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{{DISPLAYTITLE:The Long Run for Marathon and Ultramarathon races}}
[[File:group run m.jpg|right|frameless|500px]]
The Long Run is a widely accepted cornerstone of endurance training and virtually every marathon and ultramarathon training program emphasizes the Long Run. However, while there are some areas of consensus, much of the advice around the Long Run is contradictory and [[The Science of the Long Run]] is limited. This page tries to balance the need to give usable, specific direction with the need to impart the rationale and limitations of that advice.
* The stress of a Long Run may be linked to adaptations that occur as a result of training with depleted [[Glycogen]] store. It is unclear how the level of Glycogen at the beginning of a run changes the impact of a Long Run. Beginning a run with low Glycogen stores, either through a low carbohydrate diet or prior training, certainly makes a Long Run much harder.
* The muscular stress of a Long Run can lead to [[Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness]] (DOMS). One of the effects of DOMS is protection against future training that would otherwise have produced DOMS. It seems likely that the benefits of the Long Run are linked to DOMS.
* The patterns of [[Glycogen]] depletion suggest that during a Long Run different muscle [[Muscle]] fibers become activated. Therefore a Long Run may train muscle fibers that would otherwise not be stressed by shorter runs.
* The psychological benefits of the Long Run should not be underestimated. The [[Central Governor Theory]] suggest that Long Run training provides critical mental adaptation.
=Estimating the Stress of a Long Run=
** There may be some injury risk to longer long runs, but it seems more likely that the injury risk comes from ramping up the length of the long run too quickly.
* Caveats:
** Many factors impact the difficulty of a Long Run beyond the overall distance, including pace, the amount of [[Downhill Running| downhill]] running, [[Nutrient Timing| post run nutrition]], [[Massage| massage]] and [[Training Monotony| training monotony]]{{TrainingMonotony}}.
** Following a fixed plan may be inappropriate, as individual responses vary.
==Muscle Soreness==
** The details of the longest Long Run depend on the target time, as noted in other guidelines.
* Caveats:
** Running the Long Run while pre-fatigued may reduce the needed length. This pre-fatigue can be achieved by using two shorter runs with insufficient time to recover between them, either two on the same day, or on consecutive days. This pre-fatigue could also be achieved through higher overall mileage but this should be carefully structured to minimize [[Training Monotony]] {{TrainingMonotony}} and the risk of [[Overtraining]].
** Unless the length of the Long Run is increased gradually, running longer can produce excessive muscle damage and be counterproductive. (See muscle soreness recommendation above.)
** Focusing on the single longest run is probably inappropriate, and the average of the 3-5 longest runs would be a more useful metric, but one that is rarely used.
** Hilly Long Runs will produce more training stress than the same distance on the flat.
** The need for longer Long Runs might be dramatically reduced if the training runs are continuous running and the race uses a walk/run pattern.
** Any training stress requires adequate recovery time to enable [[Supercompensation]]. Therefore training must be structured to minimize [[Training Monotony]] (the mathematical metric, not boredom){{TrainingMonotony}}.
** Individuality and prior experience may influence the optimal Long Run distance. I know of runners who believe that Long Runs over 26 miles has benefited their marathon performance and runners who believe that reducing their longest Long Run has been beneficial.
==Long Run Length for Running Sub-4:30 Marathons==
*** A 14 mile long run at 7% faster than marathon pace. However, because this is continuous running the training stress is higher.
** Runners slower than 5:30 should use run/walk even in training.
==Long runs Runs and Walking Breaks==
Taking walking breaks WILL reduces the stress of a long run or endurance race.
* Rationale: There is strong anecdotal evidence that walking breaks on a Long Run allows for recovery, reducing the training stress. This may be because the muscle fibers have time to absorb more nutrients (glucose, fat) from the blood, or because it allows more blood to flow to other part of the body, mobilizing nutrients.
==Post Long Run Nutrition==
The benefit and stress of a Long Run WILL be dependent on the post-run nutrition.
* Rationale: Post-exercise nutrition is an important aspect of training. The correct [[Nutrient Timing]] will optimize the benefits of exercise, and protein [[Protein]] intake immediately after [[Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness| DOMS]] inducing exercise makes a significant difference to the subsequent recovery and adaptation.
==Training for Novice and Experienced Marathoners==
Plans for novice marathon runners SHOULD be different to those for those with recent experience. Novice plans SHOULD focus on building up the length of the Long Run gradually, while experienced marathoners SHOULD PROBABLY be back to doing 16+ mile long runs soon after previous marathon.
The length of the Long Run SHOULD not be limited to a percentage of the weekly mileage.
* Rationale:
** While some Some coaches limit some or all of the Long Runs to a percentage of weekly mileage, often 25-50%. However, there does not appear to be any obvious rationale or support for this limit. ** Sometime there is a concern that exceeding a given percentage of the weekly mileage is more likely to result in overtraining or injury, but I've found no supporting evidence or possible mechanism. On the contrary, there are other plans is evidence that more evenly distributed mileage is more likely to result in [[Overtraining]], injury and reduce the benefit of training. This is because the more even the spread of training, the higher the {{TrainingMonotony}} (average weekly training stress divided by standard deviation). ** Plans such as [[FIRST]] that only have 3 runs per week. ** Linking , so the Long Run distance to weekly mileage tends to encourage long run is a higher training load and a higher value large portion of the [[Training Monotony]] metricweekly mileage.
* Caveats: Too little training between Long Runs can result in detraining.
==Run Distance Rather Than Time==
* Rationale: The vast majority of ultramarathoners do not run the entire distance and walk some portion of the course. It is important to practice both walking and the transitions between running and walking, and walking and running. These transitions can produce unexpected stresses if not practiced.
==Long Run Pace==
The ideal pace for long runs is UNCLEARunclear, but almost all marathon runners train at slower than race pace for their long runs, while ultrarunners tend to train at a pace that is faster than race pace. * Rationale:** [[Jack Daniels]] "Easy" pace is 59-74% of [[VO2max|V̇O<sub>2</sub>max]] or 65-78% of [[Maximum Heart Rate]].** [[FIRST]] uses a number of seconds slower than marathon pace, such as MP+30.** [[Galloway]] uses a training pace of 2:00 min/mile slower than marathon pace.** It's unclear what paces [[Lydiard]] recommends. There are indications of quarter, half, and three-quarter effort, as well as running 160 Km/week (100 miles/week) at maximum steady state (maybe [[Lactate Threshold]]) plus the same again at a "jogging" pace. * Caveats: Running at or faster than marathon race pace for some of a Long Run may be usefulas part of more advanced marathon training. The [[Jack Daniels Running Formula| Jack Daniels]] programs use this approach. * Running at [[FatMax]] pace will maximally stress the fat burning capabilities. This slower pace may have counterintuitive benefits.
==Ultramarathon Long Runs==
The ideal approach to Ultramarathon Long Runs is UNCLEAR, but it is common for Ultrarunners to do multiple shorter Long Runs than a single longer Long Run, and to run a much smaller fraction of the race distance in on their Long Runs than Marathoners, but at a much faster pace than race pace.
