Long Run - Numero Uno

The weekly long run is an indispensable aspect of a distance runner's training. Weekly mileage of 40-50 miles just won't cut it unless it also includes one long run. In other words, 8 miles per day, 6 days per week, is not going to cut it when the distance from the starting line to the finish line is 26.2 miles. There's too much uncharted territory, both physically and mentally. You need to know in advance how your mind and body are going to manage the 15 mile mark, the 20 mile mark and, more importantly, the final 3-4 miles.

There are various rules you can abide by when integrating the "long run" into your weekly routine. First, just as you don't want to begin with too many miles in your base, referring to the early weeks of a long term program, you also don't want to begin immediately with a 10 mile long run in those early weeks. Many programs will encourage a weekly base mileage of at least 15 miles as your starting point. From there you can bit by bit ramp up not only the overall weekly miles, but also the weekly long run. For example, from a base of 15 miles you might make your long run 6 miles. The arithmetic is simple from there. 15 minus 6 will leave you with 9 additional miles for the week, maybe 3 three milers, or some other combination. Sounds simple, even too easy, doesn't it? However, once you begin to add more miles, extending both the weekly base AND the weekly long run, you will begin to demand more from your body than it is accustomed to delivering. Don't worry. It will learn to do it as you become more fit.

A good rule to apply once you get going is the 10% formula. Simply put, it is generally safe to add 10% more mileage each week. From that base of 15 which was suggested earlier, you add another 1.5 miles (10% of 15) the following week for a total distance of 16.5. Apply that same systematic increment to your weekly long run and you will put yourself on a safe and sage path to becoming an accomplished distance runner. Giving yourself an adequately long training period, plus holding fast to consistency, insures a great experience with your 1st, 2nd, 5th or 25th marathon. This carefully incremented program will also go a long way toward keeping you injury-free.

One more suggestion about the long run and you will likely reap even better long range benefits. Don't pound extra mileage into every week's long run. Many will recommend surging, then pulling back, surging, pulling back, etc. What this means is that if your long run this week is 10 miles, don't go immediately to 11 the next week, despite that being the logical application of the 10% rule. Instead, drop back to a 9 mile long run the next week and follow that with 11. In other words: 10 - 9 - 11 - 10 - 12 - 11 - 13.5, etc. The math doesn't have to be accurate to the fraction, just don't force yourself into longer mileage too quickly. As important as the long run is, it still must be ramped up in a consistent and gradual manner. It works!

I recently saw an online poll asking runners what their favorite run is. I can't recall the exact options, but long run, tempo run and speed work were all included. The landslide results came down for long run. Why? I can only speculate, but I imagine it is that all distance runners, regardless of how seasoned or veteran they might be, are still amazed at hitting that 10, 12, 15 or 20 mile mark. It is, as we used to say back in the 60s, a "gas". It could be too that runners will often make the long run somewhat of a social event. Here in San Antonio you can join any number of groups for the weekly long run, traditionally a Sunday morning ritual. My own routine is still mostly solitary, largely because my work schedule is non-standard. However, I do enjoy a bit of company on my long run when I can get it.

OH! One more thing. If you run with music, make sure your iPod or whatever your player of choice is, has a good charge on it before embarking on your 15 miles. It will be cranking a lot of tunes, doing its part to keep your feet moving. Here's the playlist from my 14 miler this past week. It is way long......

Emperor Waltz, Op. 437
Second Chance
Misery
50 Ways To Leave Your Lover
Committed To Parkview
The Gypsy Rover
Reicha Trio #2
This Old Town
Have A Good Time
Beloved
Spaceman
Reicha Trio #6
Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)
Track 05
Stravinsky: Le Chant Du Rossignol - 4. The Mechanical Nightingale
Easy To Love
Under My Wheels
Lonely Days
Bright White Jackets (Bonus Track)
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg: Prelude to Act I
Look At That
Play The Game
Why They Call It Falling
Tippett Quartet
If I Can't Have You
Do Re Mi
Amarillo By Morning
How Can You Mend A Broken Heart
Sonata for Four Horns II. Lebhaft
Shadow Of A Doubt
De l'aube à midi sur la mer
Living It Up
The Wing And The Wheel
Poison Pen
Absinthe
A Place Aside
Dialogue du vent et de la mer
First Of May

Talkers and Doers

I've been around runners long enough now to know there are some who talk and some who do. Few runners will remain silent about their latest race or their latest long run. It's understandable. We're proud of our accomplishments and, who knows, our talking about it just might prompt a listener into action. We all hope that our talk (some might hear it as bragging) will get a non-runner to become interested in running, or at least some aerobic level of walking. More often, our talk is heard by other runners. I guess that's another of our intentions: to find someone with whom to talk shop. But sometimes we talk not of what we have done, but what we plan to do. The question this raises is how often does future tense become past tense? In other words, how often does our talk become action?

Last weekend I was listening to Car Talk on NPR, more specifically on Texas Public Radio, and a caller to the program prefaced her "car talk" with: "I just got in from a 14 mile run." This information had absolutely nothing to do with her car issue for which she was seeking advice. It was just something she blurted out. I'm certainly not the only runner who heard her mention her 14 miles. We all speculated on what race she's training for, how fast did she do it and finally, on when we could get out and run a 14 mile loop as she had described. It sounded like a great idea to me and it's been on my mind ever since.

