Serious question - I have run 2h+ in singles every day for base building in the past at easy mileage because they are just more time efficient for me but I never knew if they were hindering my progress or not.
So I'm wondering if recovery runs necessarily have to be under a certain time in order to actually be considered recovery?
(this is for marathon training btw)
Yeah, bro.
2+ hour recovery runs should be the norm.
Once you hit the 5-6 hour range, I'd pull it back a little.
Too many variables (sleep, stress, diet, etc) for a formula. Just go by how you feel. If you get to 45 min. or an hour and feel tired or bored stop it there.
I'm pretty much doing that exact thing now. Not training hard as I don't have any races coming up, so I'm doing two 2 hour runs/week at a real comfortable easy run pace as 'recovery' though I'm not recovering from anything too intense. As mentioned a I've, let your body give you the feedback you need.
It’s only recovery if your body has already adapted to it. If it’s new to you, it’s not recovery, if you’ve been doing it for awhile, it’s probably recovery.
i would do them on soft terrain at least