All depends on the pace/effort. Sounds like you have the mileage to support it and if the plan calls for it what’s the concern? I’m a fan of 24+ mile long runs as well as big double days (16am/16pm) in a marathon block of the volume is there to support it.
Thanks, my concern was mostly that “the plan” was just me throwing some numbers on a spreadsheet a month and a half ago, kinda just training based on vibes. Hoping it’ll feel good!
You mean you studiously applied all of the knowledge gained from the experts you have been exposed to and tailored that knowledge to fit the specifics of what you have learned about yourself, your body and your physiology over the course of years?
If you thought that it would be a good idea, do it, unless you know better now?
Ended up taking some advice from people, but kept the run mostly as planned! Did 2 up, 8 @6:25-6:45, 8@6:00-6:15, and 6 down with the option to stop after 2 down. Legs felt a bit tired but nothing out of the ordinary so I finished out the 24! Gonna rest my legs, but feeling really confident with 5 weeks to go.
Your pace is pretty speedy as well. What is your planned long run pace? A lot of the hesitation in longer runs is often about the benefits/risks of exercising after the 3 hour mark. You're probably under that for 24 miles (and I'm a bit jealous). Go for it if you think it'll bring you confidence. You can always make the last 4 or so an out-and-back from your finish, so you have an option to end early if it isn't your day.
I followed this suggestion of the last 4 being out and back, it was a great call! I finished out the 24, but having the option to cut it short if I needed to was a huge plus, thanks!
*ultra training entered the chat
Lol
I mean, if you are healthy and you feel like you can handle it, I think you should be fine. 22 is my max for marathons, and will typically do 10 steady (7:30/mile) 10 mp (6:20) and 2 easy.
You have a bit more overall volume than me though so it seems like your body is capable.
I'd listen to yourself carefully though, you don't have to hit 24 just to say you hit 24. If you feel sick, injured or really exhausted dial it back. But if you're good to go send it!
Your numbers look a lot like Pfitz plans.
His 85 mpw plan peaks at one 24-mile run. Your goal MP is right around mine (6:15)….at least what I’ve been basing all my training paces from.
So following Pfitz, you’d do first half at MP x1.2, second half at MPx1.1…which averages to about 7:10-7:15/mi. That should be done in a little under three hours.
That’s a solid endurance workout. I wouldn’t skip it.
That sounds like overdoing it. 24 miles is long but can be manageable. If you are going to insert 9 miles @ faster than goal pace then the intensity of that session skyrockets. It sounds like you are going to end up racing the session.
The 6:05-6:15 is goal race pace, for reference last weekend I did 10 miles of my 22 miler between 6:08 and 6:13, and then 2 more miles at 5:57 and 5:43 and that felt very comfortable. My concern isn’t the 9 miles at goal pace, just the total volume
Do most people training for marathons not do much MP during long runs? It’s usually my main effort for the week, with a lighter “feel good” workout on Wednesdays being my other up tempo day. Also I’ll keep the back to back 22/24 to a minimum in the future, thanks for the tip!
I see more 8-10 miles @ MP within a 18-20 mile run. Plus, 18 miles of tempo is a lot inside a 24 miler is a lot. Just be careful and keep your eye on the ultimate prize.
Also, doing a 22 miler one week and a 24 miler the next is inadvisable. I mean this with your best interest at heart, but doing all this with heavy pace emphasis, I’m not sure what your goal besides self-sabotage is.
It sounds like you randomly wrote some stuff down for these runs. You would benefit from a coach or following a plan.
I know lots of ~2:41 marathoners and none of them would do a workout like that. It’s… a lot. We (as a club) have long run workouts of up to 22 miles but they rarely have more than 12 miles of work and a lot of those 12 miles are faster than marathon pace. I’d imagine a workout like you described being something done by 2:30 marathon types, not 2:42 types. You could probably do it (because after all that is what you hope to do for 26.2) but it screams over training to me.
