Transcription
Okay, how fast should you run your long runs? No doubt one of the most common but also most important questions I get asked. And whether you're training for a half marathon, marathon, or beyond, getting your long run pacing right can make or break your progress. The long run's not just there to build endurance. It's there to get you specifically race ready. But it's also one of the most confusing topics. If you Google "how fast should I run my," you're going to get 25 different answers.
So, in this video, I'm going to break down exactly how to pace your long runs, and I'll show you the three main types of long run that I do, why they each matter, and how I calculate the perfect pace for each one based on my goal marathon time. I'm Lee Grantham, a coach and professional ultrarunner who went from running a marathon in 4 hours and 25 minutes to running a marathon in 2 hours and 21 minutes. And in the beginning, I went off what was on the internet. And so, I would do all my long runs long slow distance. And then I would wonder why in a race they would get to a point when it would get extremely difficult. But once I got my head around what I'm about to show you, I unlocked a whole new level of performance. And if you want to unlock a whole new level of performance for yourself and go way faster, then get in contact by booking a call in the link in the description.
Again, long runs aren't just about time on your feet. If we get these runs right together with the interval session, you've got two sessions on a weekly basis that are really working for you and really pushing you forward as a runner, which means a faster racer. And yes, we want to create the long runs so that we're building endurance and tapping into that fat metabolism and building that area of our game, but we also want to reinforce and strengthen our mental game and prepare our body to get efficient, become more and more efficient at moving over the ground at race pace and relative to race pace. But of course, there's a sweet spot. And the way that we can make a run harder is e we can do more of it or we can go faster or we can go too frequently. And so timing is key, duration is key, and the duration of the specifically race-paced effort is also key. And the progressions gradually increasing that volume.
So here are three different types of specific long run. I'm going to use my marathon pace and show you exactly how I calculate the paces during these specific long runs so that you can calculate your own paces and more importantly effort levels for these runs. So for your calculations, my marathon pace is 3:20 per kilometer or 5:20 per mile. Now 3:20 per kilometer is a really nice figure to deal with. That's exactly 10 times 20 seconds. So when I'm talking about plus 10%, I mean 10% slower. When I'm talking about plus 20%, I mean 20% slower. So 10% slower is 20 seconds slower, 3:40. And 20% slower is 40 seconds slower, 4 minutes per kilometer.
Now this is not one of the specific long runs but just so you get an idea of pacing. If I'm going to go out there and do a long slow distance run and let's work for the simplicity of this video with 24 to 25k or 15 to 15.5 miles of long run and let's keep that as a constant throughout. If I'm to go out there and do long slow distance, all I care about is being in zone two for the entire time. My zone two is 130 to 150 beats. So, all I'm focused on is moving over the ground at 140 to 150 beats most of the time. And I'm starting probably at 130 beats and gradually gradually ramping it up, letting the pace and effort level come to me. Remembering that the perceived effort for this type of run will be slightly higher at the end than at the start.
Now, it depends where I am in the world and how hot it is and how humid it is. To give you an example, my race pace again, marathon pace 3 minutes 20 per kilometer. My long slow distance pace might be 5 minutes per kilometer. So if you think about that, that's exactly 50% more, 50% slower for my long slow distance. But again, all I care about is being in zone two and not going above 150 beats. And what's going to happen then is let's say I do all of those long slow distance runs and we keep the conditions, the humidity, the heat exactly the same. If I do them all at 145 beats, guess what happens when I do more of them? I become more efficient at moving over the ground at 145 beats. And so I'm able to go faster for the same level of effort. So what that looks like in real life is all of a sudden that 5-minute pace becomes 4:40. And that 4:40 pace becomes 4:20. And so what you're essentially doing is you're bringing that pace quicker towards your marathon pace, which is incredibly important because all of a sudden you're not going that much quicker to hold race pace for the marathon. And what that means again in real life, because let's stay in real life, is if I can do my long slow distance and be in zone two, 145 beats at 4:20 per kilometer, then it means during the marathon I'm more comfortable for longer, which is incredibly important because we know it's that final third or that final quarter where we really going to have to dig in.
