Traditionally, weight lifting is not a high priority for long-distance runners.
If they even step foot in the weight room, those workouts typically consist of low-weight, high-rep exercises—much different than how you'd see, say, a football player working out. That makes sense, right? Running is a repetitive motion over a long period of time, so if a runner is going to weight train, shouldn't their routine reflect that?
Not necessarily.
I've worked with several Ironman and marathon runners. They frequently ask me, "What can I do to get an edge over my competition? What can I do that everyone else isn't doing?"
My reply is simple: "Hit the weight room. Hard."
"OK, so I should do a ton of reps with light weight and get toned?"
"Nope. You're going lift some very heavy weight."