Does the long run ever get easier?

BChanFit

I will be running my 3rd 1/2 marathon next weekend and want to start building up to a base of about 20 miles per week to start full marathon training next year. This week I'll have 18 miles and will just continue with 20 from there next week and beyond until May when I start the "real" marathon training for the race next October.

So my question is... does the long run every get easier? I know I have a lot of them in my future. I like running but so far anything over an hour feels like a "big deal". I remember when running a 5k felt like a big deal and now it's no problem. At this point though if I have an 7 mile run or more planned I worry over it, plan around it, prepare for it, psych myself up for it. Then afterwards I feel like "oh my goodness I just did this amazing super human thing" and just want to baby myself the rest of the day. I'm sore everywhere and really hungry - all day. Pathetic. Does it ever get to the point where these long runs are no big deal, you just go do it, run for 2 hours and then move on with your day?

And how long does it take to get to that point.....? I'm assuming it's different for everyone but just wondering if I have that to look forward to at some point.

CarsonRuns

Yep. It does. How long does it take? That's going to differ for everyone. When your long run is 12 miles, 7 miles feels like no big deal. I know that I finally felt like a true marathoner when I approached a 20 mile run like it was just another workout.

litsy3

Yes it does. I love long runs. You run them at an easy enough pace that, once you're used to them, you almost don't feel like you're doing anything to keep you moving, you're just flowing effortlessly, you don't even notice that you're breathing. I could run at long run pace all day, except I'd get hungry at lunchtime. It's one of the joys of running.

How long? I think a few years of building up your weekly mileage to the point where you've got really good aerobic conditioning.

rabblerabble

I'm just finishing a half-marathon plan (race is tomorrow morning, second half this year) and I maxed out my weekend long slow run at about 12 miles a few weeks ago. I actually find the long run is sometimes easier than some of the weekday runs where I do things like repeats, tempo runs, hill training, etc.

After the race I'll be taking it easier for a few months, then will start training for a spring marathon and in that training, those long runs will get much longer of course. Like the poster noted above, a year ago 5K seemed like an impossible distance to me and now that seems like a very easy run. But certainly the more one runs, the easier it is to do the longer distances over time.

BChanFit

Thanks everyone! This is very encouraging and I feel a little less anxious about it already. 7 miles tomorrow it is...

valentine4

best of luck, they do get easier I did my first 20 mile run a couple of months ago, I had been gradually building up to it - I very foolishly did it before an 8 hr shift, I felt awful afterwards! I came on here had a good moan, got lots of reassurance and encouragement andsure enough the second 20 miler was completely different. I'm not at the level where it doesn't take a lot out of me ( I have done a few by now) but it definitely got a lot more manageable...just see how I get on with 26.2 next Monday...

BChanFit

Glad to hear it valentine4 - and good luck!

ekat120

It was about midway through formal marathon training that I started feeling that way. Once my long runs were in the mid-teens, 8-12 mile runs (that I used to plan for and worry about all week) stopped being a big deal. It was really weird and great to just head out without agonizing over what I was going to eat before, and when, and my hydration and everything. I think slowing down a bit helped, too

wombat94

I agree with ekat120... Now that my long runs are in the high teens for my marathon training, the 8 - 12 mile runs are no big deal (which is a good thing because my marathon plan has me running three 8 - 12 mile runs each week in addition to my long run!).

I even have reached the point now where I can go without any fuel before or during a run of up to 12 miles... hydration depends on the temperature and humidity, but I can often go without water on those runs as well... taken together, that makes those runs MUCH less stressful.

Definitely learning to slow down for the long/easy runs has been one of the biggest challenges of marathon training for me, but now that I finally "get" it, I'm doing much better.

rabblerabble

I think that one thing to remember is that most of the experts that write up running plans emphasize that the long run is supposed to a nice easy slow pace where you are building endurance rather than speed.

SillyC2

Definitely! Obviously, fitness plays a big role in how you feel, but I think also at some point, your brain stops freaking out and stops telling you that the way you're feeling is some kind of emergency. And that, my friend, is permanent. Once you're used to running long..... you're used to running long forever.

throoper

I've never done a full marathon, but I've done a bunch of halfs. I do think that the long run gets easier..... I load up my favorite podcasts and run pretty slowly, and 2 hours goes by pretty easily. I think running in a nice place really helps me... doing a boring loop makes it feel endlessly long!

SkepticalOwl

My 7 mile run this morning was a breeze compared to the 12 miler I did last week. Three months ago I never would have thought that 7 miles would be no big deal!

saskie78

Yes! It starts to feel like fun, like release, less like work. Until you start trying to run it too fast, of course

STrooper

In a word...yes!

OldNoobJohn

I'm new to running but I find I settle into a long run rhythm where I feel I could go on indefinitely. For me, that's 3 steps breathing in, 3 steps breathing out. Of course, being a noob, that feeling is fleeting. I can be feeling great and 15 minutes later be gasping due to a sequence of hills or just the passage of time and distance. The more I run, the easier it gets.

STrooper

Most marathon training programs consist of several days during the week of shorter, possibly more intense maintenance and/or recovery runs with the gradual buildup in distance. My prgram for my very first marathon was 26 weeks in length culminating in a marathon (though I picked it up in "week 6" since I was already capable of running 6 miles. There was a progression (every two weeks on the weekend) of two more miles than the previous long distance at a very slow training pace. In the weekend in between there was some other shorter (approximately half the distance of the longest run so far). During the week the runs were only 30-45 minutes at least two days a week.

The progression from 6,8, 10,12, and then 14 miles went pretty smoothly (though my 14 mile run was the worst run I've ever done). What I noticed, as did friends that were also training at the same time was thedistance of the previous run was "easier" than it had been before (for example, the first 8 miles of the 10 mile felt fine because I had just run the 8 miles two weeks before. But the last 2 miles were a little bit of a challenge. Then when I ran 12 miles, the first 10 felt "easy" while the final two were a bit of a challenge.

My program then took a jump to 17 miles but also had a 3 week recovery before the next jump to 20. Again, the mileage I had done previously seemed relatively easy but the added distance of this new endurnace run tested my ability. The program took me through 23 and then 26 miles before a three week tapering to the marathon. Note: many programs don't take you beyond 20 miles.

My most recent training program took me out to at least 29 miles (mine ended up being 31.15 or slightly longer than a 50Km ultramarathon because of the route I ran and the local geography). But running through the 26 mile distance was easy.

So, yes it gets easier if you also do the other training work / shorter runs required for the training and you also take the appropriate rest days. I think nothing of a 20-mile maintenance and training run every few weeks.

kristinegift

Yes! It gets easier. I think it all depends on your mindset. In 2012, when I was training for half-marathons, a 10 mile run felt like ages and it was all I could do to slog through them. But this summer when I was training for my first full marathon, the long runs -- while anxiety inducing all week -- were not in and of themselves hard. You just have to really wrap your mind around the distance. I freaked out about 14 and 16 mile runs a few months ago, but when it came time to do the big 20 a month ago, I was much more confident because the other long runs had turned out so well and I was sure I could get the miles in.

veganbettie

where in the world do you guys find the space to run this far?!?

this all sounds so exciting....

jturnerx

It's all relative. I can knock out 20+ milers without thinking twice about it. Actually the runs I find hardest to get out the door for are my 4-6 mile recovery runs.

lporter229

No, it just gets longer ; )