Long run percentage (Read 1101 times)

What percentage of your total weekly mileage, is your long run? I read that according to Jack Daniels, 40% is supposed to be the highest. Anyone see any danger in 50%? I'd like to increase my long run distance while keeping my weekly mileage the same, by of course, reducing the distance of the other runs.

One run being half your weekly miles? Doesn't Sound like a good idea to me, you might be able to run long distance, but you'll be really slow without lots of fartlek, intervals, ect.

I think what I am driving at is not the question of "what is the right %" that depends a lot on your goals. But typically when the % is on the higher end it is because someone is trying to ramp long run miles faster than they are capable of ramping midweek miles and keep the % low. Like training for a marathon with a lower base. Depending on your goals, 50% might be ok. I dont get the desire to reduce midweek mileage and increase long run to keep the miles static. What is the goal?

I have a special thing for AKTrail so pretty much whatever she says, I agree! ;o) The percentage of "long run" actually depends on the other part of week or whatever your mile stone is. If, say, you are a pretty much a beginner, and let's say your long run is 5 miles; at that level, let's say you'd run 2 miles on Tuesday, skip, skip, another 2 miles on Thursday, skip...maybe throw another mile on Saturday because there's nothing better to do or no football game in the afternoon... There, long run 50%. On the other hand, if you truly like to run and you actually RUN; then you'll do a mile on Monday, 2 miles on Tuesday, another mile on Wednesday, 2 on Thursday, a mile on Friday and a mile or two on Saturday... That's not much at all for even a beginner's standard, but the long run now becomes 35+%... I think very many people who actually don't really care too much for running today are running. They want shortcut. They want what they can do with very minimum. 3 days a week for actual training? I think a question actually is; Do you actually like to run? Or do you want to run a marathon, or a half marathon, in 3 months by following some cookie-cutter program just to say "I did one!" and forget about it after that? If former, do what you feel happy about; as you get fitter, you'll be able to figure out how far you can do without hurting yourself and, after the fact, calculate what % that long run was and say, okay, this is the safe % for the long run. If latter, well, there are lots of programs on-line. You'll probably end up skipping 3 or 4 days a week of "training" anyways and it'll probably end up long run being 50% or so. It's manageable. I wouldn't quite recommend it; but you can survive it.

I agree that this depends on your goals and your total weekly milage. Personal anecdote: I ran my first marathon last year doing probably an average of 4.5 days a week of running. I did full blown 20 miler runs that were anywhere from 40-60% of my weekly mileage. Could I do them? Sure. But I was always feeling worn out. When I got to the marathon I did fine up till mile 20 and then my pace, mind, and body crashed (apparently that happens to marathoners these days!) Last month I ran the same marathon a year later. I was running 5-6 days a week this time and had a strong weekly base in addittion to my long runs. My long runs this time represented about 33% of my weekly mileage. I ran a negative split, never crashed, and felt great at the end (as much as one can). I believe this is in large part due to the extra weekly mileage, not coming from the long run. So... you could do 50% LR's... I did. Is it smart? Probably not. Is it efficient? Probably not.... but it all depends on your goals and what you want to do with your running. Even for simple weight loss and fitness though, I believe it is still better to do consistent running throughout the week rather than binging on the weekends. So really, consistency is the better benefit no matter what the goals are! ... oh yeah... and what does everyone think about ipods while running...?

I love to run. I run 3 times a week. In miles, at the moment, I run 10, 8 and 6. I have no interest in racing. As the Chinese proverb states: It has already been proven that one horse can run faster than another horse. Why do I want to try this hair brained scheme? My body handles 25 to 30 miles a week, very nicely and when I stay in that range I NEVER have injuries. So, I want to play in that range.

I only want 3 days of running per week. I have too much other stuff on my plate.

What percentage of your total weekly mileage, is your long run? I read that according to Jack Daniels, 40% is supposed to be the highest. Anyone see any danger in 50%? I'd like to increase my long run distance while keeping my weekly mileage the same, by of course, reducing the distance of the other runs.

Experiment. If it works, you'll know. If it doesn't, you'll know. --Jimmy