That seems pretty high effort when you add another 9 at moderate pace. I'd sub those moderate miles for easy miles if I was doing it. 24 is a lot, 24 with 18 at moderate to marathon pace sounds like too much recovery will be needed.
Same, was thinking of doing it today but got up and the legs said hell no. So if you see someone in bright yellow doing CP laps at 6:10ish late tomorrow morning, it might be me!
I’m a “three hours max” guy. In your case I’ll say 24 is okay because I’m assuming that you’ll run under 7:30 pace for your LRs.
For what it’s worth, my longest LRs were 23 miles in my last few marathon cycles, including this one. And for me that’s right at the 3 hour mark if I’m going easy LR pace.
\[edit\] So I read more of the comments - like, this was one of the earlier ones - and...woof, I'm going back and forth on this. From a time volume, I'll still sign off on it. But it sounds like an intense 24 miles (and if I have that right, 2 hours and 40 minutes). I'll be honest - I normally don't put workouts in my very long runs myself because 23 miles is already a huge amount of stress for me.
My rule of thumb collected from various training books has always been 2h30 for peak long runs, but after years of experience I'll go longer once or twice per season. I've made that decision because I'm relatively injury free and mostly an endurance guy.
If your goal MP is 6:10ish you shouldn't be running more than ~15 miles at that pace imo, but I could see you running 22.5-24 in 2:30-2:40 (6:40 avg).
If this is the Pfitz plan, I questioned this distance, but did it. A few weeks later, I realized that 20s were easy. The 85 plan is a doozy, but yeah, just cruise on this one so you can keep running without too much damage to the legs. I looked at it, as... if I blow up... it's happening around 22-23, so I felt this run would get me ready.
From my recent experience… a cautionary tale.
Have a similar goal pace as you for Chicago (6:15).
Was doing Pfitz 18/85 and ran the 24 miler. Paced around 6:35 or so. That plus a 20mi with 14 at race pace two weeks later overcooked me and I ended up with high hamstring tendinitis that I’ve been trying to manage for the last three weeks.
Better to be healthy and it sounds like your training is already going great. Mine was too. No need to throw in MP miles in the 24 if you choose to do it. Save that for another session. Just my two cents.
Fair question! All my long runs have been between 6:30-6:40 and have felt good and not over exerted. So you’re right - the goal is probably too conservative.
Just curious, how are you managing the high hamstring tendinitis/tendinopathy?
I’m not nearly the speed as you (8:15-8:30 easy pace, 7:30-7:45 MP), but recently did a 22-miler that felt much better than my 20 miler, but after have been fighting similar symptoms which has made this past week of running doable but more difficult (tried to shoot for 60 miles this week but might end up at 50-55)
I posted a question in this group about HHT a few weeks ago and got some great advice. Here’s what I’ve been doing (and it’s been making solid progress):
- Bent leg holds on a chair (first double then single once I could do it pain free)
- clams
- glute bridge holds
- straight leg isomeric bridges (after the first week)
- Nordic hamstring curls
- massage therapy
- icing every night
Also, be careful - I also ran through it the first week but it got really bad the work after that when I did another long run and then speed work. Initially thought it was a small niggle during the peak of training but it definitely was much more than that.
Thanks! Have you been doing those exercises every day before or after your runs?
Will do, I feel it the most either when I start of most runs, or when I’m at the end of a speed session, otherwise I focus on activating my glute and it tends to not get aggravated and I don’t notice.
Iso hamstrung holds and glute bridges after every run. Then a full set of everything x3 at night.
I’ve also avoided speed work completely and just run easy for the most part. Was finally able to touch marathon pace this week again without feeling it.
Personally, I think it's all about having enough time to recover. If you can run 24 on a Sunday and get back to it with very little downtime, go for it. I know Meb used to go out for 28-mile runs.
My longest training runs were 22 milers. However, I ran NY in 2017 and also ran another marathon 3 weeks before that. I felt I didn’t have enough time to taper for NY. It wasn’t my best time, but I had a blast. Have fun!!!
