
Why this matters more than most runners think
The biggest reason Broken Endurance matters is not just race day. It is what it allows you to do consistently in training.
When fatigue is managed better, recovery improves. When recovery improves, frequency becomes more sustainable. And frequency, quietly over time, is one of the biggest drivers of endurance development.
This is also where Stryd can begin to shift the conversation.
Even early on, runners using Stryd often start to see that the “feel” of smarter pacing and better fatigue control is not imaginary. The data can reveal a more stable effort, less unnecessary drift, and a session that costs less than continuous running at a similar overall outcome. In other words, Broken Endurance is not just a mindset shift. It is something you can often validate.
A better way to think about endurance
Broken Endurance asks a simple question: what if the smartest way to improve endurance is not to hold on until things fall apart, but to prevent unnecessary breakdown in the first place?
That is not running less. It is running smarter.
And once you see it clearly, it becomes very hard to unsee.
Takeaway: Broken Endurance is not “giving in.” It is a deliberate strategy to manage fatigue before it manages you.
