After the Holidays - the Weekly Long Run

It's that time of year again. The holidays are over and you ate and drank too much. You also didn't work out as often as you wanted to, so now what? Now there's no need to worry. You are not alone in this predicament. A lot of food and little exercise happens to the best of us and it's all right. It's a new year and you can start running again, but what do you do now? How do you get back into training to prepare for your next event? That's simple. You need to do LSD - no, not what the Beatles did in the sixties - LSD in the running community stands for Long Slow Distance.

So what is LSD and how should it fit into a runner's training plan? For starters Long, Slow, and Distance are different for everyone. How a runner reacts to each category depends on the runner's current fitness level and running background. If a runner has recently done a marathon in five hours, the runner could consider a twelve to eighteen mile run at a pace of about thirteen to thirteen and a half minutes a mile for a Long Slow Distance run. However, if a runner is just starting a training plan he or she should consider doing one to three miles at a pace of about fifteen to seventeen minutes a mile. To perform a Long Slow Distance workout with how long and slow a runner should run the distance is something that is determined between the runner and the coach or training program. As a general rule, a runner should build base mileage and endurance during this time of year and therefore do one to two LSD workouts a week.

Why as runners do we run LSD? In a nutshell, Long Slow Distance running increases our body's ability to perform for longer periods of time at a faster pace. Obviously this explanation is very simplified, so for a more depth look at LSD, go to: http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/training_for_running/102930 and read pages one and two. Please note, on page two of the article it lists four phases of how to do an LSD run. Before following this plan speak to your coach or someone in a club for clarification. This article is a couple of years old and there have been some recent studies which has updated this information.

Here is a link to a calculator that will help determine a runner's different paces based on the last event's time and distance: http://www.fasterrunning.com/oldsite/calculator2.htm. For LSD, use the pace listed under Long Run.

The information in this article should not supersede the advice of a coach nor be construed as medical advice. As with any change in an exercise or diet plan, please check with your health care professional before embarking on the changes.