2006-02-15 - Is a 20 Mile Training Run Long Enough for a 26 Mile Race?
My answer may surprise you. I believe 20 miles is actually too far to run in training. There is no such thing is an easy long run, at any pace. The stress to the body during a 20-mile training run can be straw that breaks your body. The 20-mile training run usually comes late in the marathon training schedule, a time when all systems are taxed to the max. This is a time you are most susceptible to sickness and injury.
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Night Speed.
These guys were the regulars, I was the guest. First came a quick explanation of the 5.2 mile route, a winter route designed to follow streetlights, not quite enough light but as good as it gets on the far edge of suburbia. We headed into the night.
Only a couple hundred yards into it and the pace was heating up. No conversation. More often than not, this is bad sign, but I was thinking, not tonight! I had the feeling that I was as strong as any in the group, at least the ones who counted those I knew.