Why Not a 26 Mile Long Run?

Audio Transcript

Coach Claire Bartholic: Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Runners Connect podcast. Run to the Top Extra Kick podcast.

We answer one running or training question each day and go in-depth so you can train smarter.

Today’s question is from Kathy and it is about the long run.

Kathy: Why do most runners kept their long runs at 22 miles when training for a marathon? Why don’t you go the whole 26.2 in preparation for a race day? I’m gearing up for my first marathon buildup and just want to know the best distance for my long runs. Thanks.

Claire: First, congratulations Kathy for beginning your journey to marathoning. It is an incredible experience and don’t be surprised if it changes your life.

The long run is a staple of any marathon training program and I’m about to tell you that it’s overrated. Yes, the long run is over rated.

Now before you change the podcast to something that sounds a little more sensible, hear me out for a minute.

The quick answer to why you don’t run the full marathon distance in training, is a simple business equation. It’s a poor return on your investment.

In fact for most runners, especially beginners, even 22 miles is far too long. Here’s why.

Most beginner runners training for the marathon are averaging anywhere from 9-12 minutes per mile, on their long run, which equates to about 3:45-5 hour finishing time.

At a pace of 10 minutes per mile, a runner will take roughly 3 hours and 40 minutes to finish a 22 mile run.

The last 40 minutes is what makes this wrong. Research has shown that your body doesn’t see a significant increase in aerobic development when running over 90 minutes.

The vast majority of physiological benefits happen between the 60 and 90 minute mark.

That means after running for 3 hours, aerobic benefits such as capillary building and mitochondrial development, aren’t much better than when you run for only two hours.

When you run for longer than three hours, you are building just about the same amount of aerobics fitness as running two hours.

If you choose to run even longer than three hours, the return on your investment shrinks even further, and might end up costing you more than you bargained for.

Running for longer than three hours is hard no matter what your fitness level and doing so, significantly increases your chance of injury.

As you tire, your form begins to break down, your major muscles become weak and susceptible to injury. Any overuse injuries that you might have, begin to make their presence known.

The risk is even more prevalent for beginner runners who haven’t yet toughened up their muscular skeletal systems with years and years of hard running.

You might be in great shape aerobically from other sports or cross training activities.

Until your muscles, tendons, and bones get used to the specific impact forces of long distance running, your lungs might take you farther than the rest of your body can handle, and that leads to injury.

If you ignore this advice and the risks, and end up going too long on a long run, you’re not getting any additional benefits while increasing your injury risk.

You are also sabotaging the following week of training that would be beneficial for the marathon.

You will need far more recovery for a three or four hour run than for a 90 minute or 2 hour run.

That means instead of bouncing back in a day or two, you might need three, four or five days to recover, and be able to run hard again.

That means extra rest days, shortening the length of some runs, or even skipping out on beneficial speed sessions altogether.

Or maybe you’re the type of runner who would never miss a workout.

So, instead of taking the rest that your body requires after a multi-hour run, you push through the fatigue and keep running no matter what.

At a minimum, this sacrifices your ability to run as well as you can, on hard workout days and at worst, is a great way to get you a forced rest break due to an injury.

Why do so many marathoners go 20 or 22 miles when the science is overwhelming that they shouldn’t?

The biggest reason is mental.

26.2 miles is a huge distance to get your mind around if you’ve never run anywhere close to that in training.

It’s hard to imagine running that far or that long. Getting in a big training run over 20 miles is a huge confidence builder even if it’s not a good idea for your body.

Another reason is simply tradition.

Running 20 or 22 miles in training has long been the standard for marathon training since the running booms of the 1970s and 80s.

The only problem with sticking with that tradition is that the average marathon finishing time in the 70s and 80s, was a whole lot closer to 3 hours.

This means those long 20 or 22 miles only took about two and a half hours which is right in the time zone that we’re recommending today.

Now I know what you’re probably thinking Kathy. Even with all the evidence, how are you going to be prepared for 26.2 miles if you’re longest run is only 16-18 miles?

The trick is not to run the first 16 miles of the race in training. It’s running the last 16 miles.

I mean that you should make those 16 miles simulate what you will feel during the hardest part of the race; the end, without running all the miles at once.

You can do that by running a shorter but not easy paced run called the steady pace run the day before your long run. This theory is called accumulated fatigue.

The day after your steady run, you will not wake up fresh, tapered, and ready to race like you will on race day.

You will be a touch tired or maybe even have a hint of soreness just like you will at the end of the marathon.

For most runners, you will be running close to or even further than the length of the marathon in a weekend, not just all on one day.

Doing it this way, decreases your injury risk, and allows you to be able to add some speed and quality to your long run. You would not be able to reach if you had done the entire distance at once.

Running your long runs more intensely, teaches your body how to run marathon pace while tired, and increases your body’s ability to store energy for the end of the race.

It uses fat as a fuel source more efficiently.

Not only that, but because you can recover faster from a short or long run, you can increase the total quality and quantity of tempo and aerobics threshold workouts.

You can do this throughout your training week instead of spending the week recovering.

That is a much better return on your investment. You want to know what else is a great investment? A subscription to audible.

Thanks for your question Kathy. If you’d like to get your running question answered, stop by runnersconnect.net/daily and record your own.

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Have a great run today.