Question:I guess this question goes for training for races of all distances too:
how does training at distances shorter than the race at a pace slower
than race pace prepare you for the race??? Like in marathon training
programs that I have seen, you build up your miles, and then do long
runs of up to 22 miles, but always at a pace slower than the pace you
are going to race. And you do shorter runs at race pace. How does this
all work together so that you can actually run the whole distance at
this faster pace, even though your longest run in training was 4 miles
shorter and much slower? I know it can't be just the adrenaline surge
on race day.
Answer:
The long slow runs build up endurance, and teach the muscles
to burn fuel efficiently. The part of the equation you are missing
is that you also must go on runs at race pace, whatever race you
are training for. It is important to 'know the pace', and be able to
feel it. For a marathon, try a few medium length (8- 12 miles)
runs at race pace as well as the other methods you mentioned.
For most race distances, a common approach is to run over/under the race
distance in which you run longer than the race distance at a slower pace
and shorter than race distance at a faster pace. For the marathon, this
isn't a great strategy, because for most of us, running longer than marathon
distance at any pace is going to take us too long to recover from. So you have
to cheat some. You run long runs up to 22 miles at a slower pace which keeps
you on your feet about the same amount of time as you will go on race day and
hopefully will give you the necessary endurance.
Anyway, that is the basic strategy seen in "surviving the marathon" type
schedules, and will probably work fine as long as your target marathon pace
isn't very aggressive. As you've noticed, though, this isn't likely to
be enough to help you reach a more aggressive goal. More advanced programs
will have you run large chunks of your long run at marathon pace or they'll
de-emphasize the long run and put more of an emphasis on 14-18 miles runs at
marathon pace or slightly faster. However, these types of runs are much more
likely to cause injury, and so you won't see them in beginner programs.
For the most part, I stick to the slow 22-milers since I haven't yet shown
the ability to handle even them without injury.
What you are asking is, what is the physiology and psychology underlying
training for running. This is an enormous topic, needless to say. In a
nutshell, though:
Running involves the coordinated action of various systems to carry out
functions related to running, including:
Metabolic systems:
1. Delivery of fuel to the mucles
2. Delivery of oxygen to the muscles
3. Removal of waste from the muscles
4. Muscle fibre recruitment and contraction
5. The ability of the body to rebuild muscle tissue and restore fuel
resources when running ceases
Mechanical systems:
6. The skeleton and the mechanics of its movement
7. The ability of the musculoskeletal system to withstand the rigors of
running
Psychological systems:
8. The ability of the mind to withstand the stress of running
(not necessarily a comprehensive list, but for the sake of discussion...)
When you do a pre-marathon long run, you are, in fact, training these
systems. For example, delivery of fuel to the muscles alters depending on
running intensity and availability of fuel from various sources (muscle
glycogen, liver glycogen, available carbohydrate, available fat, muscle
tissue itself, etc.) In the early phases of running, the body will
preferentially obtain fuel from the most readily available source. However,
as the run continues, the most readily available sources become depleted, in
which case the next most readily available sources become preferentially
tapped, and so on. A 22 mile run is sufficiently close to the racing
distance (although not necessarily at the same intensity) so that the use of
fuel from the various sources will somewhat resemble what's going to happen
on race day, and so the training carries over. Similarly, the ability of
the body to remove and eliminate the various waste products generated during
the consumption of fuel from the various sources is also trained. And so on
with the various other metabolic systems. The mechanical systems obtain
similar benefits. For example, long runs encourage tendon and ligament
toughness and skeletal strength so that they can handle running over long
distances without failure. This training obviously carries over to racing.
And finally, the mind is trained to continue to run even when the body is
experiencing extreme physiological stress.
The specificity principle suggests that the best marathon training is to
simply run marathons at racing speed. For most runners, this is simply not
possible, nor is it necessarily desirable. The various physical and
biochemical systems are severely taxed by a marathon, and it is unlikely
that a runner could maintain such a training regime without becoming injured
or overtrained. Furthermore, it may not be an entirely desirable approach
either. Generally, one wants to improve performance, meaning that one wants
to continually increase pace as time goes by. By specificity once again,
the most direct route to doing that is to run at the faster pace. However,
because the runner is currently unable to maintain that pace over the entire
race distance, the strategy is adjusted -- training for pace and training
for endurance are split. The faster pace is maintained over a shorter
distance to train for pace, and a slower pace is maintained over a longer
distance to train for endurance. Neither is an exact simulation of what is
going to happen on race day, but taken together, they subject the body and
the mind to the sime kinds of experiences that it will face during the race,
and thus training takes place.
I do appreciate your succint explanation. It benefits a novice
marathon training like me who is going to do the first time marathon in
5 weeks.
What week do you do the 22 miler. I'm training for the Philly NOv 19 race
and my buddy and I are figuring on doing 22-23 next weekend and then 12 then
the last long run 8 miles, what is your thought??
Sounds good to me. Typically 3 weeks before the marathon day is the long run
(20mi for most folks). Then a 12mi and a 8miler on following weekends
during the taper.