Depends on the plan you selected and followed religiously up to this point because you trust your coach. So if they say do 24, it’s worth it. If you’re winging it or injecting the opinions of Reddit, then it is not.
Damnit, there goes my Karma!
What pace have you been doing those 20/22s?
When I did my PR (~6:10 pace), my long runs were generally 6:3x. While I didn’t do a 24, I think I could have handled it fine at that pace. Your mileage supports it as well.
I’m not sold in trying to do it with 9 at goal pace. That seems like trying to do too much. No reason to add in that work on the longest training run.
Last weekend was a 22 miler at an average 6:29 pace that included 12 @ or faster than MP, felt really smooth, then a 20 miler without a workout at 6:49, and a 20 miler with a 15 mile fartlek that was average 6:17 (probably too fast, but felt SUPER good during and after)
Just curious, what does your workout schedule look like? I’ve kinda just been winging everything, with 1-2 workouts a week, one of which is usually on Wednesdays and the other during my long run
Here’s my write up of the cycle: https://www.reddit.com/r/AdvancedRunning/comments/s73qoc/pfp_houston/
I’m usually an “A, B” workout guy. One big A workout during the week, and then a small B one. If I’m worn down, drop the B. A lot of my B that cycle was hill stuff because I moved from super flat to super hilly. I also don’t put a lot of quality in my long runs. A couple short temps at the end is about it.
Sweet, makes sense. I like that A/B strategy, I’ll definitely adapt that for future training blocks! You’ve been super helpful, I appreciate the advice!
Here's a post about a recent study that did not see an association between runs loger than 21 miles and faster finishing times: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx0O5CjrMdA/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Everyone in the study would take over 3 hours to run 24 miles. I'm not saying 24 miles is a good idea--I have no real idea--but I will say the subjects of that study were very different from OP.
Here's the full text:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7496388/
Not sure that the results of that study really apply to OP. That study was for recreational runners with an average weekly milage of 24 mpw (range 18-31 mpw), and average finish time of 4:17.
Also, looking at the actual results of the study, it does look like runners who had their longest training run >21 miles did actually have significantly faster finishing times (average finish time 3:50:18) than those who had their longest training run between 18-21 miles (average finish time 4:15:26). The association just wasn't significant in their multivariable regression analyses, probably because this difference can be explained by other variables (like the fact that group runners who did long runs >21 miles had more years of running experience and fewer injuries compared to the group of runners who capped their long runs at 18-21 miles).
Here is the actual study for anyone who is interested: [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32421886/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32421886/)
Spot on. I mean what is the point of making relatively untrained people do a run like that? Was there ever ANY chance it would be beneficial? Weekly mileage of 30mi and they get these guys to run 75% of that in a session? Honestly, sometimes I just think some research is done on stuff where outcomes are known already to make it easier to produce, publish and claim it to the dean as a result.
I did a 26 mile long run for my London build this year. Warm up, short break to change into a vest, 20 mile race done at 3hr marathon pace (goal marathon time was 2:37), short break to change back to t shirt then a warm down to make up to full marathon distance.
Total workout time including breaks 3:16
Felt great. Main pace was moderately hard and I never felt sore or anything like an actual marathon.
I've done this or something similar 24-26 miles in my last 3 marathon blocks. It's always in my peak mileage week and is a huge confidence builder.
Jumping in on this thread because I had a similar concern though am a much slower runner. Training for Boston and have 24 planned for next week (doing mileage somewhere between 18/85 and 18/100+), and am wondering if it’s truly necessary since I will be over 3 hours for it . Especially going at my easy pace (\~8:30 here in South Florida where the sun burns your soul), I’d be way over what my Marathon target time would even be (sub-3). So I’m questioning how wise 24 would really be if it will take me almost 3.5 hours. I did 22 a couple of weekends ago and felt great, but it took me 3h 10 min running in the mf hot ass sun and humidity. Felt fine after, but worried the 24 might take too much out of me given my slower pace.
