I Might Have Gone Too Fast

Today’s Run

Time – 1:09:10
Distance – 6.07 miles
Pace – 11:24 min/mi
Elevation – 191 ft.

Yeah, so, I got back to running in heat. It was a little warm today, and speed was not happening. It was a struggle to get in miles, especially after the time off. I’m back to business again.

Building Base

All solid, well-built houses have a good foundation. A base, if you will. Thus the phrase “base building” in running. For those who don’t run much, the idea behind base building is to do lots of running that add aerobic capability, increase the blood vessels (and, subsequently, blood flow) to muscles in the legs, and to improve strength and stamina. In other words, running a lot makes you run a lot better.

I guess you could say that I’m in an unstructured base building phase right now. I’m running to run. The idea is to get out the door and get more work in. Run, run, run.

Minneapolis Running has a great article about some of the basic workouts of base building here. There are, according to the author Justin Kruse, three main kinds of base building workouts that a runner should add into their standard schedule of easy and long runs to improve base and fitness. They are:

• Strides
• Hills
• Fartleks (no, that is not a typo)

The article talks about each in detail. Suffice it to say, these are going to get added to my schedule.

The other run I mentioned that needs to be worked out is the long run. One per week, usually on Saturday for me, is what will be best. My long runs are going to have to get significantly longer due to THE GOAL. Hollie over at FueledByLOLZ also has a good article about adding miles for base building, especially around the long run.

I’ll have to keep these in mind. Now it’s time to actually sit down and write a schedule…