RA Coaching Forum

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Long Runs (Read 89 times)

Phil2


    Hello.

     

    My name is Phil, and I am new to this forum and website. I am 51 years old and working on my 4th marathon. I was scheduled to run a marathon this fall but had a hip injury over the summer that put me out of my training for about a month. 1 1/2 months later and I finally built back up to a 36 mile training week last week. I must say I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I probably pushed the envelope a bit on the speed and hill training, which was a contributing factor. The other event that lead to the injury was being forced off a narrow trail by a group of oncoming runners who were talking amongst themselves and completely oblivious to oncoming traffic. They ran me off of the hilly rugged terrain (grrr!!). At any rate, I've been restricting myself to easy runs as I rebuild my base.

     

    Currently, I am interested in running a half marathon in early November. I am also registered to run the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach this Spring. I'm not sure if the half is going to happen because I am still experiencing a bit of lingering soreness in my hip as a result of the injury. I am thinking that if the soreness isn't completely gone in the next week or so I will probably scrap the half and just continue building my base for another several weeks, after which I will commence with a marathon training plan.

     

    To that end, I was looking at some training plans on the cool running website  that incorporate long runs peaking at 26-30 miles before the final three week taper (http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_4/143.shtml). These plans seem attractive because the mileage during the week is fairly modest, and they also incorporate weekly speed / hill sessions (once per week, mostly). I think this could be good for me because it would emphasize base strength and endurance a bit more (than previous plan that may have lead to injury) yet still provide a significant amount of speed / hill work without going overboard (which seemingly would help prevent injury). My concern though is that the long runs might be a bit much (based on reading the opinions of some experts). At the same time, my last marathon time was about 4:30 (adjusted - 4:57 was actual time on a rugged, hilly trail marathon), which for me was very strong. My longest training run for that race was 22 miles, but also incorporated  a lot of speed/tempo work. I'm interested in knowing what kind of success (or lack thereof) others may have had by peaking long runs at marathon distance or beyond. Do you find it makes you stronger or just tires you out, etc.? I would be especially interested in hearing from anyone around or over the age of 50. With that said, any advice or experiences regardless of age would be helpful.

     

    I have a "hope" of maybe someday qualifying for Boston, but right now it's just a pipe-dream.

     

    Thanks, Phil


    Future running partner.

      Welcome Phil, sorry for the late reply. I am curious to know how you are progressing. Personally for marathons and I think many others on this forum agree that a peak long run of 26 miles is generally overkill and can put you at higher risk of injury while giving you deminishing returns. I think the better approach is to do aim for getting in at least 3 runs or 20 to 22 miles each before your marathon instead of just shooting for a single long 26 miler. I get the impression that the programs you are looking at are based on FIRST training methods or a Galloway program. What a lot of people don't realize is that with the FIRST program there is also a lot of cross training involved to help develop the aerobic system and that all ther runs are generally fairly hard workouts. A friend of mine trains with the Galloway program and I get the impression that the program works well to get people across the finish line. They do 26 mile long runs but its purpose is much more for mental confidence then physical conditioning.

       

      If you would like some more suggestions on how to map out your training let me know. It also helps to make your log public on here so we can get more backround about how your training has been going as of late.