Maybe I’m just dumb but what even is the point of a long run for 800m guys

Anaerobic means lacking oxygen. This can only be done at a high level for about 45 seconds before muscle / form breakdown. This is for well trained runners. Untrained people breakdown earlier. 45 seconds is less than half of an 800m until someone breaks 1:30. So the aerobic component is >50%.

Many have offered reasons for doing long runs in 800 training. Some have given specifics of training phase, duration, and physiology. Some have talked about different types of runners needing different training. But you don't seem interested in responses that don't back you up 100%.

i didn’t get good feedback until now, thanks for the people who did and for the rest of you please get some help

what would someone recommend is a good "long run" for a 2:00.xx-2:01.xx trying to break 2 be

Love it when people don't recognize that sometimes the training benefit doesn't directly impact your event, but indirectly lets you achieve better results in workouts, which can mean better results in a race.

E.g. Being more aerobically fit helps you recover better between intervals, which allows you to run them slightly faster and with better form, which allows you to be sharper. There is obviously a diminishing return to this, but for some people the benefit is very noticeable.

Same goes for lifting weights etc.

I started a thread a couple of weeks ago coming at the OP’s question from the opposite direction and pointing out that many iconic 800/milers who competed decades ago were high mileage runners compared with today’s 800 meter runners who are running only nominally faster or comparable times.

Most of the responders could not comprehend the the success of these runners might have been due, in part, to running high mileage.

lifting weights makes sense, stronger muscles stronger form, but for a long run, in my mind is 8+ miles (for a 800m enthusiast). Why not just crank out a 5 miler at a harder pace, the long run can lead to sloppy form and punish any efforts to establish an 800 mindset. I think doing interval workouts is a better workout for interval workouts than a 9 mile run.

Alright, so the highest mileage active pro who’s been under 1:44… who is it? Jake Wightman?

I saw those threads and thought you made very good points. I also think that the OP on this thread asked a reasonable question.

You can't train intervals every day, and a tempo/threshold run is maybe a less useful way to spend your time as an 800m runner since it's harder to recover from and doesn't train for event specificity as much as intervals do.

This obviously varies from person to person, but a longer run at an easier pace with a gradual increase in pace is less fatiguing and gives enough of an aerobic benefit without potentially hindering other sessions in a training cycle.

Some 400m runners might do a similar thing, but their "long run" would be something like 2-3 miles, just enough to get the desired effect without beating your legs up.

yeah well my personal experience running XC mileage was it took away some top gears for a month or so. maybe you don't notice it because you're not running sprints in the spring, or trying to run past people in soccer games.

dude we absolutely never did mileage for 400. we were with the sprinters. 600 max unless we were deputized to run 800 as a lark or a relay.

When I was a 2:00-2:03 guy back then in high school,ran 8-10km "long run" easy conversational pace + a few strides and short uphill runs in the end.

In winter off season we had 10-12km long run but with a few elements of strenght work (plyometrics,hill,short fartlek on sand,forest,dirt etc.)

This.

Some 800m runners will call an 8 miler to be their long run, some will do regular "25min hard-ish runs" or "threshold runs" and some prefer the term "distance run" (which can be 10 or 12+ miles). Anyway, it helps (post #45).

Have a look at James Preston Wellington on Strava. 1.44 guy low mileage but does 18km long runs

another stupid, stupid myth that probably everyone reading this thread will cling to after I debunk it, because they'd rather be butthurt than enlightened.

Anaerobic means "without" oxygen. It doesn't mean oxygen is lacking. There is plenty of oxygen available during that first 45 seconds, but you won't get explosive power from it.

And in any case you can't use it optimally yet, UNTIL your intramuscular pH drops, because the pH difference between blood and muscle determines the rate of gas exchange between them. You literally can't hit your aerobic max until your anaerobic work ramps it up in the first place.

You don't stop anaerobic energy use when that happens. You just start a race against acid buildup as your blood and lungs work to clear it. Sure, your aerobic energy use increases somewhat, but at all-out 800m pace that is not >50% for even the second lap, let alone the whole race.

You are out of breath on that second lap not because of "oxygen debt" or whatever. There is no such thing. No lack of oxygen, you're expelling excess acidity in the form of CO2.

This is really basic stuff. Distance runners might as well be living in the stone age, the way they refuse to believe it.

Aerobic fitness is needed for 800m, but a very long run is unreasonably taxing. Doing a 2+ hour run as an 800m athlete will take away from your ability to recover for more important workouts.

Mileage still matters. Two 10 mile runs would be better than a 20 miler. The point of a 'long run' (being a run that's significantly longer than the average day) is to train the body to handle long efforts. A middle-distance runner does not need to be good at storing glycogen or burning fat or whatever the specific adaptations targeted by the long runs are.

To be honest I'm not convinced there's a vast benefit to a long run for any distance less than the half marathon. If you're racing 5-10k and running 70mpw, doing 10 miles every day is probably closer to optimal than running 20 miles on one day and 8-ish on the others.