With some simple planning, and plenty of experimenting, your weekly long run will enable you to build stamina and slowly switch on your confidence, to ensure race-day success

Words: Tina Chantrey

At this time of year there’s a strong chance you’re thinking about building your long runs throughout the end of winter and in to spring. Whether you’re aiming for a 10K or a marathon, a weekly long run improves your endurance. It also gives you the chance to practise pacing, nutrition, hydration and to test kit; important to do when you’re relaxed and you have time. When gradually extended, the long run is the key to race-day success. For some, a long run is aiming for five miles, for those targeting an ultra it may be 30. Regardless of distance, the long run is a physical building block, but it’s also the key point every week to flex your mental strength muscle, which will help boost your motivation.

It’s all in the planning

There are many different ingredients to a long run, and the more you work on all the integral parts, the more likely you are to achieve your ultimate goal. Some contributing factors are decided before you even leave the house; we’re thinking of how well rested you feel at the outset when we say that.

“The confidence your long run builds is important, so don’t go into one when you’re feeling tired,” advises ultrarunner Jo Meek, who is also a physiotherapist and a SCOTT ambassador (@running_squirrel). “Make sure you leave at least two days between doing a faster/harder session and your long run.”

Nutrition and hydration

Jo also preps her stomach before her weekly long run. “I make sure I have a good hearty meal the night before – it doesn’t matter what it is as long as it’s enough, and I also enjoy a glass of wine.” More than one glass of wine may lead to dehydration, so make sure you’re not doing your planned long run aft er a celebratory night out. And treat breakfast seriously too. Have a simple bowl of porridge with nuts, seeds and fruit to ensure you’ve got slow-releasing carbohydrates in your system, and make sure you’ve taken on water, not just coffee, especially during the warmer training months.