I honestly don’t love the term “long run”, but it’s so universal that it has to be used in the context of training. It’s sometimes used as a semi-useless “metric” very novice runners track throughout their first or second marathon prep.
“What’s your long run at” is a common question you may hear a lot.
I hope for a day people start asking “what’s your 5-week weekly-mileage rolling average”, but that’s a mouthful.
That being said, it’s a very effective tool for growing your running economy, forcing aerobic and muscular adaptations, along with increasing weekly mileage!
But how does this all work?