I've done it before, and it is rough even if you are 100% healthy. Most people aren't durable enough to bang out 90+ mile weeks. Training specifically for a marathon means your long run should get up to 20+ miles at least once during training, because long runs like that are the foundation of a good marathon no matter what speed you run. The problem with this setup: you only get a decent long run if your weekly mileage is more than 80mpw. If you want to train like a runner, your long run should be in that 20-25% of your weekly mileage range. I'm mostly in agreement with snackchair- Higdons plans have worked for many thousands of beginner runners who don't have the ability or the energy to commit to full time training. So in a sense, yes it's 'wrong' from an ideal training standpoint, but since very few people are doing the mileage necessary to really prepare for a marathon, it may be acceptable or appropriate for a person's needs/background/fitness/goals.Īlso. It's the foundation (cake) you really need to worry about. If the rest of your training is at an appropriate volume, the long run is really just the icing on the cake.

I don't know any runners who go longer than 2:30. If you're putting in solid mileage the rest of the week, a 2 hr long run every week (some weeks slow, some weeks fast, some weeks progression) is as long as you need to go. So your typical distance runner may be hitting 15-20 miles on their long run.

Conventional wisdom has the long run usually equal to 20-25% of the weekly mileage. This is pretty contradictory to standard distance running training. So basically you do some running during the week, then a crazy ass long run on the weekend that probably takes a beginner runner up to 3+ hours to do. A lot of the 'beginner' marathon plans are designed to just get the athlete to the finish.

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