How long? (Read 209 times)

I have been running regularly for a little over a year now. As you can see from below, I have not increased my longer run for a while now. This weekend I want to run longer than usual 2 hours long run. How long should I go based on my current base?

I know it’s a lame question and I should do whatever I want. But I did that in the past. Increased weekly mileage too soon and go injured. And would hate to get injured again.

I am not asking how to increase regular weekly mileage or weekly long run.

The specific question I am asking is for a particular weekend. I would like to do that once every other month or so going forward.

Instead of running a race every couple of months or so, I am thinking about going for a longer than a regular long run. Would take 3-4 days off after it.

Unless you are training for ultras, I'd think your long run is probably long enough. It's a pretty large percentage of yoru weekly total, often a half or more.

 

I'm just a random dude on the internet, but I think you'd do better to up the mileage around your long runs. Are you doing some other kind of activity on your days off?

 

-Kelly

I am not training for any race, but would like to run longer. The difference is that I am not wearing the bib and my goal is duration and not the pace.

The reason my long runs are significantly slower than the other runs is that long runs are on the trails and others are on flat road/pavement. At the same effort I run around 1:30 min/mile slower on trails compare to the road.

I do not do other kind of activities on my off days.

The specific question I am asking is for a particular weekend. I would like to do that once every other month or so going forward.

Instead of running a race every couple of months or so, I am thinking about going for a longer than a regular long run. Would take 3-4 days off after it.

Why?

Seriously. Are you looking for a training benefit? Just feel like running some new trails? An explanation might help guide the feedback.

I have been running regularly for a little over a year now. As you can see from below, I have not increased my longer run for a while now. This weekend I want to run longer than usual 2 hours long run. How long should I go based on my current base?

 

I'm sure more experienced people will chime in, but from the looks of your log your "regular" could be a little more regular.

Your average over the last 8 months or so is barely 15 miles per week, and your "duration" is just over a 2 hour average.

Your stats are all over the place with random 2 hour runs thrown in here and there.

Will a 2+ hour run every month or so hurt you? probably not, but it's not going to feel great.

Why not work on being a little more consistent overall?

I've noticed how much better I feel after long runs since I got my training in a better rhythm. The long runs don't hurt near as badly as they used to.

 

I'm sure more experienced people will chime in, but from the looks of your log your "regular" could be a little more regular.

Your average over the last 8 months or so is barely 15 miles per week, and your "duration" is just over a 2 hour average.

Your stats are all over the place with random 2 hour runs thrown in here and there.

 

Will a 2+ hour run every month or so hurt you? probably not, but it's not going to feel great.

Why not work on being a little more consistent overall?

I've noticed how much better I feel after long runs since I got my training in a better rhythm. The long runs don't hurt near as badly as they used to.

Sorry if I was not clear.

I enjoy running on trails for a couple of hours. It doesn't hurt to go run for a couple of hours. In fact, it feels good wherever I am able to hit trail and run for a couple of hours.

I agree that my weekly graph doesn't look consistent. That is why I included daily graph. Since late August of last year, I run 40-50 minutes for most of my runs, but long runs.

Rules smules, if you want to go longer and feeling good go longer. Slow your pace down, take more walk breaks, smell the flowers and enjoy yourself.

Thanks for the update. As you mention, walk breaks and even complete stops can be a way of reducing physical stress. The mental relief that such a run provides is well worth mixing running and hiking, IMHO. And you'll get stronger each time - as long as you do other regular training.

Watch your recovery, as you may be most sore about 3 days out. Be sure to do some walking as part of your recovery. If you get the right balance, you'll find that your amount of soreness and recovery times will both decrease.

On my long runs (or shorter easy runs), I tend to like to explore and sometimes the run ends up being longer than intended if I miss a turn. What I found is the first time I did that (something like 4 hr vs 3 hr, iirc, but relatively flat snow, not big hills), I was really tired that day, planned off day the next, and by a couple days out, I was surprisingly recovered - or at least no pain.

Depending upon what I'm training for, I may separate training runs from running / hiking runs. Camera may get used more freely on the run/hike runs and stop to look at insects on the snow or the flowers or whatever. Training runs are usually more focused (or at least start out with that intention).