PUBLISHED 11/12/2001
A runner from Salt Lake City once asked me if he could do his long runs on Mondays, instead of weekends as I advise in my training schedules.
Of course, I responded. Schedules should not be followed mindlessly. Over the years I'd joked often about this hapless runner who didn't realize that workouts could be juggled for convenience.
I mean, who wouldn't know that? I'd said.
Well, it turns out, I was wrong. It does matter whether you do that long run on a Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Which day you do your long run affects every other type of workout you do the rest of the week. Do your long run too close to a speed session, and your speedwork will suffer. Even worse, you could wind up injured.
How then do you balance long runs with speedwork? How do you mix easy runs, cross-training and total rest? Get the formula right, and you set personal records. Get it wrong, and you're in trouble.
To get the balance right, ask yourself the following questions, suggests David Martin, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist and chairman of Sports Science for USA Track & Field:
