Wicked Running Club

Here is our first installment of “Ask the Running Expert”. If you have a question you would like Jen Toomey to answer, send her a email at jen@toomeysports.com.

Question: I am currently running one 10 mile run and four 5 mile run’s per week. I plan on gradually increasing my 10 mile run to a 20 mile run, over the next two months. I was not planning on changing my 4 support runs. My question is: What are your thoughts on this plan, and do you have any recommendations?

Answer: Congratulations on your commitment to running. The long runs are very important to your overall aerobic development and also to prepare your body to use glycogen and fat stores while you run. This is especially important if you are training for a marathon. Typically, your long run should be no more that 25% of your weekly mileage and no longer than 2 hours. Running more than this breaks down your body and significantly increases your risk for injury.

The runs in between your long run help strengthen your bones and muscles.. The number one problem I see with training for a long race is that the athlete develops a minor to serious injury while training for that race. Often times athletes don’t step on that starting line 100% healthy. If you are a new to training or new to training distance, I would not recommend that you start running 50% of your weekly mileage on one day. There are psychological benefits to running that 20 miles but unless your are running that distance in around 2 hours, the risk of injury far outweighs the benefits of going that long.

A good strategy to help you get fit for your race is to 1) increases the intensity of one of your runs, even adding in interval training. This really helps your become a more efficient runner. 2) For the time being keep the total time of your long run the same, but increase the effort level for the last 30 minutes. 3) Pick two non-consecutive weeks to run long runs. For example, if you are racing a marathon, 6 weeks and 4 week before plan on running 2 hours. 4) add in an injury prevention program.