Forums >General Running>What distance is a "LONG" run?
Runs in the rain
Just wanted to show how being able to label different distances helps me analyze my training. Here is a graph of my runs in the year leading up to an October 2017 marathon. I had not run that distance since a 2004 race and it was an accomplishment to run a marathon again after 13 years! My ultimate goal is to Boston qualify, but in this race was only able to achieve the needed pace for a couple of miles. You can see on the graph longer distances show as darker shades of blue. You can see weekly distance was progressing nicely with a number of weeks of 45 or more miles, then, after the start of May, I fell back somewhat on weekly totals with a lot of around 40 mile weeks or less. Still, I did get in two weeks over 50 and one over 60 before my race. I also got in some "extra long" over 16 mile runs, including two twenty milers. Looking at the graph my thought is if I had maintained consistent 45 mile or more week totals I would have done better. This shows how labeling and color coding distances can let me see at a glance what I was doing and how I might improve my plans!m
Long distance runner, what you standin' there for?Get up, get out, get out of the door!
Surly Bill - The 20x400 plan seems like a sensible workout. I don't yet feel ready to work on speed and in my current training level I find just ten slow miles a challenge, but I'll keep the plan in mind. I don't follow set plans and like to try experiments in my training to see what happens! What I am thinking of trying, and I know this is not the usual way of doing things, is to start running a very short distance at a 7 minute mile pace, which is very much faster than my usual plodding along! I measured the distance between telephone poles in a flat section of road and they seem to be .05 miles apart, 1/20th of a mile! So can I maintain a 7mm pace for the 21 seconds it would take to cover that distance? I think I could. I would then add in after the recovery interval an 8mm of the .05 distance and then one at a 9mm pace. I would increase these as my fitness improves. I think if I could get to a 7 minute mile after a year that would predict the marathon time I need. Feel free to tell me how ridiculous this plan is! Note: at my age I would need a 4:20 marathon to qualify, a 9:55 pace. Not an impossible goal, but the only time I ran 26.2 that fast was my PB of 4:10:44 back in 1998 when I was 24 years younger!
Yeah, I just like running, I seldom race, so I don't really follow any training schedule, either. I'll do a few things to prep if there IS a race I want to do. But, best laid plans of mice and men; I was ramping up for a 1 mile race in May, but got sick for 4-5 days, had a calf strain, too much time demanded at work, etc. and lost most of my fitness in the 2 months prior to the race (averaged around 10 miles a week). I still ran, and did horribly, my current 5k pace but just for 4 laps! Now I'm thinking of doing a 100 miler sometime in the Fall, so I'll gear up for that, and try to get my beard as long as possible before then.
https://dumbrunner.com/news-blog/2021/12/12/study-finds-trail-running-increases-risk-of-beard-by-400
60-64 age group - University of Oregon alumni - Irreverent and Annoying
Mmmm Bop
18 miles and over.
Anything less is either a medium or short run.
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
Are we there, yet?
18 miles and over. Anything less is either a medium or short run.
Interesting. In my first 45 years of running I managed only one long run, if that's the definition you use, yet somehow managed several sub-3:00 marathons, including at least one with a good negative split. I guess long runs aren't that important for marathon training.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
wcrunner2 - Some modern training plans limit the long run to a max of 16 miles focusing more on short bursts of high intensity rather than distance. Perhaps you used a similar approach to achieve sub 3 hour marathons! For me I need the confidence boost of a few 20 mile runs!
Interesting. What were your shorter distance race times (5k/10k/half) when you ran your sub3 Marathons?
5K sub-18:00
10K sub-38:00
HM ranged from 1:22 - 1:25
I was really more focused on running a sub-5:00 mile.
The most well known example (a few years ago, at least) was our Hanson friends. The thing to know about their stuff is that it was based on high volume... which they didn't talk much about. I used to run 90-120 mpw. You can get away with a lot when you have that volume to support you.
The Hansons’ plan as published in their book is not that kind of volume, more like 50-60 max. Still, lots of people have good success with it, although maybe not sub-3 kind of success. I used it for a couple races, it was actually the first structured plan I ever followed. But even then I was personally uncomfortable with a max of 16, and extended those to 18-20. Plus added miles in other places to get to 70+.
Dave
Why is it sideways?
The long run puts the tiger in the cat.
It is overrated.
It is a Tuesday group text to the others who understand.
It is a snooze button on a Sunday morning.
A cup of coffee and a sense of dread.
The long run is good company.
It is the stiff early footfalls.
It is empty roads and dark windows.
It is gray air, fog in the hollow, dew on the grass.
A cracking open of the mind.
The long run is an easy rhythm.
It is silence, footfalls, and barking dogs.
It is a world apart, an intimate conversation.
It is crude jokes and hard truths.
Shared pain.
The long run is hardened legs, a runner's lope.
It is soaked-through socks and a film of salt.
It is that gentle pull on your knee, a mounting pressure in the hip.
It is covering ground, the trial of miles.
Ice in your beard.
The long run is a couple miles to go.
It is feeling strong.
It is heavy legs and numb feet.
It is running to the barn.
The last fucking hill.
The long run is a secret possession.
It is sweet aching legs at the grocery store.
It is an early end to the day.
It is something they'll never get.
Your overgrown and wild runners heart.
rectumdamnnearkilledem
I've missed your posts, Jeff.
Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to
remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.
~ Sarah Kay
Jeff - Great poem! It really captures the feelings and sensations of the long run! Did you write it yourself? I've thought of writing haikus while running describing things I've seen. Alright, just made up one for this morning's ten mile long run, accompanied by a photo taken this morning:
Feet fly over roads.
As four horses graze in field,
Winds breeze past tower.
Waltons ThreadLord
A run is called a "long run" due to its function in a training plan. Most training plans or strategies have a specific run that is longer than the others and serves that function in training. You'd want to designate those runs as long, not because they hit a certain universally agreed upon distance or time, but because of their purpose and function within the training context.
I like this definition. It beats mine, which is basically a long run is anything I can't do in spring or fall without carrying water or nutrition (in summer I need water even on medium runs, and winter is just a whole different ballgame).
5k 23:48.45 (3/22); 4M 31:26 (2/22); 5M 38:55 (11/23); 10k 49:24 (10/22); 10M 1:29:33 (2/24); Half 1:48:32 (10/22); Marathon 4:29:58 (11/23)Upcoming races: Clinton Country Run 15k, 4/27; Running is Back 10k, 5/12
Nice poetry, Jeff & Altair.
In a metaphysical sense, for me a long run is one that lasts long enough for me to clear my mind of whatever is going on in the rest of my life and the world. Depending on the state of things, that can require an hour or it can require more than 2 hours.