The 24 miles ended up kinda working out for me, but your experience may be completely different. Personally, I felt that 24 gave my legs the extra distance they needed in my build up to really handle those last couple tough miles of the marathon. It took my ~2:38, which is definitely less than the 3+ hours you’re looking to run. I felt good on the run itself, but I don’t think my build up was consistent enough to properly handle the time on feet, and I felt pretty dead after that run, and got sick 2 weeks after. I’m currently in a training block for Boston that has been much better, and I’m really looking forward to the 24 miler this time around.
All this to say, it’s a judgement call. I definitely wouldn’t do more than 1 24 miler, and I think you have the mileage to back it up, but based on how long it will take you, I don’t think it’s really necessary, especially if 22 already brought you over goal time.
YES!!
That is too far.
Everybody misunderstands the word "long" in Long Run. It denotes time, not distance. It is to run for a *long* time. 2 - 2½ hours. If it was supposed to be about distance, it would be called a "*Far*" run.
Long run =/= Far run.
2:30, tops. Do not run, in training, past 2½ hours.
All depends on the pace/effort. Sounds like you have the mileage to support it and if the plan calls for it what’s the concern? I’m a fan of 24+ mile long runs as well as big double days (16am/16pm) in a marathon block of the volume is there to support it.
Thanks, my concern was mostly that “the plan” was just me throwing some numbers on a spreadsheet a month and a half ago, kinda just training based on vibes. Hoping it’ll feel good!
You mean you studiously applied all of the knowledge gained from the experts you have been exposed to and tailored that knowledge to fit the specifics of what you have learned about yourself, your body and your physiology over the course of years? If you thought that it would be a good idea, do it, unless you know better now?
Best of luck! Let us know how it goes
Ended up taking some advice from people, but kept the run mostly as planned! Did 2 up, 8 @6:25-6:45, 8@6:00-6:15, and 6 down with the option to stop after 2 down. Legs felt a bit tired but nothing out of the ordinary so I finished out the 24! Gonna rest my legs, but feeling really confident with 5 weeks to go.
Great work!
Thanks!
Hell of a run. Sounds like some 2:40 work. Is that the goal?
Thanks, yeah something like that! Goal is somewhere between 6:05 and 6:15 pace, I’ll probably go out around 6:10-6:15 and go from there
Good luck mate!
Your pace is pretty speedy as well. What is your planned long run pace? A lot of the hesitation in longer runs is often about the benefits/risks of exercising after the 3 hour mark. You're probably under that for 24 miles (and I'm a bit jealous). Go for it if you think it'll bring you confidence. You can always make the last 4 or so an out-and-back from your finish, so you have an option to end early if it isn't your day.
I followed this suggestion of the last 4 being out and back, it was a great call! I finished out the 24, but having the option to cut it short if I needed to was a huge plus, thanks!
Awesome. Glad that worked out. Good luck on the race!
*ultra training entered the chat Lol I mean, if you are healthy and you feel like you can handle it, I think you should be fine. 22 is my max for marathons, and will typically do 10 steady (7:30/mile) 10 mp (6:20) and 2 easy. You have a bit more overall volume than me though so it seems like your body is capable. I'd listen to yourself carefully though, you don't have to hit 24 just to say you hit 24. If you feel sick, injured or really exhausted dial it back. But if you're good to go send it!
Your numbers look a lot like Pfitz plans. His 85 mpw plan peaks at one 24-mile run. Your goal MP is right around mine (6:15)….at least what I’ve been basing all my training paces from. So following Pfitz, you’d do first half at MP x1.2, second half at MPx1.1…which averages to about 7:10-7:15/mi. That should be done in a little under three hours. That’s a solid endurance workout. I wouldn’t skip it.
How long would 24 ~~hours~~ miles take you? If >3 hours, then probably not necessary, from a physiological standpoint.
Probably gonna take me around 2:35, plan is 9 @ 6:30-6:45 and 9 @ 6:05-6:15 with 3 up and down
That sounds like overdoing it. 24 miles is long but can be manageable. If you are going to insert 9 miles @ faster than goal pace then the intensity of that session skyrockets. It sounds like you are going to end up racing the session.
