I am almost 4 weeks into training for my Spring marathon.  I'm following Pfitz 18/85, but modifying his plan a bit.  I'm shooting to average 80 mpw.  Since his plan has a slower build up to 80 in the early weeks, I padded the plan with some miles.

My question concerns the LR.  I've run 20 mile LRs the last three weeks and I plan on doing so from here on out (or running longer, as he has some 21+ milers in the plan too) as long as I am feeling good enough to cover the distance. Does it matter if I run "too many" 20 milers?  I mean, I don't feel like there's much of a difference really between an 17-20 miler and if I feel like running 20s, then why not?  I did this last time around training for Des Moines and I ran two 22 mile runs, two 21 mile runs, three 20 mile runs and three 18 mile runs.  To answer the "why do you do that" question, I love, love, love LRs and running 20s is just a huge confidence booster for me come race day.  Or it was last time around.

I recognize I might be missing something here, so can you experienced folks weigh in and tell me if this idea is a stupid one for some reason?  Thanks bunches!

I have no advice to give, just wanted to say that I'm in awe of your awesome mileage. 

I only mentioned it to show that the 20 milers aren't a huge % of my overall weekly mileage.  I swear, I wasn't trying to be obnoxious, but thank you!

Did you post this in the regular forums? Some of the guys that post "out there" really give some great advice and replies-spaniel and nobby come to mind. i am in awe of some of their replies!

No!  Will do, though!  Thanks!

In the Hansons' program their only limit is that the long run should not be greater than 30% of one's weekly mileage.  If you are doing 80 mpw, then it would seem that 24 mile long runs would be ok.  Their other caveat is that they say that current physiological research shows that a run of over about 3 hours does more harm than good, so 10 minute miles for 18 miles would be three hours.  If I wanted to do 20 miles then I would need to have an average pace of 9 minutes per mile.

In the Hansons' program their only limit is that the long run should not be greater than 30% of one's weekly mileage.  If you are doing 80 mpw, then it would seem that 24 mile long runs would be ok.  Their other caveat it that they say that current physiological research shows that a run of over about 3 hours does more harm than good, so 10 minute miles for 18 miles would be three hours.  If I wanted to do 20 miles then I would need to have an average pace of 9 minutes per mile.

If you've seen Momma2DaBoyz training log the this isn't a problem.  And, yes, I generally agree with the 3 hour "limit" for long runs but it isn't necessarily a hard and fast rule.  For slower runners they will absolutely break this "limit" on their longer runs.

At a certain mileage, a 20 mile run is no big deal. At your mileage, you could potentially do a couple of them a week if you really wanted. The caveat is that an easy, steady long run has limited benefits, and you don't want too much of any one thing in your training.

I don't see anything wrong with that at all. As you start to approach higher mileage levels, you almost need the regular 20 miler, especially if you don't have time to run doubles for family reasons. If you were someone that had a history of injury or didn't tolerate higher mileage, then there'd be cause for concern. You've already shown those aren't issues for you.

 

Just a thought, but you may also want to try some other long run paces too. It looks like Pfitz has mostly easy long runs and long runs with MP miles. Just some other ideas from Hudson: long run with fartlek, hard long run 10% slower than MP, MP + 20secs. Obviously none of those are really innovative or exciting, but they would be another stimulus for you.

 

Other than that, I'd just say to trust yourself and your body as far as when to push or pull back in regards to both speed and distance.

 

Oh, do you get Running Times? There's a 52 year old guy that's a current 2:35 marathoner and runs as much as 182 miles a week and just likes to run long (he had a long run day of 32 + a second of 8). That's just to say that high mileage works for some, and it's okay to do what you like.

Great stuff here, thanks a bunch, SIAR!  I am loving what I bolded here.  That's a great way to mix things up, potentially.  I had not thought of doing any of those things to spice up the 20.  I so am now.  Thank you SO much!!

Thanks also to everyone else who weighed in!  Much appreciated!!!

No advice, just stopping by to cheerlead.  Awesome training and I can't wait to hear how your marathon goes!