So now let's get to the fun stuff. Let's get to the specific long runs. And by fun, I really mean that going to add variety into the specific long runs, but it's also going to be way more beneficial because we're working at race pace and relative to race pace. Way more specific.
Specific long run number one. Now, all we're going to do here is we're going to step back and we're going to work to time instead of distance and we're going to run for 100 minutes, but we're going to do 20 minutes easy in zone two and gradually ramping up towards the end of that 20 minutes. So, we're accelerating to marathon pace. And then what I'm going to do is five times 10 minutes at marathon pace. And I like to take 60 seconds in between. But if you want to jog very lightly for 2 minutes in between, that will also reduce your heart rate so that you can attack that next 10-minute rep. And then what we're going to do on the end is gradually get back into zone two. Let that take a couple of kilometers, but we're going to do 30 minutes on the end. A lot of which will be in zone two. And so what we're doing there is we're not thinking about distance. We're thinking to do with pace, marathon pace, and executing 50 minutes of marathon pace within a 100-minute long run. Now, depending on where you're at in your journey, that should be quite manageable because it's nicely chopped up into 10-minute segments. But a nice progression or a nice starting point to progress onto is three times 10 minutes, then four times 10 minutes, then 5 times 10 minutes. And because you're working to minutes, you can compare apples with apples. So if you do this week two of your training plan and then week 12 of the training plan, then all of a sudden you can see what could I move over the ground, not just in zone two, but also zone three and zone four. And what was my marathon pace, what effort level, how many beats per minute, and what zone was I in for those specific segments. Remember what we're trying to do here is become as comfortable as possible at the marathon pace that we can currently hold and also get comfortable at running over the ground at our intended at our goal marathon pace or race pace. I love that long run because there's literally there's nowhere to hide and you know 50 minutes how far did I get? Did I hit my splits and was rep one and rep two? Yeah, they're going to be a bit more comfortable than rep four and five, but again, like the marathon or like your half marathon, that's when you're digging in and that's where you're getting the job done, but you're still in control of the entire run. And if you're somewhere in between there, if you're somewhere in between current marathon pace and goal marathon pace, then do those five times 10 minutes at marathon effort. Now, very simply, that means the pace that you can hold for the entire marathon or the pace that you think you can hold currently for the entire marathon. And again, let's say that's 160 beats. Then what we're trying to do is become incredibly comfortable and then quicker at moving over the ground for that effort level of 160 beats.
Specific long run number two. Now, I get excited telling you about these because I love these sessions and they really work. All we're going to do is progression run 24 kilometers or 15 miles and we're just going to chop it into three. So we're either going to do 8 kilometers, 8 kilometers, or 8 kilometers or 5 miles, 5 miles, 5 miles. And you can make this as hard or as easy as you want. And the way I would start with this is something as simple as marathon pace for the last 8 kilometers. So that's the marathon pace that we're aiming at. And that's helping us to finish fast and stay strong at the end of a 24-kilometer or 15-mile long run. For the first 8 kilometers, I'm doing that 20% slower than marathon pace. So for me, 3:20 per kilometer or 5:20 per mile, I'm doing that first 8 kilometers at 4 minutes per kilometer. And I'm doing the next 8 kilometers or 5 miles 10% quicker. So I'm doing that at 3:40 per kilometer. So it's gradually getting quicker. And then I'm finishing that final eight kilometers or five miles at marathon pace. 3:20 per kilometer or 5:20 per mile. So very simply, first 8 kilometers or 5 miles, 4 minutes per kilometer, 20% slower than marathon pace. Middle chunk of 8 kilometers, 5 miles, 3:40 per kilometer, 10% slower than marathon pace, and then marathon pace for the final chunk of 5 miles or 8 kilometers. The way that we can make that more difficult and depending on where you at in your running journey or what you're training for, this will also work really well. But it's a real test. 24 kilometers again exactly the same distance or 15 miles. First 8 kilometers at 3:40, 10% slower than marathon pace. Middle 8 kilometers at marathon pace. And then the final 8 kilometers at 10% quicker or half marathon pace. Now for me that would be 3:10 per kilometer. So only 10 seconds per kilometer faster than my marathon pace because that's all I could get to in my half marathon.
