Recently, Nick Willis, New Zealand miler and Olympic Silver medalist, posed a question to Steve Magness, Univeristy of Houston coach and post-collegiate and Olympic athlete coach, on twitter. Willis asked if there was any scientific explanation for why he felt strongest and fastest after adding 18-21 mile long runs to his training routine.
The 18-21 mile long run is not common among milers, thus Willis wanted to know if there was any scientific reasoning backing up his years of self-experimentation that concluded 18-21 mile longs runs left him stronger and faster rather than relying on a shorter long run. Magness pointed out that on long runs of that length, the ST fibers get depleted of fuel and fatigue, and the FT fibers kick in to pick up the slack, thus the FT fibers get trained aerobically. That’s probably why he feels aerobically strong after adding in those long 2-hour runs.
But Magness was also quick to point out that FT athletes, milers and middle-distance athletes have to be careful not to sabotage their pop and speed by doing a long run that is too far. Willis then gave an insight into how he keeps pop and speed in his legs even though he employs such a long run: plyos and sprints.
Willis said he does sprints and plyos the day after his long runs, and those give him the pop and power he needs.
Morale of the story? If you’re like me, an FT oriented runner or middle-distance runner who also likes to run races ranging from a mile to a marathon, maybe try keeping a long 2-hour run as a regular staple to your routine and add in some jumps, hill sprints, flat sprints, and other plyos the day after your long run. That way you build and keep good endurance but stay springy and powerful for the short stuff.
Sidenote: Willis mentioned that it took him 4-6 weeks of having 2-hour long runs in his schedule before he started to feel very strong. So if you feel tired, fear not.