That same weekend I ran into my nephew-in-law who had run his first marathon recently at the Rock'n'Roll San Antonio. Bill is a good runner for as big a guy as he is. He ran 25 minutes faster than I did; of course, he's 25 years younger than me, too. Bill and I met at our family Christmas gathering and I could see those around us look for other conversations when Bill and I began runner talk. What's your next race? How much have you run since the marathon? These sorts of things. I encouraged Bill to sign up for the 3M Half Marathon next month (January) in Austin. It's a great race, overall downhill, an opportunity to test your speed at a more reasonable distance than a marathon yet still a challenging distance.

"I'm thinking about it," Bill said.

"I just signed up," was my reply.

"I'm thinking about a 10 mile training run this week," he said, "to see if I'm ready."

"Me too," came my reply as I remembered still the suggestion earlier in the day of a 14 mile loop.

As I said, many runners are filled with best of intentions but aren't always good at paying it out. That's what was on my mind when I started a run this late, chilly afternoon. My thought was to run 4 or 5 miles. But it felt pretty good, I dressed right for the chill, and within a couple or three miles I decided it time to put up or shut up about a 10 miler. It wasn't fast, it wasn't pretty, but it's the longest I've run since the marathon 5 weeks ago and puts me on a good trajectory for next month's half marathon.

How about you, Bill? Are you a talker or a doer? How was your 10 miler?

In the Long Run

As the Rock'n'Roll San Antonio Marathon begins to rise on the not too distant horizon I suspect I'm not the only one wondering if I've really trained thoroughly enough for the 26.2 miles waiting in less than a month. I envy the runner who gets on a program and stays on it through the entire course. One of these days I will try to become one of those runners, maybe work my way through one of Carroll Voss' training programs which are so comprehensive when adhered to from start to finish. I do use Carroll's training parameters, with his permission, in order to gauge exactly where I am, and I believe I have just about caught up, at least in terms of distancing my weekly long run.

Marathon training is not something you can do at an accelerated pace. This only invites injury and makes it near impossible to achieve one's goals. You do have goals, don't you? The goal of my first marathon was to finish. If you're a first timer that might be your goal as well. But as marathoning gets into one's blood, you graduate to more ambitious hopes, at the same time learning that these more challenging ambitions require a more rigorous preparation. At the heart of the distance runner's training is the weekly long run. This must be approached in a graduated manner. To ignore this is to open the door wide to disappointment, if not debilitating injury.

At the start of a 25 week training program such as the one used by Carroll Voss' Fleet Feet group, a long run might be 3 or 4 miles. Of course, if you are a year round runner as many of us are, you might be good for 5 or 6 miles when you first begin a regimen with a race date as the goal. I once met a runner who told me his intention when between races was to always be ready to run a 10K. That's a good way to approach it. But back to a long and thorough marathon program, the long run each week gradually becomes longer. By the midpoint, about 12 weeks out from your marathon, you'll be at 14 or 15 miles. I guess you could conclude from this that from this point on you simply add a mile per week. But this is not the smartest approach. Looking at the Fleet Feet program (or most of the other legitimate regimens which are out there), you will find a sort of ebb and flow pattern. This allows the body to better adapt to the increasing demands you are putting on it, thus minimizing the risk of injury. Truthfully, this also gives a little wiggle room which allows for those weeks when life gets in the way of training and your running temporarily takes a back seat to other concerns. Nevertheless, it is imperative to adhere as much as possible to the ritual of the weekly long run.

I began my summer with surgery, thankfully not for an athletic injury, but nevertheless for a condition which impacted my passion for running. The doc had me on a short leash for a month and then allowed me to resume pre-surgery activities. This meant that I didn't get into a groove until late July. If you know South Central Texas, you know that the severity of the summer is challenge enough. On top of that, I was playing a game of catch-up. Thankfully, years of running put me on a bit of a fast track, though I definitely exercised caution as week by week I extended my weekly mileage while observing the necessity of a long run. By early September I was up to 14-15 miles; that's when vacation and a couple of other distractions forced me into a holding pattern. My intentions were to creep on up to 17 or 18 before undertaking a 20 mile race near the end of September. Unfortunately, I ended up going into the 20 miler without the incremental long runs in anticipation and as a result I found a solid wall at about the 16 1/2 mile mark. I ground out the final mileage but came away well aware of the training I still needed to accomplish before marathon race day on November 15.

Improving running conditions and my stubborn nature have come together now to stabilize my preparation. A couple of weeks ago I pounded out a 17 miler and this past weekend I got in a 20 miler. This has cleared some of my apprehension about the race ahead and has also given me the possibility of another substantial long run before easing off the throttle for the final two weeks before the marathon. This is known as tapering and is another essential element to making race day a fun experience rather than an ordeal.

As we catch our collective breaths and measure the weeks ahead, we focus upon a reasonable approach to our remaining long training runs. If you have fallen behind in your preparation, I hate to tell you that there is no catching up at this point. Find a reasonable distance for your long runs and make do with those. Also, revisit your goals and revise them where necessary. Your intended 3 hour 45 minute finish might need to be reexamined and rewritten as 4 hours, or more. Whatever you do, don't put yourself in a bind on race day by demanding more than your body has been conditioned to deliver. This is where trouble begins. For my part, race day weather conditions permitting, I think I'm on track for a PR of around 4 hours 45 minutes. This is reasonable, given the holes in my prep. It's also incentive for me to really test myself next time round by getting with Carroll's program and sticking to it for the entire 25 weeks. Will this make me a Boston Marathon qualifier? Likely not, but it will put me on track for achieving increasingly more ambitious personal goals and that, for me, is quite enough.

Happy running and best of luck with achieving your personal fitness goals.