The Long Run (a.k.a. the slow run)

I did a 14 mile long run today at Forest Park with the Big River training team. We ran 8 miles out on the Go! St. Louis course, followed by a 6 mile loop around the park. The weather was absolutely perfect. I also did a short core workout.

Totals for the week: swim 0 yards, bike 0 miles, run 53 miles, 2 core workouts. Not happy with my swim and bike mileage at all, but at least I had a decent week of running.

The long run has 3 main purposes. First, to train your body to use fat more effectively as fuel; second, to get your body use to the constant pounding and to strengthen your legs; and third, to learn how to deal with physical and mental fatigue. So what pace do you need to run at to best achieve these goals? Let's take a look at the second and third goals. In my opinion, pace really doesn't affect these goals at all. However, the first goal mentioned, requires you to run at a certain pace. That pace is often called conversation pace or below lactate threshold. Conversation pace is pretty self-explanatory, it is simply a comfortable pace that you can carry on a conversation at. Below lactate threshold is a bit more scientific and involves the use of a heart rate monitor. I don't think that one method is better than the other. In fact, I tend to see more people running their correct long run pace without a HR monitor than with a HR monitor.

I absolutely love the McMillan Running website. They have a great tool called the running calculator. Check it out. I'll continue talking about this more tomorrow, as it's time for bed!