by Larry EderThe long run is a staple with distance running. It is both mental and physical. The long run should be 75-90 minutes (with more experienced athletes, I suggest a 3 week cycle, 1:50, 2:00, 2:220 and repeat), and it gives strength and confidence.
The late, eccentic Percy Cerruty with 1960 Olympic champ Herb Elliot, photo courtesy by Anent Scottish Running
One time, in the summer prior to my senior year in college, my coach took me to a shady one mile abandoned road. He had me, in the hot part of the day, complete a 24 mile run, with the last section containing 4 god awful hills. The difference? I took 4 ounces of ice cold water, until 12 miles, and while my stomach sloshed until 14 miles, after that, as it got hotter, I felt better each mile. By the time I hit the hills, I was so pumped, I took the hills with abandon. After the run, Coach Dan Durante would soak our legs with ice cold water. He had observed jockeys do that with their horses and noted that Percy Cerruty, the eccentric Australian coach, had done that with 1960 Olympic champ Herb Elliott.
The lesson to me was two fold. In my best marathons, I would keep hydrated and at midway, would negative split, catching my competitors in the last miles, as they struggled.
Sunday, 25 July 2020: Long runs, 70-75 minutes
2020 RunBlogRun Spring Track & Field Training program, in the time of the coronavirus, Week 30, day 7
Monday: warm up, an easy 50 minutes, 6 x 150 m stride outs, cooldown
Tuesday: warm up, 15 minutes easy, tempo run, 20 minutes, at pace 30 seconds above your ave mile pace for 5k now. So, if you ran 18 minutes for 5k, you can run 20 minutes at 6:20 mile pace, this is not to exhaust you, but to build you, 20 minute cooldown,
Wednesday: warm up, an easy 45 minutes, 6 x 150 m stride outs, cooldown
Thursday: wam up, 60 minute hilly run, include a long 10 minute hilly grind, and 5×3 minute hilly charge, cooldown
Friday: warm up, an easy 45 minutes, 6 x 150 m stride outs, cooldown
Saturday: warm up, Fartlek: 5 minutes at 5k pace, 5 minutes easy, 4 minutes at 5k pace, 4 minutes easy, 3 minutes at 5k pace, 3 minutes easy, 2 minutes at 5k pace, 2 minutes easy, 30 minutes, 10 x 1 minute, 5 k pace, 2 minutes easy, cooldown.
Sunday: Long runs, 70-75 minutes
