Longest Run and Second Longest Run

I thought I'd share with you some useful thoughts from a book entitled Road Racing for Serious Runners (Pfitzinger/Douglas) kindly given to me by Karen (the title still makes me giggle,
I am not exactly serious).
Anyway, for some reason I was flicking through the marathon section and I spotted 2 things that I knew but it was nice to have reinforced:
1. Longest Run - Remember long runs aren't jogs. To stimulate the physiological adaptations that are crucial to marathon success (e.g. increased capillary density and increased glycogen storage), do your long runs 0.45 to 1:30 per mile slower than your marathon pace.
I think we are all guilty of running our long runs too quick and in fact running slowly is actually really hard, even for me...
2. Second Longest Run - The purpose of the 2LR is to reinforce the training adaptations of the long runs. They should increase in distance in a similar pattern to the long run and should be run at a similar pace to the long run.

And finally, if you miss an important session, don't try to make it up. If circumstances dictate that you end up beng behind schedule in a week, don't run several hard sessions in a row to make up for it. If you do, the workout quality will be reduced and you are more likely to get injured. Instead, focus on the most important sessions...what are those? Well, it's late now so I will share that information at a later date!

And yes, I know, I am often to be witnessed falling into the pitfalls above...do as I say and not as I do?