Hi, this is Debbie Boyle's coach at Mojo for Running. How is your base coming along?

If you've been listening to my podcast for a while, you know that every runner's year is

normally divided up into two or three cycles that each build up to a particular goal race.

For example, maybe you trained for speed in the spring and that

culminated in a 5K race in April. And maybe you're now working towards a half marathon in October,

and then you'll do a marathon in February. That would represent three race cycles, and that

might be typical for some runners,

runners who enjoy several distances and like the variety of getting to train differently

throughout the year. I can appreciate that.

More typical, though, is that a particular runner either concentrates on 5Ks and 10Ks,

or half marathons, or marathons.

In either case, there is a logical and proven best way to train.

The first step is to take a break after a goal race.

That doesn't mean no running, but it means running fewer miles, taking more rest days

and not running any of them hard.

This often overlooked stage is critical to the runner being able to stay fresh and healthy.

That stage should be several weeks long, not one or two either.

Seriously, give your body a break and it will thank you later.

After that, it's time to begin to implement your training plan for the next cycle.

And that first stage is what I want to talk about today, base building.

As I've discussed before, the race preparation consists of the base building phase, followed

by a stage of emphasis on speed

...