Get Back to Running: Build that Base
Written By: Coach Chris Knighton
Lay a strong foundation at the beginning of every training cycle to set yourself up for the best probability of success.
The Six Phases Of Marathon Training
- Base Building Phase <- We will focus on this here.
- Speed Development Phase
- Race-Specific Quality Phase
- Tapering for Peak Performance
- Race Day Performance
- Post-Race Recovery
Always Lay the Foundation First
Whether you are a brand new runner or a veteran returning from a break, all athletes should start their training from the foundational level.
By laying a strong foundation at the beginning of every training cycle, you set yourself up for the best probability of success. Include an intentional base building phase at the beginning of every block of training.
Why is Base Building important?
Reason #1:
You are literally rebuilding your body from the inside out! Easy, consistant running early in a training cycle does this:
- The heart is strengthened, allowing more blood flow per beat and a slower heart rate.
- Increase in the number, size, and distribution of mitochondria in muscle cells, allowing more energy generation when running.
- More capillaries become active over time, providing more oxygen to the running muscles.
- The muscles get better at conserving glycogen (carbohydrate fuel) and start using stored fat for energy.
- Bones and muscles stress and react to lower intensity, higher volume running and recreate themselves stronger.
All these benefit changes happen best at lower intensities. The changes may not display outwardly but your body is changing, building, strengthening inside.
Allow the time to heal and rebuild your body with a base building phase at the start at each training cycle to get faster and more resilient.
Reason #2:
You are building a body that is more resilient to injury.
Anywhere from 65% to 80% of runners get injuries over the course of a year primarily due to poor training decisions.
Spending a long time in the base building phase allows your muscles and bones to stress and adapt to be stronger over time with the least amount of stress on your body.
High intensity intervals are very important to perform your best but are the fastest way to injury, especially for a runner who has not laid a strong foundation.
Proper base building at the start of each season is an insurance plan against getting sidelined!
Reason #3:
You are able to safely increase your weekly mileage to high levels before launching into hard workouts. More mileage is better for distance runners.
Elites run 80-120+ per week. Most amateur runners have limited time and can not run this much, but more mileage undeniably is better than less to improve as a runner.
But how do you build mileage, especially if you think you are prone to injury or “not well suited to high mileage”. The answer lies in a long base phase of mostly easy running and slowly growing mileage over time from cycle to cycle.
What holds most runners back is doing work that’s TOO HARD, TOO OFTEN. Patience and wise guidance will let any runner build a strong base and then launch into tough sharpening workouts without the need to simultaneously be trying to increase mileage. Increase mileage or increase intensity, but never both at the same time. .
How to Build Your Base
Duration:
Treat yourself to at a month or more of mostly easy running before launching into any structured workouts. During this phase you are giving yourself time to strengthen your body to handle the harder training to come.
Frequency:
Build the habit of regular running. Increase your number of running days to at least five days a week for the most benefit. Four days a week should be considered the minimum for any runner looking to improve their fitness.
Volume:
Build your weekly mileage without the added stress of fast workouts and excessively long runs. Increase your mileage patiently over time. Only move to a higher mileage when you are 100% confident your body and mind has adapted to the stress of the current amount of running you are doing.
Variety:
After several weeks of purely easy running, consider adding strides or light effort-based workouts to add variety and prepare yourself for the more structured work to come. These workouts should be moderate-intensity at most and not at all hard. Remember, you are preparing for harder training at this stage, not performing it.
Download the Base Building Plan
Coach Chris’s Base Building Plan
Get My 12 Week Base Building Training Program
Distance runners will see tremendous improvement in their performances through consistent running and staying healthy. Runners training less than 40 miles per week will see the most improvement in their fitness by safely building their weekly mileage. This plan is designed for the runner who is comfortably running 3-4 times a week for a total of 20 miles week. Over the course of 12-weeks, you will build up your number of running days and weekly mileage. By the end of the plan you will be running 6-days a week, 40 miles a week, and have a solid foundation to take on a more intense event-specific training plan.
