How ya'll doing? Hope you enjoyed last week's workout and feeling faster by the week. The reason I didn't post earlier in the week is because this week's workout is a little different. Instead of talking about a true speed workout, this week I'm talking about the importance of the long run.
What is it: the concept of having a long run inserted in runners' weekly schedule is not novel. In fact pretty much every single program you will ever look up includes a weekly long run whether you are training track and field all the way to marathons and ultra marathons. The long run is quite simply exactly what it sounds like, it's a longer run (crazy eh). Now there is quite a bit of variance in the distance of the long run, but basically it should be a minimum of 90 minutes to actually get any effect, but its distance should not account for more than 25-30% of your weekly mileage. So if your a 80 mile (130 km) a week runner your long run should't be more than 20 miles (32 km); if only a 40 mile/week runner (65 km) no more than 10 miles (16 km). In terms of scheduling long runs or progressing them it really all depends on your goal race that your training for. For instance if your a 5 km runner the long run's purpose is basically to increase your cardiovascular efficiency as well as to condition and strengthen muscles and tendons to be able to withstand the pounding your body takes during gruelling workouts on the track. In contrast, if your a marathon runner the long run is meant more to prepare your body physically and mentally to be able to withstand the distance of the race. So it will help increase your muscle and liver glycogen storage to be able to last longer in race essentially before bonking, and also to prepare you mentally to be able to stay focused for a sustained period of time. In that sense, since a long run for a track runner or shorter distance runner, 5-10k races, is really only meant to improve your ability to withstand your training on the track or fast road workouts it really doesn't have to be progressed. You may simply insert a 90-120 minute run into your weekly schedule every week. In comparison, a half marathon/marathon runner will work to progress their long run gradually working your way closer and closer to the total distance of the race. Now for progression, this really depends on your level of experience and abilities. For some odd reason runners have this thought ingrained in their minds that for a marathon the goal is to get the long run up to 20 miles (or 32 km) about a month out from their race, although I believe this is nonsense. The long run can be however long you want it to be, 20 miles is not like this magical number where if you make it to there your set to go for 26.2. In fact, I think this is totally inaccurate since based on my own experience in marathons, and other marathoners that I've talked to it's at about 37-38 km where my legs start to shake and my sense of time and place starts to get distorted. Usually at 32 k I kind of feel decently fresh (of course I'm getting tired but still I can still feel my legs, and I feel in control). So why not take it a little further. Really it's up to you, if your experienced give a bit longer of a run a go in the range of 35-36. When gearing up for 2013 Scotiabank I did the following progression a 32k, 32k, 34, 37, 38, 38, 40, 40, 41, 43 (the 43 was done in 2:45 btw), 36, 32, and then smoked a 2:34 42.2 marathon and actually felt pretty decent start to finish which I attribute 100% to being used to doing the long long distance long runs, and being used to being out for that long.
How Fast: Okay well you thought the distance of the long run had a lot of variety, well the pace and structure has even more. Basically, long runs used to be only though of as these LSD runs (long slow distance runs) where you trotted along at a conversational pace. But the long run can be so much more. You can do progression type long runs starting out nice and easy pace and getting faster and faster throughout eventually finishing at or just under marathon pace which helps prepare you to be able to run at that goal speed on tired legs and will simulate the race more closely. I did one long run in 2014 where I started at one pace for the first kilometre and then played a game for the next 35k of the run trying to just beat the previous kilometre's time. It actually made it pretty fun/strategic because I wouldn't want to beat the previous kilometre by too much so say 4:15 to 4:01, because that would mean the next would need to be faster than 4:01 and so on, which would basically start getting too fast too quick. On the other side I wouldn't want to be too too close to the last kilometre time because I gave myself a penalty kilometre if the previous kilometre's time was not beaten having to run the next kilometre under marathon pace. Aww those were fun times.
After progression long runs, there are "workout long runs" where you basically embed interval workouts into the long run and this could really be any workout from fartleks to tempo runs. For example one long run I did last year, I ran the first 30 minutes easy, then for the next 30 minutes alternated running 1 min hard at half marathon pace, 1 min easy (so 15 total hard minutes), then ran easy again for 30 minutes then another set of 1 min hard/1 min easy for 30 minutes, then finished with 30 minutes easy. I've also found throwing a tempo run into the long run is great practice, for instance training for 2013 Scotiabank one of the 38 k ones in there I did a 5 mile (8k) tempo run to the finish which again helps learning the feeling of running hard on tired legs.
In Summary the long run is an essential part of any runners program whether running 3000m to the marathon. And for me for example, it is always my favourite part of any build. I look forward to it every week. My biggest word of advice I can give you for your long run is do not think of one particular long run like the so called golden 32 km mark as the difference maker between a good race and bad. A good race comes from a collection of long runs mixed in with great speed workouts to make a great race. So with that the long run shouldn't take away from your weekly speed workout, if so your either going to far on it, or going to hard. Long runs as I've explained are incredibly flexible on how fast and how far, so you don't have to think I need to do exactly "X" distance or whatever. Again your performance on race day is the culmination of months and months of training. Until next time keep piling on the training.
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