Base building is not very exciting – but it is highly effective, whether your goal is to run a faster marathon or 5K. While often conflated with an off-season, a base building phase is a distinct and crucial training phase. This phase of lots of easy miles develops both aerobic fitness and tissue tolerance, so that you can later build race-specific fitness with lower risk of injury and greater adaptations overall. In this episode, we discuss the adaptations of base building, how to structure a base building phase, and more!

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In this episode, you’ll learn:

✅ What is base building and why is it beneficial?

✅ Is base building solely easy running?

✅ How long should a base building last?

✅ Sample workouts for a base building phase

✅ The role of long runs during a base build

✅ How often should you run during a base building phase?

References:

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Tread Lightly Running is hosted and researched by Amanda Brooks and Laura Norris, MSc. Production, show notes, and graphics by Laura Norris.

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