I don't know whether there is a good physiological reason to put the "long run" threshold at 90 min, but that feels about right to me. As I've gotten much slower from my 30s to my 60s, what I consider a long run has become fewer miles but about the same time, 90-100 minutes or more.
90 minutes is on average the amount of time running it takes to fully deplete glycogen stores from full. The point of a long run is to get your muscles better at using oxygen to convert fuel to energy, and the stimulus is greater when you go for long enough to deplete your glycogen stores to near empty.
For those who only do 5K's, 8 miles IS a long run. For those who do 10K's, it is a longer run. For those who do half marathons, it is medium long distance. For those who do marathons, it's a maintenance run.
For those who only do 5K's, 8 miles IS a long run. For those who do 10K's, it is a longer run. For those who do half marathons, it is medium long distance. For those who do marathons, it's a maintenance run.
Incorrect. Competitive 1500m runners are running much more mileage than low level marathoners - there are some people who "do marathons" but their weekly mileage barely exceeds the entire distance of the race.
If your mileage is at 40 mpw, then 8 miles is appropriate for your "long run" distance. Your target distance for your long run should be 20% of your weekly mileage. For a longer long run distance than 8 miles, gradually increase your weekly mileage in conjunction with your long run. Dont just ramp up your long run distance without slowly ratcheting up your general weekly miles. It's easy to over do it and end up injured. Also, as you increase mileage think in safety blocks of "threes" to reduce the chance of injury. Dont go hard three days in a row. Dont go hard three weeks in a row. Dont go hard three months in a row. Allow for recovery every third day, week or month to be less intense than the two prior. "Intense" days can be a workout, a race or a long run. Make every third week slightly less mileage or intensity than the previous two. Make every third month slightly less intense/equal mileage or equal intense/less mileage than the previoys two months. Go gradually!
Who tf cares? it's obviously subjective. When I run 100+ a week, then no, it's not really that long. To 99% of the world, who aren't serious runners, yes.
Your local hobbyjogger hero is running 8 miles a day min, training for the 'thon. So again, nobody cares. Waste less of the internet.
Who tf cares? it's obviously subjective. When I run 100+ a week, then no, it's not really that long. To 99% of the world, who aren't serious runners, yes.
Your local hobbyjogger hero is running 8 miles a day min, training for the 'thon. So again, nobody cares. Waste less of the internet.
I am offended being called a hobby jogger because 8 miles daily was my training.
At 67, I still try to do a pair of midweek (W/F) 6-8 milers and a Sunday long run of 9 or 10. (The 10 milers take 1:30 - 1:40 and feel like legit long runs.) Years ago is was a pair of 8 milers and a 14-15 miler on Sunday. But age has a way of lowering expectations--although of course I've got a voice in my head saying "Someday you'll get back to 12-13." I did a 13-miler on January 1, 2024, just to prove that I could do it.
In answer to the OP: 8 miles can definitely be a long run, if you're coming back from an injury and you haven't done more than 4-6 for a while. For less experienced runners looking to run a 5K or even a 10K, 8 miles can be a reasonable LR. For the rest of us: nah.
Lydiard would go by time more than distance. So between an hour and two hours would be a long run. Even his milers did two hours runs. He cautioned against measuring by time and distance since it could lead to "racing" your training.
When I started doing this my 90 minute runs went from 12 miles to 15 miles.
Now older my 60 minute runs are less than 6 miles.