Now both of those sessions they work really well providing that you do a thorough warm-up. Really important because we're just going to bounce straight into either 4 minutes per kilometer, 20% slower than marathon pace or 10% slower than marathon pace, 3:40 per kilometer. And if you just jog for a couple of kilometers and then get into marathon pace plus 20%, all of a sudden the body is shocked. And what you'll see is the heart rate will go up and it won't be able to recover because you've shocked your system. What we want to do is the warm-up to gradually walking, light jogging, gradually getting up to the pace that we want to hold for that first segment so that those first five miles or 8 kilometers is not a shock to the system and it's well within our capability. That is not only going to help you execute these sessions much better and much more consistent with the heart rate and how it gradually rises. It's also going to add a lot more consistency to your training schedule. And on the back end, don't just go for marathon pace, getting in the car, having a warm hot chocolate, and then driving home. Got to gradually bring the heart rate down, clear that lactate, and then do your regular cool down and then get your recovery shake in.
Specific Long Run number three. Now, all we're going to do here, super simple, and the progressions are endless. All we're going to do is work with our marathon pace again. So, we're going to start with 4 kilometers at marathon pace plus 20%. So, for me, 4 minutes per kilometer, 20% slower than 3:20 per kilometer. And then I'm going to do the middle 15 kilometers at marathon pace. So, focused on 3:20 per kilometer or 5:20 per mile. And then I'm going to do the last 4 kilometers at marathon pace plus 10%. So at 3:40 per kilometer. So it's a 24-kilometer long run, continuous long run or 15 miles. And all we're doing is the entire volume at marathon pace and relative to marathon pace.
Now what we can do with that and a really big key session that I do five to eight weeks out from a main marathon goal is we can build that middle section to be half a marathon. So 30 miles or 21K. And so this session is a really nice stepping stone onto that because if we can do something like four to five kilometers at the beginning relative to marathon pace to 10% or 20% slower, then 13 miles or 21K at marathon pace on fatigued legs from training and then four to 5 kilometers on the end at marathon pace plus 10% to 20%. And we can do that and time it well enough so it's 5 to eight weeks out, we're in a great place to get confident when we get to that start line and execute the entire marathon at marathon pace. It's one of those sessions that I know if I do that and I'm out there alone, you're usually messing around a little bit more with bottles because there's not drink stations there. It's a great time to do it in a race as well to help out with those logistics. But I know if I can box off that session, I just know that I'm ready to go on marathon morning.
And it's such a key point when you get into running and I was exactly the same. We we know that we've got 42 kilometers or 26 miles coming up. And so we go into this frame of mind that how can I run the entire marathon at the pace that I want to run at? Whether you're aiming for 3 hours or 4 hours, it's the same battle. How can I do that if I can't even hold marathon pace for 33k or 20 miles or 35k, 22 miles? And so where that leads us is into a path of overdoing it. Because 3 weeks out from our main dance, we're doing 22 miles at marathon pace to prove to ourselves that we can do the marathon at that pace. And it's actually detracting from our performance. And therefore, once you get to that 30k mark or 20-mile point, you're fatigued. And it's not because you couldn't execute 42K or 26 miles at marathon pace. It's because you'd already wrecked your race day performance too close to the race with too much. And so, you'd arrive to start line on fatigued legs. And remember with all these specific long runs, with all your long runs and your interval sessions, be practicing with exactly the same race day nutrition that you're going to be using on race day. So that is just you going through the motions. You know, you can get those gels or sports drinking. You know, it's getting to the muscles as energy. You know, it all works and it's also improving the quality of your training sessions, which is infinitely more important.
Now, where do you put these? I like to put them once a week on a Sunday. You can rotate through these and do variations of them and they're nice little tests. So, get to a point. I've got to a point where I'm more nervous and more anxious before these big key sessions, the big interval session and the specific long runs than I am the race. And that's a great place to be because that's where all the nerves usually are. But if we can understand that the hard work is where what really counts and if we can execute these key sessions, the race will take care of itself. Meaning that your character you cannot avoid on race day and so you will finish the job so long as you've got your training right. So don't overdo it and keep it specific. And if you want more great sessions to get ready for your race, here you go. [Music]