The Importance of Base-Building for Marathon Training

Growing up I remember my mom working hard cleaning the house before the housekeeper came to clean the house. Yep, she cleaned before the housekeeper came to clean. She didn't want anyone to come into a dirty house. I can understand the logic, but it kind of defeated the purpose of the housekeeper. Well, it goes without saying, we didn't keep housekeepers very long. We laugh about it now when we get together as a family and reminisce.

Many runners have a similar syndrome. I call it "Cart-Before-the-Horse-itis." I've worked with a few who have experienced the syndrome. They'll complain about this pain or that. This injury or that. I'm thinking to myself..."your marathon training doesn't kick in until 2 or 3 months down the road. What are you doing to feel like this?" 

With a little probing, I discover that they're doing self-prescribed hard runs (speed work and long runs). When I probe a little deeper, I discover that they're doing this in order to see what they're capable of doing before their training officially kicks in. It's a confidence thing. They want to know they can handle the workouts before they do the workouts. 

Okay, I can understand that, but the problems is that without a proper base and without a proper progression of increased intensity over the period of the "real" training plan, these runners up their chance of injury exponentially not to mention the head-games that can occur this early in the game. 

Between major endurance races, like a spring and a fall marathon, runners shouldn't be doing intense speed work like intervals, hill repeats and tempo runs. Nor should they be doing extremely long runs or logging high mileage weeks before official training begins.

Running is not unlike other sports that have periodization or "seasons." Like football, soccer, basketball, or hockey, there's a pre-season, in-season, post-season, and off-season to running. 

If you recently ran or are about to run a spring marathon and you plan to run a fall marathon, then it's best to think of yourself in "Off-Season" or "Recovery" for about 4 weeks after that spring race. Take the first week completely off. During weeks 2, 3, and 4 you can begin doing some light running but nothing intense (pace or distance). This will give your body time to truly heal and rebuild from your spring race.

After the fourth week, you can move into your "Pre-Season" or "Base-Building" phase and start building back your weekly mileage base, but gradually. This will help you condition your body to being back on the road or the trail. During the "Pre-Season" time, work your total weekly mileage back up to 20-25 miles for at least a month prior to the start of your official training. 

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So What Is A Good Base?

Okay, so after yesterday's post, you know why a good base is needed before beginning a marathon training program, but what does "good" mean? Base mileage will vary from runner to runner and whether you're a beginner or an experienced runner will play a factor too. But a good rule of thumb for a solid base is to be running 4-5 times a week with an average total weekly mileage of 25-35 miles.
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It's fine to mix it up during your base-building phase with fartleks, tempo runs, hill work etc. But, mainly the mixing-it-up is to help keep it fresh and fun, not for training purposes. In other words, your goal during the base-building phase isn't to kill yourself in each workout. You're just building miles, letting your body get acclimated to the miles and building endurance.

Keep in mind that the average weekly miles of 25-35 for a good base is just that...an average. It's not what you'd necessarily begin with (especially if you're a novice). Your first week of base building mileage may only consist of 15 miles. Just as your marathon training plan has you ramp-it-up throughout your training, your base-building will also increase, not in intensity, however, but in volume.

A good rule of thumb is to keep your weekly mileage increase to no more than 10%. Ramping up the miles too soon can cause injury. Your first week of base building might include 4 days of 3- to 4-milers for a total of 15 miles. The second week, you may keep your "during the week" miles the same, but increase one of the runs by 10%, making that day's run your "long run." Eventually you'll work your way up to running three to four 4- to 8-milers during the week and a long run of 10 miles. Remember these (for the most part) are low intensity miles. Save the intense workouts for when your marathon training kicks in to prevent from peaking too soon.

How many months of base building should you have? Well, again, that will vary from runner to runner. For a first time marathon runner (who is also fairly new to running), 6 months is a good time span for base building. Then the based building will be followed by 4-5 months of training. For a more experienced runner, 5 months of base building is a good goal to shoot for. For the old pro, 4 months is a good goal to shoot for.

One of the biggest mistakes a runner can make in marathon running, is to think the training begins with the 16-20 training plan he/she has downloaded off the Internet. Nothing wrong with the plan, but I can almost guarantee, if you asked the creator of the plan, he/she would say that their plans assume you have a solid base before beginning.

Remember that base-building is your conditioning period. It's your preseason training time. You're prepping your body so that when you start your "real training" you won't put your body into shock.

Spring Marathons: It's Not Too Late!

Have you been putting off registering and training for that spring marathon? Well, it's not too late, but you better act now! Most marathon training plans last 16-20 weeks. Some marathons have a cap on the number of runners so, races may be filling up fast. For a few, registration may already be closed. Listed at the bottom of this post are links to several great spring marathons to check into, if you don't already have one in mind.

If your marathon is out-of-town, it can get expensive really quickly! For 10 penny-pinching tips for your marathon trip [click here].

Remember, prior to beginning your marathon training, you should have a solid base of weekly mileage. If you're a newbie to running, a spring marathon is probably not an option. It would be best to build your mileage and shoot for a fall 2010 or spring 2011 marathon.