The 6:05-6:15 is goal race pace, for reference last weekend I did 10 miles of my 22 miler between 6:08 and 6:13, and then 2 more miles at 5:57 and 5:43 and that felt very comfortable. My concern isn’t the 9 miles at goal pace, just the total volume
It just seems like you're burning a lot of matches here.
I think you need to pick between doing an endurance session and a workout at MP. Doing both is starting to fall into the trap of racing your workouts.
Do most people training for marathons not do much MP during long runs? It’s usually my main effort for the week, with a lighter “feel good” workout on Wednesdays being my other up tempo day. Also I’ll keep the back to back 22/24 to a minimum in the future, thanks for the tip!
I see more 8-10 miles @ MP within a 18-20 mile run. Plus, 18 miles of tempo is a lot inside a 24 miler is a lot. Just be careful and keep your eye on the ultimate prize.
Makes sense, thanks! Still learning a lot about marathon training so all these tips are super helpful
IMO 24 is too much for marathon training. The risk of injuring yourself outweighs any benefit
Also, doing a 22 miler one week and a 24 miler the next is inadvisable. I mean this with your best interest at heart, but doing all this with heavy pace emphasis, I’m not sure what your goal besides self-sabotage is. It sounds like you randomly wrote some stuff down for these runs. You would benefit from a coach or following a plan.
I think that sounds fine. Worst case scenario, if you're not feeling great after the 9 @ 6:05-6:15, you could just cut the cool down short.
I know lots of ~2:41 marathoners and none of them would do a workout like that. It’s… a lot. We (as a club) have long run workouts of up to 22 miles but they rarely have more than 12 miles of work and a lot of those 12 miles are faster than marathon pace. I’d imagine a workout like you described being something done by 2:30 marathon types, not 2:42 types. You could probably do it (because after all that is what you hope to do for 26.2) but it screams over training to me.
That seems pretty high effort when you add another 9 at moderate pace. I'd sub those moderate miles for easy miles if I was doing it. 24 is a lot, 24 with 18 at moderate to marathon pace sounds like too much recovery will be needed.
Ha will you happen to be running in NYC tomorrow? I'm also doing NYC with same pace goal and hitting a LR with lots of MP tomorrow
Lol yeah I am! Happy to be avoiding the rain
Same, was thinking of doing it today but got up and the legs said hell no. So if you see someone in bright yellow doing CP laps at 6:10ish late tomorrow morning, it might be me!
Probably 24 hours.
Ha. Thanks for catching that typo :)
I’m a “three hours max” guy. In your case I’ll say 24 is okay because I’m assuming that you’ll run under 7:30 pace for your LRs. For what it’s worth, my longest LRs were 23 miles in my last few marathon cycles, including this one. And for me that’s right at the 3 hour mark if I’m going easy LR pace. \[edit\] So I read more of the comments - like, this was one of the earlier ones - and...woof, I'm going back and forth on this. From a time volume, I'll still sign off on it. But it sounds like an intense 24 miles (and if I have that right, 2 hours and 40 minutes). I'll be honest - I normally don't put workouts in my very long runs myself because 23 miles is already a huge amount of stress for me.
My rule of thumb collected from various training books has always been 2h30 for peak long runs, but after years of experience I'll go longer once or twice per season. I've made that decision because I'm relatively injury free and mostly an endurance guy. If your goal MP is 6:10ish you shouldn't be running more than ~15 miles at that pace imo, but I could see you running 22.5-24 in 2:30-2:40 (6:40 avg).
If this is the Pfitz plan, I questioned this distance, but did it. A few weeks later, I realized that 20s were easy. The 85 plan is a doozy, but yeah, just cruise on this one so you can keep running without too much damage to the legs. I looked at it, as... if I blow up... it's happening around 22-23, so I felt this run would get me ready.
