Building a base

Building A Base For Stronger Running

Click on words highlighted in green to find deffinition in running term glossary found on this website.

A structure is only as good as its foundation and so it goes with running. Training for a race of any distance will only be as good as the foundation or base. Your base must precede your stages of harder training that is required later in your running program. If you haven't a good solid base you will more than likely end up on the injured list and your base can be the difference between a mediocre season and a great season of consistent running at a high degree. The idea behind base training is to train your aerobic energy system specifically. The more work you perform aerobically the more efficient this system will become. Building a base with plenty of aerobic mileage is the first, the easiest and usually the longest phase (4 to 12 weeks depending on the type of race you're training for and the condition you're in to start with) of your training cycle or program. The base phase is where you build the foundation to support all that harder training to come.

First, let's look at some of the benefits of the base phase of your training program.

Conditions your cardio respiratory system and your muscles to run long distances.
Stimulates your slow-twitch muscle fibers.
Improves your running economy, form and stride rate. Running economy is a measure of the amount of oxygen used to run a given pace. More economical runners use less oxygen to run a specific pace than do less economical.
Should lose any weight gain.
Increases your hearts capacity to pump blood.
Improves oxygen transport to the muscles.
Allows for faster recovery when doing the harder workouts later in your program.
Reduces the rate of lactate formation.
Improves the rate of lactate removal.
Your body learns to readily break down and utilize fat as an energy source.
Increases capillary density and mitochondrial density.
Reduces the chance of injury later in the training program when doing the harder faster workouts.
The ability to spare glycogen and rely more on fat as fuel.

As you can see, there are many benefits that make base training well worth the effort!

During the off season (for me that is from mid October to January) I like to keep my mileage around 20 to 25 miles and up to 30 miles if I'm feeling good and injury free. That way when I officially start my training for a spring marathon I already have a small base to start with and decreases the overall time of my training cycle. I can start my base training at 25 or 30 miles and build from there until I reach my planned weekly mileage goal.

The main goal when designing your base training schedule is to include lots of slow aerobic mileage. These aerobic miles should be introduced gradually over the length of the base phase. Build your mileage up slowly until you have reached the peak of your weekly mileage you intend to run throughout the training program with the exception of recovery weeks. Speaking of recovery weeks, I like to incorporate a recovery week with reduced mileage and intensity every fourth week during all phases of training to allow my body to rest and recuperate from the stress of higher mileage and harder workouts.

Don't expect to increase your speed during the base training and if you have any speed left over from the previous race season you will lose some of it during base training, but not to worry because this is what you are going to spend the rest of your season working on. If your patient and put in the long slow aerobic miles during the base phase you will be running a faster aerobic pace with a slower heart rate at the end of your base phase than when you started. Your body will be strong and ready to handle the speedier work to come. Easy running should be the major portion of your base training and done at 60 to 75 percent of max heart rate or 55 to 65 of heart rate reserve. The main staple of my base training is long and medium long runs at an easy pace, but base training doesn't and shouldn't be all slow aerobic running. I like to do some other workouts to help keep things interesting and alleviate boredom. Some of these are:

Including strides at the end of some of my easy runs.
Short >Fartleks at 10k pace.
20 minute tempos at my half marathon pace.
Short hill workouts on the treadmill at marathon race pace
Weight training. I do most of my weight training during base training and I like to do full body workouts focusing most of the workout on the legs with squats, deadlifts, lunges, calf raises and Good Mornings which is a good hamstring, glute and back exercise.

Every runner is different and should tweak their base phase to best suit them. Much depends on the level of the runner, the length of the race they are training for and if they are coming off an injury. You need to keep a balance to avoid injury and overtraining, but the more you can do during base training in the form of overall mileage the better off you will be.
Here is a re-cap on the basics of base training and what it should consist of:

Base training should be first and foremost of any running program.
Depending on race distance, 4 to 12 weeks should be devoted to base training.
Volume is the key to base training.
Gradually adapt to higher mileage over the length of your base training.
Include a weekly long run and a medium long run.
Consistency, not speed, is the goal of base training.
The bulk of your mileage should be done at aerobic pace with heart rate at 60 to 75 percent of max heart rate or 55 to 65 of heart rate reserve.
Include some faster runs such as fartleks and tempos no faster than 10k race pace. I like to keep my tempos during base training at 20 minutes max and do them at marathon race pace or slower. Also, do strides at the end of some of your easy runs.
The base phase is the best time to Include extra weight training focusing mainly on the legs and core.
Do some short hill workouts. This is a great way to strengthen the legs and goes well with weight training. I like to do some 100 meter hill repeats @ 7 percent incline at marathon race pace or slower with 100 meter walking intervals keeping the incline at 7 percent immediately after a weight training session. I increase either the incline, speed or distance as I advance into base training.
The benefits of base training should be realized before doing the harder workouts later in the program.
You can do some shorter races, but should be done for fun and at a moderate pace. I know, easier said than done.

I like to run marathons and this is how I do my base training and it works well for me. As I said earlier all runners are different, but the basics should be the same for everyone with some tweaks here and there to fit your individual needs.

Enjoy every step,

Al