“The greatest pleasure in life is doing the things people say we cannot do.” – Walter Bagehot

The long run is really the bread and butter of distance training. It’s where we condition our body to withstand the stresses of running longer distances. We strengthen our hearts, our cardiovascular system, our muscles and tendons,  and become more energy efficient.

We accomplish all this by running SLOWLY, with an RPE between 4/10 and 6/10.

Today is not the day to try to set a PR or run so fast that you can’t hold a conversation with a running buddy. Save running fast for race day.

You may ask why we might want you sometimes to run longer than a 5k distance on your long run.  There are a few reasons.

The first is that as your running fitness improves, it’s a manageable distance. Second, there’s a confidence boost going into your 5k that you can actually run farther than you need to. Finally, for many, the 5k distance is a stepping stone to longer distance races. You can use the speed and stamina you develop in 5k training to transition into a 10k or half marathon program and start that program ahead of the game.