The Long Slow Run.....

Keeks

Ok....I am struggling to get enough time to do my LSRs in one sittings, but could possibly get the same time done over shorter sessions during the day.

For example, say I plan to do a 2 hour LSR, I could probably break this down into 45 mins in the morning, 30 mins in the middle of the day and and other 45 min evening session.

Is her any major dis-advantage to this and should I avoid this althogether?

average_runner

Keeks wrote: »

Ok....I am struggling to get enough time to do my LSRs in one sittings, but could possibly get the same time done over shorter sessions during the day.

For example, say I plan to do a 2 hour LSR, I could probably break this down into 45 mins in the morning, 30 mins in the middle of the day and and other 45 min evening session.

Is her any major dis-advantage to this and should I avoid this althogether?

Yep because your not getting the benefit of the long run if you do that.
The long run is designed to get your body use to running long distances and time on your feet, as that is what the marathon will ask of you.


You can always make time for your run, you just got to put yourself out to find a way.

spc78

Keeks wrote: »

Ok....I am struggling to get enough time to do my LSRs in one sittings, but could possibly get the same time done over shorter sessions during the day.

For example, say I plan to do a 2 hour LSR, I could probably break this down into 45 mins in the morning, 30 mins in the middle of the day and and other 45 min evening session.

Is her any major dis-advantage to this and should I avoid this althogether?

I have done this in the past while training for a marathon - did not have time for the long runs as family comes first. I did 40min easy in the morning, 40 min hard session at lunchtime, 40min easy run in the evening. Twice a week, tuesdays & thursdays. I managed to get one 18 mile run done during training and the fatigue towards the end of this run was no different that the fatigue I felt on thursday evenings run which was peak fatigue. I was running average 55mpw

I faded in the latter part of the marathon and ended up with 2:52. McMillan would have predicted 2:51 given my 5k time. I believe that one broken up long run was not equivalent to the straight long run, but 2 seperate days of it did seem to even things up.

Supercell

On the same point, is there an accepted point at which time on feet doesn't become beneficial any more (not taking into account increased injury risk)?
I was over three hours on my LSR yesterday and it occurred to me afterwards that many people run whole marathons in less time.
I recall reading about a triathlon athlete that never ran longer than 16 miles on his LSR's because he said he personally didn't get any gains from it and this guy was running marathon distances in the races of around 2:45 IIRC so no slouch.
Maybe I'm looking for an excuse for the next LSR to be shorter

Huzzah!

Supercell wrote: »

On the same point, is there an accepted point at which time on feet doesn't become beneficial any more (not taking into account increased injury risk)?
I was over three hours on my LSR yesterday and it occurred to me afterwards that many people run whole marathons in less time.
I recall reading about a triathlon athlete that never ran longer than 16 miles on his LSR's because he said he personally didn't get any gains from it and this guy was running marathon distances in the races of around 2:45 IIRC so no slouch.
Maybe I'm looking for an excuse for the next LSR to be shorter

If your plan has longer on it, I'd stick to the plan!

There is a school of thought that once you go over three hours on a long run, the law of diminishing returns kicks in and the risk of injury outweighs the benefit. But to cap your long run at 16 miles, you'd probably need to make up for it elsewhere in the week. Skyblue had a good answer when this question came up in the novices thread.

Lazare

average_runner wrote: »

You can always make time for your run, you just got to put yourself out to find a way.

Yeah, this.

If you can get 45 mins in early morning you can get 2 hours in.

EC1000

Up at 4am with a head torch? Out at midnight? I generally try to get home before anyone wakes up but different strokes for different folks, and all that...

average_runner

Supercell wrote: »

On the same point, is there an accepted point at which time on feet doesn't become beneficial any more (not taking into account increased injury risk)?
I was over three hours on my LSR yesterday and it occurred to me afterwards that many people run whole marathons in less time.
I recall reading about a triathlon athlete that never ran longer than 16 miles on his LSR's because he said he personally didn't get any gains from it and this guy was running marathon distances in the races of around 2:45 IIRC so no slouch.
Maybe I'm looking for an excuse for the next LSR to be shorter

Forget about the sub 3 runners unless your going for that time.
When I used to do marathon training, PB was 3:41, I would ensure one run hit 3:10, just to get the body close to the time I be on the road. If your going for 4 hours, two 3 hour runs are good. Also remember, you shouldn't be tired after your long run.

average_runner

EC1000 wrote: »

Up at 4am with a head torch? Out at midnight? I generally try to get home before anyone wakes up but different strokes for different folks, and all that...

Same here, I am the alarm clock for the family at the weekend, I head out around 630-7am and when back around 9 the family rises!!!!!!!