THE LONG RUN Check the
following links for information relative to our Saturday morning long runs.
Each of these links has something a little different to say about the long runs,
their role in marathon training, and how best to benefit from them. But, there
are common threads throughout all of the articles, threads that focus on the
benefits derived from slowing the long runs down and the physiological processes
at play as we do so... processes that allow our bodies to adapt sufficiently
over time and best prepare come race day:
Hal Higdon: Marathon Training Guide
Preparing For The Long Run
Long May You Run
Making Your Long Runs Count
Best Pace For Long Runs
Avoid Hitting The Wall
But wait, there's more! The following is an excerpt from an article in
"Peak Running Performance"... one of the best performance
running-related periodicals I've found over the years:
"Build
Your Endurance: Aerobic Conditioning"
"Research has shown that
when you run at an effort or speed in the range of 55-75% of your VO2max running
speed (easy distance running at slower than marathon race pace), you are
primarily utilizing your aerobic energy-producing system or aerobic conditioning
system. You build endurance. Training at this effort or intensity level improves
your endurance by increasing:
- the amount of fat you use as fuel
- the number of mitochondria (energy factories) in the
muscle cells
- the amount of oxidative enzymes in the muscle cells
- the number of capillaries (blood vessels) in the
muscle fibers
- the endurance of "slow-twitch" and certain
"fast-twitch" muscle fibers
- your total blood volume
- the amount of muscle glycogen (stored carbohydrates)
that can be stored
- the strength of the connective tissues
"Surprisingly, most
distance runners train much too fast for optimal aerobic conditioning to occur.
This not only fails to achieve the desired results but leaves their legs too
tired to properly train the other energy systems that are essential to
well-balanced training and overall improvement.
For example, a 41:36 10K [6:40/mile] runner could run his or her easy
runs from 8:10-11:08/mile and be assured of training the aerobic conditioning
energy system."
Soooooo... the long and short
of all this literature is SLOW DOWN during your long training runs in order to
RUN FASTER during your races. Simple, eh??
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