I have a HIM that I am doing in a couple of weeks. I was wondering seeing when do you schedule your last long run before the race? Is two weeks out, a week out, four days out, the day before the race?
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Re: Last Long Run [Cptnemo]
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I do a 16 miler 2 weeks out, and then an 8+8 the weekend prior. Usually yields decent results (a sub 1:30 a few times).
Next races on the schedule: none at the moment
Next races on the schedule: none at the moment
Re: Last Long Run [Cptnemo]
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I think this completely depends on what kind of volume you're doing. This year I had an IM focus, and for the two 70.3 races I did I did around a 15-16 mile run the weekend prior. For both of the 70.3 races I did a very short taper - pretty much IM stuff volume wise through the Tuesday of race week, and then a few shorter volume days, but still keeping up intensity. This yielded good results for me, and I set a 2 min run PR (1:27) in the most recent of those races. However, this approach probably wouldn't work for most if HIM is the focus, as my average volume over the past several months has been 15+ hours week.
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Coaching: https://bybtricoaching.com/ - accepting athletes for 2023
It's really how you recover, your current fitness abilities, and what your goals are for the race/season. The answers can be quite variable because the longest run can happen several weeks out from race day. For a high priority race, my longest run happens 7 weeks out. Everything after that is 2 hours (IM) or 1:10 (HIM) or less with my open run pace being the focus. For a low priority HIM or olympic mid-season I might have a 16 miler scheduled the week before race week. That's with a lot of base fitness in the bank prior to that and good recovery routines.
However, back when I was prioritizing base miles, had limited training time, and/or just looking to finish I would plan it no less than 10-14 days from race day, and no more miles than the number of days I had to race day (10 days left, no more than 10 miles). Sounds like you're already close to race day, so, for a basic lead up to a race the closest I would do is the 10-14 days out minimum to make sure you're recovered from the run and able to feel ready to roll on race day. Other than that if you've already hit anything close to 12 miles in training, there's very little another long run of that distance or more will do for you at this stage.
Regardless, best to feel like you didn't do enough in the last 2 weeks, because those workouts will have little effect on boosting your fitness, but should help you recover and be fresh for the race.
Good luck, and have fun!
Matt Leu, M.S. Kinesiology
San Pedro Fit Works, Los Angeles, CA
Endurance Athlete and Coach
Consistency/time=results
However, back when I was prioritizing base miles, had limited training time, and/or just looking to finish I would plan it no less than 10-14 days from race day, and no more miles than the number of days I had to race day (10 days left, no more than 10 miles). Sounds like you're already close to race day, so, for a basic lead up to a race the closest I would do is the 10-14 days out minimum to make sure you're recovered from the run and able to feel ready to roll on race day. Other than that if you've already hit anything close to 12 miles in training, there's very little another long run of that distance or more will do for you at this stage.
Regardless, best to feel like you didn't do enough in the last 2 weeks, because those workouts will have little effect on boosting your fitness, but should help you recover and be fresh for the race.
Good luck, and have fun!
Matt Leu, M.S. Kinesiology
San Pedro Fit Works, Los Angeles, CA
Endurance Athlete and Coach
Consistency/time=results