The reasons—and controversy—behind long, slow distance

? Jeff Galloway advises marathon runners to perform their long runs at a pace about two minutes slower than you could have run that day. I'm skeptical. How are you going to develop a good pace by running slow, and how are you going to all of a sudden run two minutes faster per mile on race day?

Kevin Lawler, Santa Cruz, CA

Many people have questioned this recommendation. There is a S.A.I.D. principle in training: Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. That is to say, if you want to run fast, you have to train fast. However, not all the time! Most marathoners do run their long training runs slower than their expected pace the day of the marathon (LSD is short for long, slow distance).

One of the primary reasons for this is injury prevention. You want to step to the start healthy and injury-free. You need to have easy days and hard days to maximize your training adaptations. And remember, on marathon day, the roar of the crowd and the energy of all those people stampeding through the streets will almost certainly help you go faster than a solo training run.

Tom Holland, MS, CSCS, Darien, CT

Running a time goal in a marathon requires the synthesis of a number of components: a realistic goal; a long, slow run that builds endurance but, because it is paced slower than your realistic goal pace, allows you to recover quickly; and speed work. The logic behind the recommendation is that you won't be able to do the speed work if you take too long to recover from the long run because you started out too quickly.

Jeff Galloway, Atlanta, GA

My belief is that in training for the marathon, long runs are the most important session followed closely by tempo runs. The runner should go into the long run relatively fresh and have one or two recovery days afterward. If the long run is done slowly it provides a reduced training stimulus, so it's more effective to do the long run a bit harder and allow the appropriate recovery afterward than to do a slower long run so speed work (which is less specific to the marathon) can be done earlier in the week.

Pete Pfitzinger, Hamilton, New Zealand

Keep in mind that training various systems for a certain race pace often involves an intensity of exercise different from the one used in the race. Long, slow running prepares you for other types of stress that will serve you well on race day. However, don't let slow-paced runs be so slow that you lose good mechanics. This is a problem that could in itself lead to injury.

Jack Daniels, PhD, Cortland, NY

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