What is the half marathon equivalent of the "20 mile long run" in marathon training?

Well my 5 and 10K pace are very similar (5:45 and 5:55) and I couldn't tempo that pace. My half pace is 6:05-6:10 so 6:30 is within 20 seconds which isn't bad especially if the workout is 45-60 minutes long. I also do intervals.

Guys I found the high schooler!

3 x 4 mile at 1/2 marathon pace with 10 min active recovery

tempo is a steady run at Z3 but in the higher end of it , towards Anaerobic threshold. So in duration it is 1 hour for most people. So no way it is 10K or even 5K effort pace

if 20 mile is somehow the gold standard, then i'd assume it would be 17-18 for the half marathon.

with that said, it actually depends on how fast you are running. if you are running your long runs at 8 min pace, it is so slow that the benefits of long run will quickly diminish. if this was the case, then something like a 16 mile long run is probably all you need even for a full marathon. the reason why someone like bekele can do 3 hour long runs is because his long run pace is probably around 6 min/mile.

here is my personal general rule:

800 -> 8-9 miles

mile -> 12 miles

2 miles -> 13 miles

5000 -> 14 miles

10000 -> 15 miles

half/full marathon -> 16 miles

Obviously if it's 20 miles for a marathon, then for a half marathon it's half of 20, or 10 miles.

Amazing how many posters think you should go way over race distance instead. Maybe this is because of how many marathoners run a lot of halves off their marathon training, but otherwise what sense does that make?

I'd say you'd want to get in at least an additional 30-40 mins of time on feet. If for no other reason than simply reducing the "distance" as an obstacle in your mind. If you've done a bunch of over-distanced long runs going into the race - and felt strong towards the end - you'll have a lot more confidence to attack the race early on.

"Tempo Run" is a bastardised term.

It used to be a synonym for Lactate Threshold Run, but now it seems to be any prescribed pace between easy jogging and LT.

It may well be 10k effort for people who run 60 minutes for 10k.

So that's what's going on here - "race" preparation for people not even confident of finishing.

But does even this apply to marathon training? Who goes out and runs 35 miles believing it could help them push their pace over 26 miles?

Gelindo Bordin, for one.

You're on an English speaking site. American is the dominant English speaking country, every other English speaking country is de facto a client state of America, and has been since WWII. Also, this is site was founded by Americans, named after an American book, by an American author, about fictional Americans running in America, running MILES.

Bread and butter workouts for a half.

1) Long run. I typically target 1:40-1:55ish which is around 14-16. Last 20 minutes hard if I feel good, if not keep it chill.

2) Tempo. 8 miles at goal HM pace.

3) Intervals, I like to do something like 4-5 X 1.5 miles, 3-4 X 2 mi. or 5-7 X mile. Something like that.

Some of you guys do very hard workouts...

Half marathon is completely different to the marathon. There is

5K -------- big gap -------- 10K, 10 miles, half -------- big gap ------- marathon

90 min LR with plenty of overall weekly volume is the ticket. Half Marathons are more like a longer grindy 10k than a marathon.

This. 90 minutes is by far the optimal time for training distances half marathon and under. If you’re worried about time then your half marathon is likely 2 hours or under and it is not a big deal if your longest run doesn’t equal that so long as you’re getting in good consistent mileage across the week. People have mentioned Jakob not doing more than 12 miles in a long run as a counter example and that’s great; how does your body respond to long runs in regards to the other runs of the week?

ideally you’re getting in VO2max targeted workouts, thresholds, and workouts targeting lactate threshold etc. So if your long run is leaving you too wiped out to knock those out effectively, it’s the first thing to reduce. The advantages over one training cycle are not large enough to justify the diminishing returns. Lower impact on the body (grass or treadmill) can compensate for the wear and tear but you can google around for studies that show the decreasing utility for runs above 90 minutes versus increased injury risk.

You can basically ignore anyone’s answer that just talks about amount of miles. Time on your feet is a better metric that accounts better for whatever pace you’re running anyways. Long runs I won’t discount as good training but personally they didn’t work well for me, left my body feeling terrible anytime I went above 12 miles, and so I dropped them and substituted them with 8.5-11 mile runs on the treadmill at slightly slower than marathon pace.

Worked wonders, I got the turnover I needed and the cardio, and my track workouts quickly improved, and led to knocking down a 70 min half and 2:28 full in the same season. Definitely not pro times and almost certainly not the best regiment I could’ve done but just want to illustrate there are others ways and you need to test out what your body responds to best with the time and facilities you’ve got around you.

I didn't realize that! You probably should have told that to everyone running the 5th Avenue Mile that it was actually the 5th Avenue 1609.34 M.

Probably 10 miles. Should I show my working?

Prior to my best half marathon, my longest long run was 18 miles. But I'm just a hobby jogger. That race did qualify me for NY marathon, though. Fwiw

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