Coopah How To: Nail Your Long Run

Ahhh the long run – the bread and butter (well done if you remember my sandwich analogy, and if you need reminding, click here to read all about it) of marathon training. Quite simply, without those long runs, you really are missing a key ingredient to your training, and in fact, it doesn’t really work without them.

But look I get it, the long runs can feel pretty overwhelming, especially if it’s your first marathon and you’re running for longer than you ever have before. But luckily there are things you can do to help make these runs not only feel achievable, but more enjoyable too.

And just keep reminding yourself; marathon training isn’t always going to be easy, if it was… everyone would do it.

GET ORGANISED

There is a famous saying – by failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail, and it could not be more appropriate for marathon training in general, but especially so for your long runs.

Getting ahead and being organised for your long runs really is a game changer and can make it so much easier to get out of the door and get it done;

• Look at your plan each week, and make sure you have carved out enough time in your diary to fit your long run in on that day.
• If you’re worried about doing the distance alone, why not plan to run with a friend each week for either all or some of the run. Trust me, the miles can go by a lot quicker when you’re chatting away.
• If you love parkrun, why not plan to incorporate this into your long run for that extra motivation.
• Plan your route so you know exactly how far you need to run, use it as a way to explore your local area or even somewhere new.

SLOW DOWN

A big mistake a lot of runners make when it comes to long runs is thinking they need to run every single long run at their ‘goal marathon pace’ (or even quicker) or that they need to treat every long run as a race. Well, spoiler alert – you definitely don’t need to be doing that.

In fact, the majority of your long runs (this will be dependent on your race day goal) should be completed at a pace that feels relatively easy and comfortable for you.

By running at a slower pace it allows you to build your fitness (endurance), improve your aerobic capacity (key for marathon running) and also allows you to build mileage without over exerting the body and causing excessive fatigue. Of course, there will be times during your training when you will push yourself, but it certainly doesn’t need to be every time you put your shoes on and head out for a run.

FUEL THE TANK

Making sure you are fuelling your long runs properly is one of the most important things you can do to ensure they go well. Not only that, it will also help your recovery and aids injury prevention too, so it isn’t something that should be ignored.

Fuelling well for your long runs also starts before you have even run a step, in fact you want to be thinking about your fuelling the day before at least as this will mean you will start the run with a full tank, as opposed to already being depleted.

Whilst it’s important to have a healthy, balanced diet overall (a mix of carbohydrates, fat + protein) when it comes to fuelling your marathon training I want you to think of carbohydrates as your best friend, as they are the bodies most efficient source of energy and they are also a lot easier to digest than fats + protein, making them great for on the go too.

Here is an example of what you could eat leading up to your long run:

Dinner (the night before): Pasta + chicken with a tomato based sauce, and a side of garlic bread.

Breakfast (90-120 mins before your run): Bagel with peanut butter + honey

Snack (30 mins before your run): Banana

By ensuring you are fuelled well before, you are giving yourself the best hard start and it will make it a lot easier to start ticking those miles off.