‘No pain, no gain’ is the old saying. Most of us think of this quote in terms of fast, intense workouts. Long run is a different pain, one that should have its own place on your running schedule.
What is a long run?
Long runs are your workouts that are at least 90 minutes long and usually done only once per week. It’s meant to be 20-25% of your weekly mileage (but if you’re training for a marathon and need to do a 20-miler, then that would mean you should do five runs of 12 miles each, so take this with a grain of salt). There is also a max of what’s a good idea – I found this particularly useful table at Strength Running:
And yes, it shows that other than marathon+ distances, you should run further than what you are racing.
You should be doing them weekly (I can’t due to personal commitments, but I think that after doing it for many years and no lofty ambitions, I can get away with every other Sunday). Like all other workouts, you can vary the intensity, making some of them base, some tempo and others down right fartlek. It may also be fun to mix things up a bit and run somewhere else.
Benefits of a long run
- Improved endurance – duh… – More mitochondria and capillaries for the win!
- Teaches your body to burn fat for fuel – the more practice you have with this, the better you are at avoiding hitting the wall. In shorter distances most people don’t get to that point, but we all make occasional diet mistakes
- Mental toughness – it takes some… But when you practice resilience regularly, it becomes part of your nature
- Makes your running more efficient – you have to fix your form! When you run just a couple of miles, you can wave your hands like you’re drowning. You can have an awkward stride. With every mile you run though, chances of feeling it increase. And in a way, that’s a good thing. You get a chance to find problem areas and fix them
- Stronger muscles, bones and tendons – medical fact!
- Test your clothes (have you ever chafed?), shoes, nutrition and hydration – the longer you are out there, the more time you have to find our you’re doing something stupid. Give yourself a chance to check before the big day
- Easier way to go site-seeing – when you go for a longer run in the morning, you can scout out the neighborhood, so you know where you want to go and what do you want to see later in the day!
- You can have that extra slice of cake now! 😜
How to make the most of it?
- Build up to your desired mileage gradually (more on this here), so you don’t hurt yourself or kill your joy of running
- Keep your pace reasonable – this is not the time to rush through your training (unless your coach told you to kick it up a notch)
- Make sure you do them regularly – you don’t want to lose all that hard-earned fitness because you skipped too many!
- Eat right – long runs may lead to not needing to be quite as diligent about carb loading, but make sure you have fuel to burn on your long runs
- Help your brain cope – as you do these runs more often, you will find ways that work best for you. Maybe it’s a running buddy? Favorite playlist tailored just right, so you get that correct song on a miserable uphill? Or some podcasts that distract you from the pain?
- Recovery – you do need some after a long run!
Are you ready for the new long run season? I hope so! I will see you on the roads!