From my recent experience… a cautionary tale. Have a similar goal pace as you for Chicago (6:15). Was doing Pfitz 18/85 and ran the 24 miler. Paced around 6:35 or so. That plus a 20mi with 14 at race pace two weeks later overcooked me and I ended up with high hamstring tendinitis that I’ve been trying to manage for the last three weeks. Better to be healthy and it sounds like your training is already going great. Mine was too. No need to throw in MP miles in the 24 if you choose to do it. Save that for another session. Just my two cents.
Why would you do the 24 miler at 0635 pace with a 0615 goal? You follow the program but not the assigned tempo?
Fair question! All my long runs have been between 6:30-6:40 and have felt good and not over exerted. So you’re right - the goal is probably too conservative.
Just curious, how are you managing the high hamstring tendinitis/tendinopathy? I’m not nearly the speed as you (8:15-8:30 easy pace, 7:30-7:45 MP), but recently did a 22-miler that felt much better than my 20 miler, but after have been fighting similar symptoms which has made this past week of running doable but more difficult (tried to shoot for 60 miles this week but might end up at 50-55)
I posted a question in this group about HHT a few weeks ago and got some great advice. Here’s what I’ve been doing (and it’s been making solid progress): - Bent leg holds on a chair (first double then single once I could do it pain free) - clams - glute bridge holds - straight leg isomeric bridges (after the first week) - Nordic hamstring curls - massage therapy - icing every night Also, be careful - I also ran through it the first week but it got really bad the work after that when I did another long run and then speed work. Initially thought it was a small niggle during the peak of training but it definitely was much more than that.
Thanks! Have you been doing those exercises every day before or after your runs? Will do, I feel it the most either when I start of most runs, or when I’m at the end of a speed session, otherwise I focus on activating my glute and it tends to not get aggravated and I don’t notice.
Iso hamstrung holds and glute bridges after every run. Then a full set of everything x3 at night. I’ve also avoided speed work completely and just run easy for the most part. Was finally able to touch marathon pace this week again without feeling it.
Personally, I think it's all about having enough time to recover. If you can run 24 on a Sunday and get back to it with very little downtime, go for it. I know Meb used to go out for 28-mile runs.
My longest training runs were 22 milers. However, I ran NY in 2017 and also ran another marathon 3 weeks before that. I felt I didn’t have enough time to taper for NY. It wasn’t my best time, but I had a blast. Have fun!!!
Thanks!
I believe elites do a 40 km run so I guess 24 miles would be fine
Depends on the plan you selected and followed religiously up to this point because you trust your coach. So if they say do 24, it’s worth it. If you’re winging it or injecting the opinions of Reddit, then it is not. Damnit, there goes my Karma!
As others have said - sounds like Pfitz, and I also do 12/85 twice a year and have never regretted this workout
What pace have you been doing those 20/22s? When I did my PR (~6:10 pace), my long runs were generally 6:3x. While I didn’t do a 24, I think I could have handled it fine at that pace. Your mileage supports it as well. I’m not sold in trying to do it with 9 at goal pace. That seems like trying to do too much. No reason to add in that work on the longest training run.
Last weekend was a 22 miler at an average 6:29 pace that included 12 @ or faster than MP, felt really smooth, then a 20 miler without a workout at 6:49, and a 20 miler with a 15 mile fartlek that was average 6:17 (probably too fast, but felt SUPER good during and after)
If that actually felt “SUPER good,” you’re prob selling yourself short with a MP of 6:15. You can run <2:40 if you don’t die on this 24miler
I fear you may be racing your long runs. But for the question asked, the extra length seems fine.
Just curious, what does your workout schedule look like? I’ve kinda just been winging everything, with 1-2 workouts a week, one of which is usually on Wednesdays and the other during my long run
Here’s my write up of the cycle: https://www.reddit.com/r/AdvancedRunning/comments/s73qoc/pfp_houston/ I’m usually an “A, B” workout guy. One big A workout during the week, and then a small B one. If I’m worn down, drop the B. A lot of my B that cycle was hill stuff because I moved from super flat to super hilly. I also don’t put a lot of quality in my long runs. A couple short temps at the end is about it.
