If I understand correctly, your schedule would be
2
4
2
4
2
20

I am not a big believer in capping the long run at an arbitrary percentage of your weekly mileage, BUT 20 / (20 + 2+2+2+4+4) = 59% of your weekly miles in one run is certainly above an adviseable threshold, and will quickly lead to burnout or injury.

What % do most feel is appropriate

What % do most feel is appropriate
---

Depending on who you read/ believe but I don't like my athletes to have their long run to be more than 35% of their weekly mileage.

---

---

---

Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Does this mean consistently or ever? I'm having a hard time believing many non-pro/elite triathletes are peaking at 57 miles of running (20/0.35).

Depends on your running base, overall volume, and injury propensity. I think 35-40% is reasonable if you have a good base, good volume, and rarely get injured. As a side note you do not need 20 miler every week or even ever for IM so the whole discussion is a bit misguided. Try something more like this
4
6
10
6
4
13-16
And you will be on more sure footing

I should have clarified. This question is for a peak week. I was only planning 1 week with a 20 miler in my build.

Darn, I'm going to have to start running a minimum of 3 times a week!
So, given I want to peak at 18km:

Monday: 16.4km
Wednesday: 17.0km
Saturday: 18.0km

Got it!

Darn, I'm going to have to start running a minimum of 3 times a week!

---

I don't think you understand the purpose of the BarryP plan nor the question posed in the OP.

---

---

---

Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I do. I was kidding.
Perhaps not very witty - Nevermind

2:4:6 > 2:4:20 sounds a bit aggressive to me.

Can you not get to 3:6:9? That's not going to take you much longer on a per day basis. Then you'd have a solid base of 30 miles per week and would peak at 41.

3:6:9
3:6:10
3:6:9
3:6:12
3:6:9
3:6:14
3:6:9
3:6:16
3:6:9
3:6:18
3:6:9
3:6:20

I took it as kidding. And as such, it seemed funny haha

Brent

---

DFRU - Detta Family Racing Unit...the kids like it and we all get out and after it...gotta keep the fam involved!

Yeah, I definitely think that's reasonable. However, even at a peak of 41 the long run is ~49% of total mileage.

This conversation is interesting as I feel most of the reading I've done points to most putting in 30-40mpw during an Ironman build. I'm sure elites/pros do more than that but I never got that impression for the majority of AGers. So that begs the question, what is the longest run those putting in 30-40mpw do? At 35% that means long runs of 10.5-14, which would not have me feeling confident AT ALL going into an Ironman.

Probably what I get for checking the boards before my coffee.

---

---

---

Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Well, then you've got to ask yourself whether you want to be like the majority of AGers or not? I'd say the majority of AGers walk a large percentage of the run, and it doesn't matter whether they've done a long run of 14 or 20.

If you want to have a good run, you'd better have a pretty good running background to get there on even 3:6:20. I did 4:8:20 for my only IM. Had a decent run but not great. Didn't walk though.

Now I'm doing 5:10:15 (been at this volume since mid-dec) for HIM and have gotten so much better at running I'm a little scared to talk about it. I'm sure I'll be accused of doping after my next race.

More is more. Volume works.

In his description of Phase 2, Barry lays out some advice on the "Ultra Long Run"

"For longer races (mainly half and full marathons) it may not be possible for you to get in an adequate length long run following the advice laid out here (a long run of at least 80% of the race distance). In this case, I recommend an ultra long run every 2-3 weeks with a normal long run on the in between weeks. The ultra long run should increase by about 1-2 mile increments on the alternating weeks and build toward at least 80% of the race distance, or 3 hours, whichever is less. In the case of a half marathon, if possible, the ultra long run can be pushed up to 13-15 miles."

He also mentions in Phase 3 that you can skip a short run if you are crunched on time.

For an IM, perhaps you could do 5-10-15, and then substitute an 18-20 miler every 2 or 3 weeks for the normal 15. If you skip a short run, the 5-10-15 plan is a 45 mile week, and the ultra long run weeks get you to 50.

---

Strava

Sean H and sch340, great info. Thank you both!

80% of 26.2 is roughly 21 mi. Is he suggesting that......if you're running this at 10:30/mi....you stick to the 3 hr. run (the 80% would take longer)?

I'd ask if most do that. My guess is....most are faster than that.

Why do triathletes do 3 hour long runs? You are really jogging for 3 hours unless you have supreme fitness. My buddy is a 2:14 marathoner. His long runs are 1:45-2:00 hours, with a quality segment at marathon pace. You should do the same thing if you are training for Ian ronman marathon. If you are a short course triathlete you should run 80-90 minutes with 20 minutes at your threshold pace.

That was the only place he mentioned the 3 hr limit - I would guess based on what I've read here that no matter your speed, >3 hr runs are counterproductive in that the injury and burnout risk outweigh any further benefit. If you're running at 10:30/mile you should get to 17-18 miles anyway which is probably sufficient for an IM long run.

---

Strava

Because it takes them 3 hours to get to 80% of their race distance, with the only difference being that your buddy can cover the same distance in 2 hours?

---

Strava

Uhhh, if your buddy is a 2:14 marathoner odds are his "walk in the park" pace is like 6:00-6:30/mi, which means he's covering 16-20 miles during his long runs.