Develop Your Base Fitness for Endurance Running
As we all start to prepare for the new running season while the end of the year grows closer, many new and experienced runners will soon be thinking about building their base training and as a result increasing their mileage. Whether you or anyone you know is preparing for their first race in the New Year, or they are a seasoned pro competing in any distance from 5k or all the way to a full marathon, learning how to safely increase mileage and consequently running further is a skill that will need to be developed.
The challenge is trying to find the right balance and not increasing mileage too quickly. Plenty of runners can cause themselves injuries and or mental and physical burnout by getting the first steps wrong. Problems are created by the bodies inability to adapt as quickly to the new load that it is being placed under. The bones, tendons, ligaments and muscles that have not been conditioned to withstand the impact of running the increased volume and don’t have the tissue tolerance that is required to match the change in training, now becoming overworked and therefore are more prone to injury.
Building Your Running Base
An easy and great start to increasing mileage is by building your base mileage. Running load can be increased in three different ways; running further, running harder, or running more often. In other words increasing mileage, frequency or speed/incline. Firstly, the avoidance of a sudden increase in any of the factors will reduce the risk of injury. Secondly, avoid an increase in all of these factors at the same time is important. The triple effect of increased running volume, running speed work and individual running times increases will load the stress on the body and increase injury risk. Strcture your appraoch, plan your weekly sessions and remmeebr the drop down every fourth week to allow recovery as you progress. E.G if you ae planning on increasing mileage do not try to increase speed/incline or frequency at the same time. The purpose of base training is to get a runners aerobic potential and capacity to a maximum before training the anaerobic energy system. This is the most effective way to build long term speed development for runners, runner faster more consistently then you need to get your aerobic base built first. It takes time, six months minimum to notice the benefits and generally thsi si considered to be heart rate based training.
Have a Training Plan
The adherence to a training plan may help to better manage your running load, adding consistency to your training. The temptation to slowly increase running miles every week without any real structure may sound like a way to slowly but surely increase milage and load but it is far more useful to have a tangible goal in mind. Structure your progression with a good training programme, and at Running Logic we have a programme for you to achieve your goals. The benefits of having a training plan (and sticking to it) are numerous. Firstly, it’ll be easier to increase milage regularly, routinely and productively. Secondly, It will allow you to plan for a specific race/event. Having a training plan, however, does not mean that it can not be changed or adapted as we never know how our bodies will react to planned sessions, let alone other stresses such as a harder day at work or a sudden illness. Learning to listen to your body is a valuable tool for every runner to acquire, so follow the plan but adapt to how you feel.
Having Proper Rest and Recovery
The change and adaptation of a training plan is perfect when aiming to add more rest and recovery in. If after a session you unexpectantly feel more fatigued than you expected a rest period will be more beneficial for you then another run. This emphasis of rest and recovery will allow you to maintain your training plan better, reduce the risk of overtraining injuries and help you to recover and build strength better through the replenishment of and mending of injured or damaged tissues.
As a result all of these things have an impact in the increase of a runners milage both safely and effectively. If you’re looking either now or in the new year to increase your running output the uptake of some of these tips will help immensely to you no matter the experience level.
Build A More Durable Runner