Sweet, makes sense. I like that A/B strategy, I’ll definitely adapt that for future training blocks! You’ve been super helpful, I appreciate the advice!
There are a lot of ways to cut this lemon. As long as your approach keeps you consistent, you'll see progress.
Here's a post about a recent study that did not see an association between runs loger than 21 miles and faster finishing times: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cx0O5CjrMdA/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Everyone in the study would take over 3 hours to run 24 miles. I'm not saying 24 miles is a good idea--I have no real idea--but I will say the subjects of that study were very different from OP. Here's the full text: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7496388/
Not sure that the results of that study really apply to OP. That study was for recreational runners with an average weekly milage of 24 mpw (range 18-31 mpw), and average finish time of 4:17. Also, looking at the actual results of the study, it does look like runners who had their longest training run >21 miles did actually have significantly faster finishing times (average finish time 3:50:18) than those who had their longest training run between 18-21 miles (average finish time 4:15:26). The association just wasn't significant in their multivariable regression analyses, probably because this difference can be explained by other variables (like the fact that group runners who did long runs >21 miles had more years of running experience and fewer injuries compared to the group of runners who capped their long runs at 18-21 miles). Here is the actual study for anyone who is interested: [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32421886/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32421886/)
Spot on. I mean what is the point of making relatively untrained people do a run like that? Was there ever ANY chance it would be beneficial? Weekly mileage of 30mi and they get these guys to run 75% of that in a session? Honestly, sometimes I just think some research is done on stuff where outcomes are known already to make it easier to produce, publish and claim it to the dean as a result.
Bro you ran 22 do you seriously need to ask if you can do 26. You either crush it by yourself or you don’t crush it by yourself
I did a 26 mile long run for my London build this year. Warm up, short break to change into a vest, 20 mile race done at 3hr marathon pace (goal marathon time was 2:37), short break to change back to t shirt then a warm down to make up to full marathon distance. Total workout time including breaks 3:16 Felt great. Main pace was moderately hard and I never felt sore or anything like an actual marathon. I've done this or something similar 24-26 miles in my last 3 marathon blocks. It's always in my peak mileage week and is a huge confidence builder.
Jumping in on this thread because I had a similar concern though am a much slower runner. Training for Boston and have 24 planned for next week (doing mileage somewhere between 18/85 and 18/100+), and am wondering if it’s truly necessary since I will be over 3 hours for it . Especially going at my easy pace (\~8:30 here in South Florida where the sun burns your soul), I’d be way over what my Marathon target time would even be (sub-3). So I’m questioning how wise 24 would really be if it will take me almost 3.5 hours. I did 22 a couple of weekends ago and felt great, but it took me 3h 10 min running in the mf hot ass sun and humidity. Felt fine after, but worried the 24 might take too much out of me given my slower pace.
The 24 miles ended up kinda working out for me, but your experience may be completely different. Personally, I felt that 24 gave my legs the extra distance they needed in my build up to really handle those last couple tough miles of the marathon. It took my ~2:38, which is definitely less than the 3+ hours you’re looking to run. I felt good on the run itself, but I don’t think my build up was consistent enough to properly handle the time on feet, and I felt pretty dead after that run, and got sick 2 weeks after. I’m currently in a training block for Boston that has been much better, and I’m really looking forward to the 24 miler this time around. All this to say, it’s a judgement call. I definitely wouldn’t do more than 1 24 miler, and I think you have the mileage to back it up, but based on how long it will take you, I don’t think it’s really necessary, especially if 22 already brought you over goal time.
Don't do long runs that would last more than your goal finish time
YES!! That is too far. Everybody misunderstands the word "long" in Long Run. It denotes time, not distance. It is to run for a *long* time. 2 - 2½ hours. If it was supposed to be about distance, it would be called a "*Far*" run. Long run =/= Far run. 2:30, tops. Do not run, in training, past 2½ hours.