Erik’s Blog: Board Shorts and Business Suits

BUILDING A BASE

The first thing that anyone wanting to run a faster mile should do is build a good base. I have seen a lot of people unprepared injure themselves because they haven’t run enough miles prior to training. Pure miles can be a bit boring as I have just mentioned. but have patience. You need to build intensity in your runs before you can do any serious training. Especially if you haven’t been doing much in terms of athletics before beginning your quest.

No matter what your mile goal is you can start out with cross training. I have decided to take up tennis, go surfing, road biking and might jump into basketball as well to get back into the rigors of intense athletics. I don’t mean to suggest that everyone should go out and play as many sports as they can. If you want to do that you can start a blog with me and see how fast you can run yourself into the ground. Instead what I suggest is picking up one or two other sports that you also enjoy doing. These could be soccer and tennis, or swimming and hiking, or surfing and biking. Whatever they are just try for two other sports to keep your mind from becoming stagnant with running. Switching off running and tennis 3-2 times a week, can make for 5-6 days of exercise without the strain of a single sport. Try 2 other sports with running and you’ll be down to 2-3 days a week running getting the same cardiovascular exercise as with more.

To run a four minute mile you can still begin with this type of cross training at first but need to quickly phase it out in order to get used to intense training sessions. I am going to spend a few months with cross-training to get my legs used to movement again. They are still able to carry me fairly quickly but I will need a few days rest afterwards if I get too intense. With cross-training I can still go and surf the day after a long run, or go for a bike ride to loosen my legs.

Within about 6 months I want to have increased my weekly runs to 5 days a week at around 6:30 mile pace. I will still be enjoying other sports but my focus will be mainly on how it effects my running schedule. You should do likewise as your running will begin to get more and more stressful requiring more downtime from other sport form.

I still hope to keep my base building going for at least the first year. If you plan to make a real go at a great mile, say 4:15 or better you too should have a solid base of miles built. The intensity should have also increased to the point where each long run feels like a training run. If you plan on running a 6:00 mile and this is presumed to be your best you should still put in a solid 6-9 months of base building. Don’t underestimate it. Your results will be much greater than without, and the risk of injury much lower.

After 1 year of building a base I plan on continuing with the same intensity of mileage but with more track miles than without. The gradual increase in mileage and intensity in my base building should ease the transition into running intervals, repeats, and the like.

Whatever you are training for remember to start out slow and feel out where injuries might occur. Being cautious and building your strength is a key component to allowing for your athletics goals to be achieved.