I was recently having a conversation with a few friends about training methods, USATF level II, and a few prominent coaches and authors.  My friend,  having recently read Joe Vigil’s book, Road to the Top, asked why would anyone program a hard day following a long run, and asserted that he would never set up a program that way, but I’m not so sure it cannot be done.

While I do generally think if we are trying to get the utmost quality from an interval session, it should be done prior to a long run, there may be instances when I’d consider running a workout the day following a long run without any deleterious affects on total recovery.

Using the long-hard paradigm may not be a bad idea during the off season, where overall intensity is generally lower than pre-competition, and less concern of absolute performances exist compared to competition periods. Following long runs, there is an interesting biochemical environment with elevated aerobic enzymes and altered preferential fuels, that may be of benefit in trying to get the body to operate in a similar manner at higher intensities. There is also an elevated level of cortisol and CPK, which is not the best scenario, but by adding the hard component, we consolidate stress.

We may also consider that a shorter, faster training session that places some strain upon the sympathetic branch of the ANS can elevate resting tone of the nervous system, making the athlete “feel” better in the coming days. This is essentially the same reason why athletes feel more sharp on days following non-exhaustive workouts or do strides/fast intervals the day prior to a competition.

In the end, it all comes back to the overall intensity, work done, and time of year. While running an extremely draining interval session following a hard, progressive long run, may not be a good idea in-season where the primary emphasis is being well recovered to race, an off season moderately long run at a controlled effort followed up the next day with some cruise intervals or faster repetitions to take advantage of the biochemical environment or to reset resting tone of the nervous system can be overall beneficial.

Best regards,
Carson Boddicker

Boddicker Performance