The Best Way to Split Up a Long Run

Audio Transcript

Coach Hayley: Hey Runners Connect fans. Welcome to the Runners Connect, Run to the Top Extra Kick podcast. Hope you guys are having a great day, and thanks so much for tuning in.

I’m here to answer you running and training questions so that you can train smarter, stay healthy and achieve your goals.

We have a question from Mike today about splitting long runs.

Mike: I’m travelling for work and I have a 14-mile steady long run scheduled for Saturday. Normally, this would take me about 2.5 hours or so run time, and probably three by the time I warm up, take water breaks etc.

Because of the day’s schedule, I might not be able to do 14 in one run and I’m wondering about the best way to break it up.

Hayley: That’s a great question, Mike. When it comes to long runs, the main benefits come from the accumulated time running.

Except the purpose of getting used to running a long way at once, the time spent running depletes glycogen stores, which triggers the beneficial adaptations that help you to become more efficient at burning fat for fuel.

This helps you to preserve glycogen for later in the race, and reduces the likelihood that you’ll hit the wall.

The time on your feet also improves your mental capacity to run for a long time, and strengthens up all your muscles and ligaments to help you withstand the distance

With that in mind, the long run is best done in one go.

However, I totally get that it takes up a lot of time. I always feel like it writes off my entire Sunday, though that might be because of the time I spend lazing around afterwards.

Sometimes there just isn’t any choice but to split it up. So how best to do that to make sure you still get those benefits from the long run?

I suggest trying to make one of the parts as long as you can, so it’s better to split 70%-30%, if you can, rather than 50-50.

That way, you’ve still got one part that’s pretty long. Of course, that’s going to depend on your schedule in the day.

But do aim to do a longer part at once, so use the time in the day when you’ve got the biggest window to do the biggest part of it, and then finish it off later on.

For example, if you had a 16 miler, you could fit in 10-12 miles in the morning if possible, and do the remaining 4-6 later on.

Another suggestion is tweaking the workout, so that you could still get the glycogen depletion benefits of the run.

If you did the first run glycogen depleted, without breakfast, on an empty stomach, you could still lower your glycogen stores in a shorter time, so that you get the benefits from pre-fat burning.

Though I’d only do that if you’re somewhat used to doing these fasted runs, and make sure you refuel well after the first part of the run, or you might find that you don’t feel so great at work.

Alternatively, you could have your normal pre-long run food before the first run, and then keep the carbohydrate intake fairly low in between the two runs, so that you do your second run in the slightly glycogen depleted state.

You’ll get some of the same benefits from that. Again, make sure you refuel well afterwards and don’t do this if you don’t have any experience with fasted runs so far.

At the end of the day, getting in long runs is more about consistency. There’s no need to worry if you must split a long run as a one-off.

Just remember that most weeks if you can, do it in one go.

If it’s a key one, I’d consider moving it to another day or switching it with another weekend, so that I could get it in as one go.

However, if you must do one long run as a split one, as a sort of a training cycle, you won’t lose out at all, and it’s great that you’re still going to get all that running in on a work day.

I really enjoyed that question, Mike, and thanks for asking.

For those of you listening that want to have your questions answered by one of the Runners Connect coaches, head over to runnersconnect.net/daily and click the record button to send your question over.

Hope you enjoyed today’s episode. If you haven’t already, consider heading over to iTunes or your favorite podcast directory, and subscribing or leaving a review. It will help us to reach more runners like you.

Finally, I want to thank our sponsor.

It can be so nice and relaxing to take in your surroundings and be left to your own thoughts in a long quiet run. But sometimes, I just need something to distract me.

I don’t often run with music, as I don’t find it suits me. I do really enjoy listening to podcasts like this one, but one of the things I’ve started to do recently, is to use my long runs for listening to a good book.

That’s why I decided to give Audible a try and I’m so glad I did. It’s got a ton of great running and non-running related books to help your run fly by.

I love that you can listen to something comical to keep your spirits up or use the time to learn about something new in the world of training, nutrition and psychology.

I can totally adapt it to my mood. I’m really into learning about nutrition right now, but sometimes I just need a good thriller to help me escape.

Audible has a free 30-day trial to test it out and see if it’s for you. Check out Audible’s extensive running selection and start your free 30-day trial at runnersconnect.net/audible.

I hope you have a really great day and be sure to tune in next time.