Runner’s Dilemma #36 — How Often Should I Do LSD Runs?
Runner's Log | Runner's Dilemma #36
How Often Should I Do LSD Runs?
If I just keep running for fun,
‘I’ll naturally get better!’
That was my thinking for a little over a year, and then I dropped out of a full marathon I had entered with a sub-4 goal.
A month before the race, I raised my pace in training, but my body couldn’t adapt.
Next up: the Goguryeo Marathon on February 28. I’m going for sub-4 again.
This time I’m starting with the thing that held me back: speed. I add fast sections in the middle of my runs, pushing hard enough that my heart rate feels maxed out for a set stretch.
And I don’t want to forget LSD (long slow distance) either.
But then I started to wonder.
If I prepare for a race over the next four months, when should I start LSD, how often should I do it, and how many km should each run be?
So I looked into it with AI and some sources.
I. What the Sources Say
I found that the sources emphasized different things, but some points overlapped.
| Item | What I found |
|---|---|
| Frequency | Many plans schedule the long run once a week. |
| Maximum distance | Hal Higdon says going beyond about 32km does little good physically or psychologically. Some articles suggest about 26km. |
| Time | Jack Daniels puts the long run at around 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours at most. |
| Share of weekly distance | Jack Daniels recommends keeping the long run at 25–30% of weekly distance. An Outside article points out that someone running 65–80km a week who does 32km would be at 40–50%, which exceeds that guideline. |
| Peak and taper | Higdon’s novice plan cuts training for three weeks after the last long run. |
| Full marathon distance | You don’t need to run the full distance in training, and doing so can be risky if you can’t recover. |
Of course, these numbers aren’t a right answer for every runner.
The standards differed a bit depending on each coach’s experience and training plan.
One more thing: these sources set standards for the “long run,” not for “very slow LSD.”
Looking back at my own training, though, there was something I needed to think about before distance or frequency.
II. Three Club Runs a Week
My running club meets three times a week.
Tuesday evening.
We jog about 4km at Anyang Stadium, then do interval training suited to each person’s level or the race they’ve signed up for.
Thursday evening.
We run a park with hills, about 1.7km per lap. After a jog to warm up, we do a tempo run.
Saturday morning.
Everyone gathers for long-distance training.
Adding it up, just attending the club runs comes to about 40km a week.
Add the occasional solo run, and it’s about 50km a week.
That’s not a small amount.
So maybe what I need isn’t to run more, but to keep up the training I’m already doing.
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III. Friday Night vs. Saturday Dawn
Now I think I get it.
What matters most to me is showing up to the Saturday morning run consistently.
The weekday club runs aren’t that hard to attend.
‘I have to run anyway. Once I show up, I’ll get it done somehow.’
Even if heading to the track after work is a hassle, once I arrive, I somehow run.
But Friday is different.
Starting from Sunday evening,
Monday, which I somehow got through.
‘Okay, half the week is gone.’ Wednesday.
‘If I can just hold out today, it’s finally Friday.’ Thursday, which I got through on that hope.
And Friday, which arrived after what felt like an eternity of waiting.
And on that Friday,
‘I have the club run tomorrow, so I should go to bed early.’
That’s really hard.
After working and enduring all week, I have to go to bed early on Friday night too?
Thinking about mileage, thinking about long runs, protecting Saturday morning is what counts.
What I need for the February sub-4 attempt is,
rather than finding one more new training method,
to resist Friday night’s temptation and keep heading out to run on Saturday dawn. Maybe.
IV. Answering My Question in Three Lines
Back to my original question.
- When to start? Now.
- How often? Once a week, on Saturday.
- How many km? Start at around 16km and build up gradually, up to about 30–32km.
V. What Does It Even Matter?
Lately I keep looking back at my past training, wondering why I failed to break 4 hours.
At first it started from the disappointment of failing.
But at some point I began going through the causes one by one, analyzing what was lacking, and preparing for the next challenge.
Running is really nice. Even if I fail, I can try again,
Then a thought crossed my mind.
How nice would it be if life were like that, too?
Failing to get into a university,
Starting my career late,
Having to leave the company against my will,
When my business ran into trouble.
Looking back, there are things I regret.
‘If only I had done it differently.’
‘If I did it again, I could do better this time.’
But life,
takes too much time to try again,
and the price to pay is steep.
So we either can’t summon the courage to start over, or we repeat the same mistakes.
How nice would it be if, like a marathon, the next race were always waiting?
If I could stand at the starting line again after failing,
and run again after fixing what I lacked.
I wish life, too, gave us countless next challenges without a big price.
References: How Long Should the Marathon Long Run Be? (Runner's Connect) · Mastering the Long Run (Outside) · Should You Run 26.2 Miles to Train for a Marathon? (TrainingPeaks / Hal Higdon)