Listed below are RRCA's base-building recommendations for the following groups of marathoners:
• Beginning Marathoner: Six months of running experience and a base of 20 miles per week

• Recreational Marathoner: Experienced runner, may have run one or more marathons; has a base of 25-30 miles per week

• Intermediate Marathoner: Experienced runner, may have run one or more marathons; has a base of 30-40 miles per week

• Advanced Marathoner: Experienced road racer with previous marathon experience; has a base of 50 miles per week

March

North Carolina Marathon

Date: March 20 Place: High Point, NC

National Marathon

Date: March 20 Place: Washington DC

Tobacco Road Marathon

Date: March 21 Place: Cary, NC

Shamrock Marathon

Date: March 21 Place: Virginia Beach, VA

Georgia Marathon

Date: March 21 Place: Atlanta

LA Marathon

Date: March 21 Place: Los Angeles, CA

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April

Charlottesville Marathon

Date: April 17 Place: Charlottesville, VA

Salt Lake City Marathon

Date: April 17 Place: Salt Lake City, UT

Country Music Marathon (I've run this race. Fun race! Well Organized!)

Date: April 24, 2010 Place: Nashville, TN

Blue Ridge Marathon

Date: April 24, 2010 Place: Roanoke, VA

Big Sur International Marathon

Date: April 25, 2010 Place: Big Sur, CA

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May

Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon

Date: May 2, 2010 Place: Cincinnati, OH

Pittsburgh Marathon

Date: May 2, 2010 Place: Pittsburgh, PA

Eugene Marathon

Date: May 2, 2010 Place: Eugene, OR

Cleveland Marathon

Date: May 16, 2010 Place: Cleveland, Ohio

Pocono Marathon

Date: May 16, 2010 Place: Tannersville, PA

KeyBank Vermont City Marathon

Date: May 30, 2010 Place: Burlington, VT

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June

San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon (I've run this race. Awesome! Well Organized!)

Date: June 6, 2010 Place: San Diego, CA

Mayor's Marathon

Date: June 19, 2010 Place: Anchorage, Alaska

Grandma's Marathon

Date: June 19, 2010 Place: Duluth, Minnesota

Often Overlooked but Key to Marathon Success: The Base

"Base." Doesn't sound glamorous, does it? Isn't snazzy sounding. Isn't flashy. But, man is it important. One of the biggest mistakes new marathoners make is overlooking the base mileage needed before beginning any kind of marathon training.

It is a little misleading. If you google "marathon training plans," you'll find a hundred different links to a hundred different training plans. One thing that most of these plans will have in common is the duration. Most will be within a 16 to 20 week range. Here lies the problem. Most training plans start with the assumption that the runner has a solid running base. Some plans (especially ones that are 20+ weeks) may include a little base building (2-4 weeks), but for the most part, training plans have the runner start off pretty quickly building that long run, increasing the weekly mileage, and eventually adding in speedwork and tempo runs. And...there's nothing wrong with that. The plans are solid. It's the runner's understanding of the importance of the base building before the plans kick-in that's often lacking.

Think about it. Without months of conditioning and practice, would you just go out and climb Mt. Everest? Probably not. The importance of building a solid base cannot be expressed enough. It's during this time that you're conditioning your body to being on the road. Just because you can run a 10-miler at race pace once doesn't mean that your body has adapted to running at that pace. It takes about 6 weeks of running that 10-miler at that pace for your body to adapt. Giving your body this time to adapt as you build your mileage means you're allowing your body to gradually get use the added stress which will help prevent injury. This doesn't mean that you have to run that same 10-miler for 6 weeks straight. What it means is that six weeks down the road, when you may be running a 18-miler, your body has actually adapted to the 10 miles and now it's in the process of adapting to the higher miles.

Too much too soon is often the cause of many running-related injuries. A good rule of thumb for increasing weekly mileage is to increase it by no more than 10% per week (adding the extra mileage to the longest run first and shortest run last).

RRCA (Road Runners Club of America) recommends that the base-building phase be about 18-25 weeks. Remember that the bulk of this phase begins before you start that traditional 16 or 18 week marathon training plan. If you're a seasoned runner and marathoner, you probably already have the recommended base and so you can go right into your 16-week plan. But for the novice marathoners, they need to be prepared to put in some miles of base-building before the focused training begins.

Listed below are RRCA's base-building recommendations for the following groups of marathoners:

• Beginning Marathoner: Six months of running experience and a base of 20 miles per week
• Recreational Marathoner: Experienced runner, may have run one or more marathons; has a base of 25-30 miles per week
• Intermediate Marathoner: Experienced runner, may have run one or more marathons; has a base of 30-40 miles per week
• Advanced Marathoner: Experienced road racer with previous marathon experience; has a base of 50 miles per week

The main thing to keep in mind is that the more solid your base the better prepared you're going be (physically and mentally) when you go into your more focused marathon training. If you're thinking about a spring '10 marathon, now's the time to be building that base!