Science of the Long Run? (Read 243 times)

Say is there anymore benefit to running a 10mile run vs. 2x 5 miles?

I know the long run adds/increases your total weekly mileage,

I heard it helps your economy a bit to run more efficiently.

Also I'm training for shorter races like the 5k, so aside from the long preparing one for the half or marathon etc...

I guess I'm curious if or how/why the long run adds more to your aerobic system vs. multiple shorter runs.

also does more mileage continue to improve your aerobic system? or is it essentially either trained/ or not trained?

it's like the more you know, the less you know! lol. I'm just trying to figure out the general training philosophy, seems like it's pretty settled on, 2-3 hard workouts per week, speed work, tempo run, and a long run, the rest would be easy runs...

The shorter answer is 10 miles is better than 2 x 5 miles.  Certain adaptations only come from running longer than ~80 minutes.

A lot of the science shows that once you reach the 80-minute mark, there is a bigger benefit in endurance enzymes made.” Hudson notes that studies have shown that the differences of enzymatic production from 60 to 80 minutes are enormous.*

The quote if from an article about marathon training, but the same principle applies to 5K training.  When I'm 5K training I like a 2-hour long run on the weekend and a 80-90 minute run during the week.  The rest of the week is quality workouts or shorter easy days (or a rest day if I need one).

More mileage does continue to improve the aerobic system (up to a point of course).

*https://www.runnersworld.com/website-only/single-session-workouts-for-marathoners

psychologically it helps because;

"oh, I've only got two more miles to go!"

vs

"I have 2 MORE miles to go?!"

A single 10 mile run leads to different adaptations than 2X5 mile runs.  Or a single 20 miler instead of 2X10 for that matter.  It's as simple as that.

And yes, for most people, more miles = greater aerobic adaptations for most people.   People break down at different points, however, so there may be a point at which increased mileage is not helpful for you.

Somewhere I have a graph of my yearly PRs, converted to 10K equivalent, over the peak 15 years of my running.  The correlation with yearly mileage is essentially linear from a low of just under 2000 miles a year to well over 3000 miles a year, spreading from 35min 10K to just under 31min 10K.  The progression was not consistent, so there were years in there my overall mileage dropped back, and indeed my yearly PR dropped with it.

I have to tell you there is nothing more depressing as a runner than running a hard 80mpw and watching your race times decline because the last year you were doing 100-120mpw....