Hey, fellow runners! Welcome back to my blog.

Today, let’s talk about how you can improve your race performance through better long runs. Whether you’re sticking to short distances or gearing up for a fall marathon, how you run your long runs will have a big impact on your race performance!

The Importance of Long Runs

Everyone knows that the long run is a crucial part of training for any distance, but just how long does your long run need to be to get the most out of your training? Should all long runs be easy? Let’s break it down below by specific goal on sight.

For General Fitness

Even if you don’t have a race on the calendar and you only want to improve your personal fitness, doing a longer run every week is super beneficial. Building endurance and practicing staying out there longer is great for both physical and mental endurance, making your weekly runs more achievable and comfortable.

• Duration: One hour is a great place to start or to work up to. If you are doing 1 to 2 runs during the week that are up to 45 minutes, then a long run between 60 and 90 minutes (97-145 km) would be even better.
• Pace: If you’re just focused on gaining fitness, there’s no need to run at any specific intensity. Keep your long runs at an easy and comfortable pace.

For Shorter Races

Even though your race is short, endurance is still required to run well. If your goal is to run it fast, then long runs will make the race distance feel shorter and allow for more intensity. Your long run, therefore, should be longer than your race distance.

• Distance: For beginner or intermediate runners, just a few miles (km) over distance will be helpful—4-5 miles (6-8 km) for the 5K and 7-8 miles (11-13 km) for the 10K. As you advance, you’ll need more endurance to hold faster paces longer. Running even farther will be very beneficial—8-12 miles (13-19 km) for a long run should be a standard practice. For racing up to the half-marathon distance, a few runs over race distance will certainly help.
• Pace: When training for shorter races, your faster running is done in short and fast workouts. Keep your long runs easy and worry about running fast only on workout days.

For Longer Races

The longer the race, the longer your long runs need to be, but this is where it gets tricky. “HOW LONG SHOULD I RUN?!”

• Marathon Training: For the marathon, the long run is never as long as the race. Even professional runners who run 26 miles (42 km) in training don’t actually need to run the full distance to be well-prepared for a great marathon.

• Beginners/Intermediate: Going beyond 3 hours in a training run does not have much benefit to your training, even if your marathon will take you 5+ hours. The risks far outweigh the reward. It’s better to have multiple runs close to that 3-hour threshold. You gain more endurance through multiple runs than you do any single run. So for most runners, 3 hours is the max run time we do in training. From there, we add quality to the long run rather than just more duration.

• Advanced Runners: More advanced runners could fit some more miles (km) into 3 hours, but again, it’s not always the most beneficial thing to do. Instead of trying to get closer to the full distance at a slow, easy pace, it’s more beneficial to cut it a few miles (km) shorter after running a portion of the run at a higher quality effort like marathon pace or faster.

• Pace: Anyone who is just focused on completing any race distance should keep their long runs easy and just focus on gaining endurance. As you advance and think about running faster for that longer period of time, you can’t really practice that in shorter mid-week workouts. That’s where the “long run workout” comes in. The long run then presents the best opportunity to practice running faster for longer like you plan to do on race day. These take a lot out of you though and should only be done a few times leading up to a race. All other long runs should be easy runs.

Conclusion

Long runs are a cornerstone of any training plan, whether you’re aiming for general fitness or preparing for a race. Tailoring your long runs to your specific goals and fitness level will help you get the most out of your training and improve your race performance. Remember to keep most of your long runs at an easy pace, and only incorporate faster paces when you’re ready and your body is prepared.

👟 Ready to take your running to the next level? Check out my personalized coaching services.

Together, we can achieve your running goals and unlock your full potential!

See you in the next post,

Ely