How far are long runs for top D1 teams?

bump it

Don't know, depends on the pace. Most probably run between 1.5-2 hours.

I was on the men's team at a D1 school and the women's team was 8th one year with some really good girls up front. They did long runs of ~15 miles, and total mileage around 70 to 80. 2 solid workouts a week, 1 long run, 1 medium long run, and the rest fairly easy mileage. Some of them doubled in the mornings for a few miles. Overall nothing insane. They were just consistent and cared. A few of them were suspected of having eating disorders but the majority of the team seemed pretty healthy.

15-18 miles

The 2 programs I have direct knowledge of (not quite top 15 but consistent qualifiers) do about 90 min (~13 miles) for their long runs and average probably 60-70 miles per week. Come track season they are more mid-D oriented, so other teams with a more distance focus may do a bit more. Remember though, women only run 6k, so they can get by on lower mileage (both long run and total) than the men.

Yea that's pretty standard, but it all depends on the guy and their mileage. A 90 mile guy will go 18+ but a 70 mile guy might max at 16.

The OP asked about women, and that is significant because with the top programs I have seen the women run substantially less mileage and a little less in terms of time. Their championship race is 40% shorter than the men's though.

For a consistent top 30 team that I am familiar with the women ran on average 14 miles for long runs and it took them about 100 minutes. There is a big range on this team though. When this program had some national level 10k track girls they ran well under 7 min mile pace for up to two hours (but not every weekend). At the same time, the 1500m runners on the varsity XC team ran no less than 9 miles on long runs and no more than 12.

This whole team did a mid week run on non race weeks that was 10-12 miles though. For MD it was a second long run, and for distance it was another easy run that was just 20 minutes longer than usual.

25-30 miles for a top ten team.

The long run is the most important part of a successful program. Total mileage is usually about 50 miles, so long run is 50-60% of the total mileage.

jamin wrote:

25-30 miles for a top ten team.

The long run is the most important part of a successful program. Total mileage is usually about 50 miles, so long run is 50-60% of the total mileage.

Started drinking early today?

15 for women is a nice round number. Crappy teams may be 10-12.

Further than mediocre D1 teams, which are even further than top D3 teams, being further still than mediocre D3 teams, that run farther than junior girls teams, only.

Typically we went based off of time and not distance. 90 minutes was the minimum required to begin capillary expansion, so that was our minimum. 100 - 120 minutes was a pretty standard long run for our program. VERY Lydiard heavy coaching.

DI-ish wrote:

90 minutes was the minimum required to begin capillary expansion, so that was our minimum.

Right, because at 89 minutes you really have no benefit yet.

Sand Dunes wrote:

jamin wrote:

25-30 miles for a top ten team.

The long run is the most important part of a successful program. Total mileage is usually about 50 miles, so long run is 50-60% of the total mileage.

Started drinking early today?

Yes, and now I’m going for a little drive. As you know, I like to combine these activities

I ran at UNM. The women would build up to about 100-120 minutes depending on the person. Also remember that this is at altitude, and the long runs are in the foothills.

Are these long runs done at an easy pace or is the pace a little more aggressive, similar to a progression run?

Running along tramway or legit trailheads behind sandia heights and glenwood hills? kind of pain to commute from campus up there no?

15-18 for Men's programs. Not as sure about women.

Teams that run over 100 mpw average around 20 miles for the long run. Some are top teams, some are not.