It’s here! *THE* Long Run of your training. Most of you don't anticipate it with 'much' pleasure, but it's one of the most rewarding, mentally & physiologically, as it will for many of you, become the longest run of your careers… at least until early June, when you run a bit further for the big race;) Here some good notes and articles on the long run.
Mental Importance
“While the long run is undoubtedly the most important mental training event for a marathon, it isn't the most important physically. I strongly believe that it's the miles covered on the way to this long training run -- and the marathon -- that truly count. The long run is your chance to put yourself to the test. Here are a few pointers to make sure you get it right.” Read the entire store here:
http://www.active.com/running/articles/marathon-training-the-long-run
Success or Failure?
And from our online friends at McMillan Running: "I don't think there's any other race distance where one single workout plays such a large part in the success or failure of the race. As a result, you're often left with many questions: How far should I run? Do I run for time or distance? What about pace? What to eat and drink? The list goes on and on."
https://www.mcmillanrunning.com/articlePages/article/2
Planning Ahead
"Above all, marathon training schedules must be designed so that runners are adequately rested prior to undertaking their long runs. One who completes at long runs of 20 miles or longer prior to his or her marathon will no doubt reduce the possibility of visiting the dreaded "wall" (the point in time when glycogen stores within the muscles have been depleted and as a result, the runner's pace slows considerably, oftentimes to a walk). In short, the majority of runners who experience difficulty in completing their long training runs fail to prepare adequately for these critical workouts. Remember that both long runs and the marathon don't have to be painful experiences. The key is to plan ahead." Read the entire article here:
http://www.marathontraining.com/marathon/m_longr.html
Why Not 23, 24 or even 26mi?
There are a handful of reasons not to do much more than 21-22 miles. The main one - “your body doesn’t see a significant increase in training benefits after running for 3-hours. The majority of physiological stimulus of long runs occurs between the 90 minute and 2:30 mark. To add insult to injury, running for longer than 3:30 significantly increases your chance of injury. Therefore, you’re leveraging some very slight training benefits for increased fatigue and injury risk.” Read more from Runner’s Connect here:
http://runnersconnect.net/running-training-articles/marathon-long-runs/
So with all of that, you’ll be that much closer to tackling possibly one of the longest runs of your lifetime (noob’s)
See ya out there!!!
Coach Aaron
Are you running Rock n Roll Marathon in 3.5 weeks? If you are, your training schedule likely has you doing your LONGest run this weekend. Join us! We're hosting our annual LONG Run on Saturday morning at 7:15am. If you're looking to do your 20-24mi run with a bunch of like-minded runners, coaches, volunteers and support, hit me up. Half Marathon options of 12-14 miles also available.