“The long run puts the tiger in the cat,” coaching legend Bill Squires once said. Regular long runs have great payoffs for all runners, regardless of your race plans.
miles at half marathon pace mitochondria and capillaries, to help transport more oxygen-rich red blood cells. You’ll become more efficient at burning fat, to help you hold a good pace for longer without bonking. You’ll become resistant to mechanical fatigue, to help you run with good form (and therefore more efficiently) even as you tire. And you’ll get mentally tougher.
All of these benefits accrue when you do long runs at a conversational pace. But you can get an extra boost in your fitness by occasionally incorporating harder segments into your long runs. Squires had his runners, including Boston Marathon champs Bill Rodgers and Greg Meyer, do fartleks, hill repeats, and tempo runs Your leg muscles will gain more.
CA Notice at Collection Amy Cragg miles at marathon pace Mark Coogan of New Balance Boston continue the practice, and not just with marathoners. “It’s popular with lots of people partly because with modern shoes they’re not as beat up as in the old days,” Coogan says. “The shoes aid recovery as well as make you run faster with less effort.”
Below we’ll look at some long run variations that Cragg and Coogan recommend, depending on your target race distance. Four big-picture things to remember before trying long runs with a twist:
- First, you should be able to cover the distance comfortably before adding intensity to a long run, regardless of its length. Even better would be having recently covered the distance twice without undue duress. Example: If you haven’t run 16 miles in your marathon training comfortably, don’t add anything new until that’s accomplished.
- Second, half marathoners and marathoners should bear in mind the “comfortably” part above. These long-run variations are for runners trying to run significantly faster in a half marathon or marathon than their normal training pace. A good rule of thumb is that your conversational long run pace should be about 10 percent to 20 percent slower per mile than your half marathon or marathon race pace goal. For example, if you’re aiming to run 8:00 per mile in a half marathon, your normal long run pace should be about 8:48 to 9:36 per mile.
- Third, allow an extra easy day before and after these harder long runs beyond what you usually do around long runs. This rejiggering should be easy to accomplish because in weeks when you do a workout within a long run, you should skip one of your regular hard sessions.
- Download Your Training Plan super shoes or light-but-highly-cushioned trainers should help you run faster during the sessions and recover more quickly after.
The examples below use typical long-run distances for runners aiming to race a given distance as fast as possible—20 miles for marathoners, 16 miles for half marathoners, 12 miles for 5K/10K runners, and 10 miles for milers. Adjust the sessions accordingly if your long runs are shorter or longer than the examples.
Long Run Variations for Marathoners
“There is nothing you can do to simulate race scenarios quite like a long run workout,” Cragg says. That’s why you’d be hard-pressed to find a top marathoner who does all of their long runs as what used to be called “long slow distance” Your leg muscles will gain more ldquo;The long run puts the tiger in the cat,&rdquo.
The most obvious and directly applicable tweak is to include some miles at your marathon race pace. These runs can start with two to three shorter segments at race pace and progress to one sustained block at marathon pace. Try to schedule your longest bout at marathon pace for three to four weeks before your marathon. If possible, do these runs over terrain similar to that of your marathon.
Note that in the examples below, much of the race-pace work occurs toward the end of the long run. This is great practice for bearing down as you get increasingly fatigued physically and mentally.
→ Variation #1
- 5 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 5 once said. Regular long runs have great payoffs for all runners, regardless of your race plans
- 5 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 5 once said. Regular long runs have great payoffs for all runners, regardless of your race plans
→ Variation #2
- 3-4 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 6-7 once said. Regular long runs have great payoffs for all runners, regardless of your race plans
- 3-4 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 6-7 once said. Regular long runs have great payoffs for all runners, regardless of your race plans
→ Variation #3
- 3 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 6 once said. Regular long runs have great payoffs for all runners, regardless of your race plans
- 2 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 4 once said. Regular long runs have great payoffs for all runners, regardless of your race plans
- 2 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 3 once said. Regular long runs have great payoffs for all runners, regardless of your race plans
→ Variation #4
- 7-10 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 10-13 once said. Regular long runs have great payoffs for all runners, regardless of your race plans
Long Run Variations for Half Marathoners
Half marathoners also benefit greatly from blocks of race-pace work within their long run. As with the marathon examples above, progress by including longer bouts at race pace. The hardest session below is best done three to four weeks before your race.
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- 3 coaching legend Bill Squires
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- 2 coaching legend Bill Squires
→ Variation #2
- 3 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 3 Fourth, as Coogan notes, doing these harder long runs in
- 2 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 3 Fourth, as Coogan notes, doing these harder long runs in
- 2 coaching legend Bill Squires
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→ Variation #3
- 5 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 4 Fourth, as Coogan notes, doing these harder long runs in
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- 4 Fourth, as Coogan notes, doing these harder long runs in
- 2 coaching legend Bill Squires
→ Variation #4
Another option is built on the idea that the best workout is a race. In this case, that means a tune-up race of 8K or 10K that you bookend with mileage.
- 2 of Puma Elite and
- 8miles at marathon pace
- 6 to 9 miles cooldown
Long Run Variation for 5K/10K Runners
The idea here is to do a time-based workout in the middle of your long run. Aim to hit 5K race pace on the hard segments; focus on the proper intensity rather than precise splits, in part because you might encounter uphills and downhills.
Doing the final part of the session at your normal long run pace is also important. “Get back to good clean running afterward,” Cragg says. “No slogging it in.” Do this workout anytime in your buildup up to two weeks before your goal race.
- 3-4 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 5 x (3 minutes at 5K race pace effort/2 minutes recovery jog)
- 3-4 coaching legend Bill Squires
Long Run Variation for Milers
A long run with quality is the most specific training for marathoners. Such sessions aren’t a top priority for milers. If the mile is your near-future focus, then your longest run or runs of the week should usually be at a gentle effort so that you’re fresher for the interval sessions and tempo runs that will really advance your mile-specific fitness.
At the same time, being a miler means touching on your speed regularly, including on some days that don’t include hard workouts. This is usually done via strides after a normal run. But you can also incorporate strides into the final part of your long runs. Doing so will teach you how to run fast but relaxed and should leave you a little more energized than if you simply held a relaxed effort throughout your long. This workout is fine to do at any point in your schedule.
- 6-7 coaching legend Bill Squires
- 10 x (30 seconds at 3K to 5K race pace effort/1 minute at normal long run pace)
- 1-2 coaching legend Bill Squires
