IM long training run

lisac957 - 2010-07-22 12:24 PM I'm perplexed looking at these results... more people on THIS poll are suggesting to run more than 18 miles as a long run. Totally different advice than the other thread. But who knows who is voting, could be people like me!
 
 

That's kind of why I made a poll.  I've noticed that most of the multi-IM folks I know do 18 milers, but the advice on here is different.  I'm not saying the advice on here is bad though.  Maybe it's better for first timers to not over do the run volume since that is where a lot of injuries come from.

IMO, most triathletes should cap their long run in the 2-2.5 hour range.  The reasons for this are:

-  most triathletes do not run enough to support a longer long run.  In general I prefer to keep the long run at 30% of the weekly run volume and during peak training, bump it up to no more than 40%.  So, to support a 3 hour long run, an athlete would need to have a weekly run volume of 7.5 hours.
-  studies indicate that the recovery cost increases dramatically over 2-2.5 hours depending on the athlete but that the training response increases very little
-  most athletes will do runs that are >2.5 hours at a very slow pace and would be better served taking the extra thirty minutes (or hour or whatever) and add it to a run somewhere else or add another run at a normal endurance pace

Some athletes will feel better having run longer than whatever distance 2.5 hours would take them, but the actual physiological adaptations are going to be minimal.  In general, I would prefer to have an athlete run 5+/days per week with a 1.5 hour long run than run 3x/week with a 3 hour long run in preparation for IM.

Shane

rbalazs - 2010-07-26 9:13 AM  I really thought there was no way to simulate the feeling of mile 20 of an IM marathon until my last couple long runs. My coach has me run a couple fast 10 minute intervals in the first 4 miles of a 14 mile run. By mile 8 of that run I am barely hangin on and it's just as tough, if not tougher, mentally to get those last 6 miles in. Just check my logs and you'll see how I struggled.

That's a pretty cool idea. 

This is a very interesting thread - I appreciate everyone's input.

I feel like the long run while IM training takes more out of me (and takes longer to recover from) than the long run while marathon training.  Perhaps this is because during IM training I'm running less miles, less days per week, just less...?  So for me, running long during IM training doesn't have the same benefits as running long while marathon training.  My sweet spot for the long run with regard to the benefit/recovery balance is about 2.5 hours max.  I'd prefer to stay at the 2 hour mark...but I need the mental benefit of going that extra 30 min.  Shorter and I don't feel like I'm preparing for the IM marathon enough, longer and I feel like it takes me too long to recover and ends up affecting my subsequent workouts.

Does any of that make sense?

just my .02