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TimRuns
Member
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Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 10062
Location: Coquitlam, British Columbia
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 Posted: 06/21/04 - 15:24 Post subject: % of weekly mileage for long runs?
Hi all, I just have a question regarding how much should long runs constitute your weekly mileage. I've been hearing/reading different things from 25% to 35%. And does the proportion change in different phases of training (i.e. base vs intensity vs peak, etc..). So far for the past 7 weeks I've been logging base mileage with long runs constituting about 32-33% of my weekly total. For example last week I logged ~60.5 miles with a 20 mile long run and the previous, 55-56 with an 18 miler. I received comments from another forum that my long run (at least for the 60 mile week) was a bit too excessive. Should I spread out my weekly mileage a bit more by decreasing my LR distances and putting the extra miles into my other training runs) or is that about right? I do vary the distances of my runs in the week as well with 2 medium long and 3 shorter, easy runs.
For instance see my last week's schedule: [url]http://runningforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=20562 [/url]
I'm also going to start adding some short speedwork sessions (about 20+ mins) starting next week as I'm entering my last cycle of base. Should I decrease my LR distances slightly to accomadate for the faster stuff as well? Thanks for your help...I'm just a little confused about this issue...
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jrjo
Gone Fishin
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Joined: 15 May 2002
Posts: 16451
Location: Lake Wobegon, MN
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Posted: 06/21/04 - 15:29 Post subject:
I've found through personal experience, tracking others and just plain averaging all the pundits out there, 30% holds pretty well true as a long run %.
And yes, I'll even go as far to say this should be the case for optimum marathon training.
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CoachCraig
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Joined: 23 Dec 2003
Posts: 276
Location: Eugene, OR
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Posted: 06/21/04 - 18:47 Post subject:
For a marathon, long runs in the 20-22 mile range are pretty typical, no matter what level you are at. Since the absolute value of the long run is pretty well fixed, that means the percentage of your total is just dependant on what level your total mileage is at.
If you are a novice marathoner, your long run might be over 50% of your total weekly mileage, and that is appropriate for that level. A top marathoner doing high mileage might have a long run that is just 15% or even less of the weekly mileage.
jrjo's 30% number works out to 65-75 mpw. This is a very good total for most preople, but certainly not optimum for a highly competitive marathoner. It just depends on what level you are at.
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