Marathon Training: Plan Your Long Runs

Don’t get the Summertime Blues. You can avoid them by paying your dues. Plan those long runs. Build up, drop back. Let your body adapt to the stresses and strains of going long. Then you’ll be ready to do your fall marathon.

The long run is still the cornerstone of marathon training. If you complete  3 runs of 18 – 22 miles during the 8 weeks prior to the marathon you’ll have a very high likelihood of being able to complete the marathon . The long run is also an important element for middle distance runners. The 10K runner will benefit from runs of 8 miles, 10 miles and even up to 14 miles or more. A 5K runner will benefit from runs of 6 miles, 8 miles and up to 12 miles or so. This isn’t needed by everyone, but by those who are trying to excel. Slower 5K and 10K runners spend enough time on the roads and do not have a need to do 12 – 14 mile runs just to complete a 5 or 10K.

The long run has been emphasized as the building block of training for over 30 years. Arthur Lydiard and many others have made it the base component of training programs for distance runners. All of today’s programs including Hal Higdon’s and Jeff Galloway’s highlight the importance of the long run. Just what magic does the long run do? Long distance aerobic running lays the strength and ground work on which everything else will be built. Lactate threshold training, speed work, and stamina will all come later, but the ability to run long has many benefits.

VO2 max will increase from running within your aerobic training range. Capillaries will grow, enhancing the blood supply to the muscle fibers. Training increases the number and size of mitochondria. The mitochondria are the aerobic powerhouses of the cell. A variety of key aerobic enzymes will also increase. More myoglobin will be found in the skeletal muscle fibers. The significance of the increase in capillaries and myoglobin are the assistance that this will provide to the part of the VO2 equation specifying the difference in concentration of oxygen in arterial and venous blood, these changes facilitate oxygen transfer into the muscles.

We’ll have an updated area on the long run on the running injuries website shortly. In the meantime, here is a rough outline of a beginning to intermediate schedule of long runs.

Beginning Marathon Long Run

Weeks to Go/ Distance

19: 8
18: 9
17: 10
16: 6
15: 12
14: 13
13: 8
12: 15
11: 16
10: 10
9: 18
8: 10
7: 12
6: 18
5: 10
4: 12
3: 20
2: 12
1: 8
Marathon: 26

Summertime Blues