2024 RunBlogRun Spring Training Program, Week 2, Day 7, On Sundy, You Run Long

This is Sunday, March 24, 2024.

This is your long run day.

Your workout:

Warm up slowly,

75-90 minutes of running for juniors and seniors and 65-70 minutes for freshmen and sophomores.

Hydrate,

Cooldown,

get out of wet clothes,

Recover,

Larry’s Deep Thoughts: Elle St. Pierre won the 3,000m at the 2024 World Champs in Glasgow, igniting a US middle-distance bonanza! Yared Nuguse then took silver in the 3000m. The next day, Bryce Hoppel took gold at 800m, Cole Hocker took silver, and Hobbs Kessler took bronze in the M at 1,500m. In the final event, Emily MacKay dug deep to the front, holding on for the bronze, while Nikki Hiltz took the silver, giving the US 7 middle distance medals! Believe!

All of them do long runs based on their training. 800m-5,000m can start with 60 minutes and build up to 90 if you are in high school, 2:00 in college, and 2:30 post-college. Vary the distances on 3-week cycles, so 70-80-90 for high schools, 1:30, 1:45, 2:00 for college, and 2:00, 2:10, 2:30 for post-collegiate. Vary the pace, and have some fun with it!

Most weeks, long runs are done at a conversational pace. The late Coach Bill Squires, one of the greatest American distance coaches, suggested a 10-minute segment midway that you push the pace. My college coach, Dan Durante, kept the first half easy and planted a tough hill drive for 30-40 minutes in the second half. It was tough, and we could not talk in the last 15-20 minutes of this, but it gave us strength and confidence.

Oh, and a final thought on Elle St. Pierre. One does not trifle with this athlete. It was pretty evident that, after that battle with Jessica Hull on February 4, 2024, Elle kept it in her head for the next week that she would dust Jess in the mile. St. Pierre is one of the most demanding athletes I have ever met. She is focused, mentally tough, and wants that medal in Glasgow very, very much.