Why Do So Many Runners Do A Weekly Long Run On Sunday?

there's time to do it on Sundays, since there's no work to do, and the workout schedule is usually good with the S Long Run, break (easy run) Monday, T track work, break Wednesday, Th tempo break Friday, race Saturday.

It's just easier to do long runs when you have more time to set aside. I'd rather run in 2 hours of daylight on the weekend than 2 hours of darkness after work on a weeknight.

Professional runners are the only people I can think of who have some incentive to go long during the week, because they still get daylight, have spare time, and probably think of their weekends as a time when maybe they can actually focus less on running.

I schedule my long runs for Saturdays and if something comes up I'll switch to a Sunday, race week excepted.

The answer, my friend, is that most runners are heathens.

Don't "workouts" usually take as long to do as "long runs"? Warmup, drills, recoveries, cooldown, driving to special locations. In my experience, the workouts are the real time-consumers. I do like the idea of longish easy run the day after a middle distance race, because usually you have tapered a bit for the race, and long-easy is good the day after after short-hard. So for Saturday middle distance racing, it makes more sense. I just don't understand why so many Sunday 5-10k race people do this though. Why not a long run on Monday / Tuesday in that case?

jjjjjjjj wrote:

there's time to do it on Sundays, since there's no work to do, and the workout schedule is usually good with the S Long Run, break (easy run) Monday, T track work, break Wednesday, Th tempo break Friday, race Saturday.

I do long runs on Monday because that is when I start counting mileage for each week. That way the rest of the week seems really easy for hitting the mileage target whenever I'm on pace for almost twice the goal mileage after one day!

But I don't have many time constraints on Mondays, so I can understand for many people why they do long runs on Sunday. Also, in high school I would do a lot of runs on Sunday because it was usually the day after a race.

If I am going to go long (which I don't every week), I do it on Sunday because in the US (at least the parts I live in) races are usually on Saturday. Also since I run after work, the turnaround time from a workout at 7pm back to a longish run at 7am the next day is rough. I get a full 24 hours between runs if I wait until Sunday.

jjjjjjjj wrote:

there's time to do it on Sundays, since there's no work to do, and the workout schedule is usually good with the S Long Run, break (easy run) Monday, T track work, break Wednesday, Th tempo break Friday, race Saturday.

I think this is not a great reason, unless you're preparing for a marathon, in which case your long runs are very long.

Most people do not go over 1.5 hours for a long run. Most probably don't go that long. If done properly, a good warm up, stretching, drills (if done), hard interval workout, stretching (if not done prior), and a good cool down take just as long, if not longer, than the typical long run. Just as much of a time commitment on a Wednesday night as a Sunday morning.

Again, marathoners' long runs are a different story, but for the majority out there, the time commitment is approximately the same.

Having said that, I still prefer weekends for long runs. So...yeah.

Shoebacca wrote:

It's just easier to do long runs when you have more time to set aside. I'd rather run in 2 hours of daylight on the weekend than 2 hours of darkness after work on a weeknight.

I don't want to argue, that's fine for many, I accept that. But I can enjoy a long run in the dark. A workout in the dark, trying to see the watch / reset it, etc, that is a challenge!

That is simply the way my college team does it. I don't ask questions, I just do it.

If I want to Long Run a different day, I do it alone. 14 miles in 20 degree weather is a lot easier with 10 other guys than with 0 other guys.

Maximizing use of the weekend. Go hard or semi-long on Friday, run easy on Saturday, go long on Sunday.

slakcerdom wrote:

Maximizing use of the weekend. Go hard or semi-long on Friday, run easy on Saturday, go long on Sunday.

Agreed. My schedule

Sun-Long (2hrs plus)

Mon-Recovery

Tues-Tempo

Wed-MidLong

Thurs-Recovery

Friday-Track

Saturday-Recovery

Recovery days on Monday and Saturday are usually 10% of my weekly mileage. Thurs is usually 0-10% of weekly mileage.

Fridays, I can go into work late, so I get a good 2hr track session in from 8-10am. Then sundays are nice for a long run of 2hrs plus the drive to run, stretch, and with nothing going on the rest of the day, my buddies and I can hit up breakfast. Then I can get a nap in the afternoon.

Point #1: It could be because the "average" runner does their long run way too fast, and as a result has to crash/pass out on the couch the rest of the day, which would not work on a weekday.

Point #2: Also, I think there are a lot more "average" runners training for the marathon/half marathon than you give credit for. Their weekly mileage is probably low for a proper 5k, but they are in fact going for a longer distance race. Thus, their long run is probably disproportionately high to the rest of their mileage (I've seen some acquaintenances with a long run making up more than 50% of their mpw). So, for them it does take up the most amount of time of all their workouts. Plus, it takes the most out of them of all their workouts... leading to my Point #1.

I do mine on monday just saying right right right? I actually do do mine on monday

I remember reading something a LONG LONG time ago that the British runners started this back in the day when they all worked during the week.

Sunday you could do your long run and you didn't have to go to work.

Most of them were blue collar, manual laborers.

What difference does it make what day you run it and why do you care?

just another guy wrote:

The answer, my friend, is that most runners are heathens.

That's what I always thought. Also, I think a lot of people like to go somewhere for their long run (e.g. local park), and have time to do it on Sunday. And if you do it Sunday morning many people will be in church, rather than clogging up the trails like on Saturday morning.

Just one other perspective:

Long runs can be a workout and are also a good type of workout to get a group together for. It's a lot tougher to find runners of the right ability to go out for 10x400m than it is to find a group who can go hammer 15. And you're right, they take about the same time, but I more frequently drive to a trail for a long run, and running a hard 15-18 miles takes quite a bit of energy out of me.

dhdhdhhdh wrote:

Point #1: It could be because the "average" runner does their long run way too fast, and as a result has to crash/pass out on the couch the rest of the day, which would not work on a weekday.

Point #2: Also, I think there are a lot more "average" runners training for the marathon/half marathon than you give credit for. Their weekly mileage is probably low for a proper 5k, but they are in fact going for a longer distance race. Thus, their long run is probably disproportionately high to the rest of their mileage (I've seen some acquaintenances with a long run making up more than 50% of their mpw). So, for them it does take up the most amount of time of all their workouts. Plus, it takes the most out of them of all their workouts... leading to my Point #1.

Agreed.