LSD Works for Me

I spent most of the morning grinding out the miles.  Seventeen in fact.  Slow and steady.  About an 11-minute pace.  Considering that it's January 22 and this is Hog Heaven, a.k.a. Iowa, I'd call the weather neutral.  Cloudy with some sleet, 25 degrees, and fairly gusty winds.  The sidewalks were slippery so I stayed in the streets.  That wasn't so bad since there's not much traffic here on Sunday morning. 

I actually don't mind the long slow miles.  I'd much rather do a long slow run than hill repeats or intervals.  That's a good thing since the long run is the key piece of my marathon/ultra training.  If your goal is just finishing, some experts claim that the long run IS your marathon training program.  (See, for example, Jeff Galloway, Marathon: You Can Do It!)  Of course, not everyone agrees.

A certain amount of controversy has always surrounded LSD.  No, not the hallucinogen.  Long Slow Distance.  As in running.  The idea that the long training run is the most important element in distance running--and that it should be run at a comfortable pace--was popularized by coach and writer Joe Henderson in the 1960s and 1970s.  Many runners and coaches demurred, arguing that to run fast you had to . . . well, run fast.  One well-known critic was British middle-distance runner Sebastian Coe, winner of Olympic Gold at 1500 meters in 1980 and 1984, who mockingly noted that "long, slow distance produces long, slow runners.”   (Coe is presently the chairman of the London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.)

Even so, LSD has carried the day for recreational runners and is recommended by most running gurus.  Jeff Galloway not only makes the long run the centerpiece of his training program but also insists that it be run at a pace at least two minutes per mile slower than marathon race pace.  Galloway also recommends taking scheduled walk breaks throughout the long run--a strategy that many marathoners flatly reject.  Until they bonk, of course. 

For older (Master's and beyond) runners, LSD and Galloway's walk breaks seem like prudent advice.  The key for this demographic is to build an endurance base without suffering injury.  My experience is that LSD and walk breaks--at least in the long runs--offer the best way to achieve this.  That and an appreciation for the benefits of ample recovery.  

Age takes a toll--more in speed than endurance--and the prudent older runner must learn to deal with it.  Despite my age, I'm still competitive so I usually line up for a race with a time goal.  But . . . my first goal is to finish.  If I have to sacrifice one for the other, I slow down.  Period.  In all my years of racing, I've never had a DNF.  I'm not starting now.

Endurance means LSD.  Time goals mean some strength and speed work.  Some is a relative term.  What works for a 25-year-old likely won't work for a 55-year-old.  I do hill repeats for strength (usually every other week) and mile intervals or tempo runs (again, usually every other week) for speed.  I do 5/6 mile maintenance runs twice a week and three days of cross training for active recovery.  Cross training for me is brisk walking or hiking.

There's lots of information out there to help recreational marathoners.  Check it out.  Experiment.  Find what works for you.  Then, just do it.