OK to do a long run twice per week?

Hiya folks.

I've fallen a bit behind on my training but over the next few weeks I've got a lot of time on my hands. I was wondering if there's any reason not to do a long run twice per week, e.g. Sunday and Wednesday. Am I right in thinking that the main reason people do it once per week at weekend, is simply that people only have that much time to invest at weekends and are busier with work etc during the week?

Cheers,

Stu.

I think the main reason people only do one is that (a) doing two increases risk of injury unless you are used to it (b) the second does you no where near as good a the first unles syou are training for some ultra event etc (c) doing two increases fatigue greatly and lowers quality of all other runs.

Personally I wouldnt do two in a week  at your stage just focus on quality training

K

I had a similar issue when training for my half over the summer and rejigged my plan so I ran an LSR every 5 days which worked well but I wouldn't have wanted to push it to 3 or 4 days and it was only mileage of 8 - 11 miles.

I would say if you're at the 'under 10 mile LSR' stage of your training plan then give it a go every 5 days for a few weeks until you catch up, if you're running more than this you don't need to catch up so stick to once a week (assuming you're in for an April marathon).

I am following a 3 runs per week training plan. Compared to previous years I am doing fewer runs but I'm finding it a lot more comfortable and enjoyable. I would say that quality of runs is more important than quantity at the moment. I doubt that there's anyone here who has completed every single run on their training plan so I wouldn't worry about missing a few at this stage.

If I understand well, the gist of the thread is "Is it sensible to try and play catch up if I have fallen behind with my training".

The answer, in my opinion, is no.

I've done all mine.....lol.......am doing Hal Higdon Intermediate 2 for a change as usually do Garmin....HH is v easy to follow and use, so far !!  IF I do have to miss any runs further down the line, I would make sure if poss that it is not a LSR. 

...and I realise this is completely off original question / subject but meh. 

I've missed a couple but they've been mid week recovery or speed sessions and it's been down to lack of time or energy. On reflection, in each case it has been the right thing to do and has made the LSRs more manageable. I can understand the anxiety of missing a few weeks running. In 09 I had a back injury for 4 of the last 6 weeks of my training and missed a lot of running including my longest LSRs. I still got round the course and lived to tell the tale.

Hi,

1 of the main reasons for a long run at the end of the week is because you are training your body for a long run/marathon etc which you'll find the majority of the time, are held on weekends.

Also, you'll find a lot of athletes, myself included, have a long (ish) run during the week. ie- a Wednesday. If you plan on doing this then I would recommend it be no more than 60% of the distance you are at for your long run. ie- if you are at 20 mile on a Sun then I wouldn't do any more than 12 on a Wed.

What I would say as well is that this training method is used by athletes on a very intense and varied training programme. I average 90 - 100 miles p/w and the rest of my programmes contains mixed runs, ie- easy/recovery,steady,tempo/threshold,fertlek,speed/hill intervals etc.

I would definately not recommend 2 long runs of the same distance in 1 week as your body needs time to recover. If you have more time on your hands then I would recommend you vary your training runs which work on fitness and stamina, which in turn will benefit your long run and your overall progress.

Good luck,

Deek