How would you plan a base phase with 120 mpw?

To build... assuming we took a break and ran 110-115 before, we'd do 50-55, 70-75, 90-95, 110-115, then we'd gently bring ourselves up to 120 as we see fit. Otherwise we'd build up slowly: just adding a mile or so to a few runs per week should do it, and then throw in down weeks as needed.

and then the way the week looks depends on time of year, event, experience level, etc... if you're a marathoner you'll want to move workout days around but for building base:

MO: 6 mi easy/10 mi easy

TU: 6 mi shakeout/10 mi

WE: 6 mi shakeout/10 mi

TH: 15 mi

FR: 6 mi easy/10 mi easy

SA: 6 mi shakeout/10 mi

SU: 24 mi

little things:

MO: strength work

TU: drills + strides

WE: drills + workout + strength work

TH:

FR: drills + strides

SA: drills + workout + strength work

SU:

and making sure we're eating and hydrating properly, getting enough sleep, getting in a dynamic warmup, stretching/foam rolling, and taking care of any imbalance/injury stuff.

1) For building base does not need workouts (most common mistake)

2) all runs during base building with gradient 1%++, with 0% gradient - you are wasting your time.

Do you still think a 24 mile long run is beneficial if still focusing on the 5k/10k? In general, I agree with your outline, but why so many days with drills? I usually see people recommend 2-3 days, but not usually 4. What types/examples of workouts do you like to do in base?

Canefis wrote:

1) For building base does not need workouts (most common mistake)

2) all runs during base building with gradient 1%++, with 0% gradient - you are wasting your time.

1) I disagree as do many people

2) what? are you only running on a treadmill or something?

1) no and I also wouldn't necessarily recommend 120 mpw for an amateur 5k/10k guy, more like 85-90 w/ a 17-18 mi long run... Reason being, there's a balance that needs to occur between intensity and volume. Too much intensity and you fizzle out without aerobic base. Too much volume and you're too flat and tired to hit the really lung-searing 5K stuff and fit in the rest of the quality in. The goal for base isn't to jack up your mileage as high as you can handle, it's more about laying an even foundation down of quality and quantity that you can chip off of as you start to work harder things in.

2) Drills you can look at individually, I choose to do 4 days since they're not very taxing and it's just the stuff you use to warm up before a workout. If they don't work for you, or you want to do less, do less. There's mixed research on whether they work on improving form and efficiency,

1st half of base phase:

Workout 1: tempo - easy run progressing to marathon pace at the end

Workout 2: either short 2's or 3's, treat them like strides, jog recoveries

or hill reps at tempo/10K-type effort

2nd half:

Workout 1: tempo - easy run cutting down to threshold at the end

fartlek or long repeats

Workout 2: same as above only up the ante on the hills a bit

*formatting with the workouts, hope you get it

Two long runs a week

Sun: 20 moderate

Mon: 8 easy / 10 easy + Strides

Tue: 8 easy / 10 w/ Long Tempo

We’d: 18 easy

Thu: 8 easy / 10 easy + Strides

Fri: 8 easy / 10 w/ Fartlek

Sat: 10 easy

Also, one thing I would be sure to do is some strength training to prevent injury. That’s a lot of pounding.?

2 hours Each morning Tuesday- Sunday. No run but Ice bath On Monday. dirt roads and trails as much as possible. All above 6,000ft elevation if practical. Repeat for 26 weeks.

When I did that much or more I usually had a 17-20 mile run, usually on Sunday, then a 12-15 mile run as my main sessions with second runs of 5-10 miles on some number of days.

I would never recommend running 120mpw for any purpose except training for a race that long, in which case, I think you're pursuing an unhealthy hobby.

As someone who has done quite a few 120s would not recommend that long of a long run. Especially for a 5k-10k guy. 20 miles is fine for someone in your position who's never done 120. Too long of a long run can wear on the body and take an energy toll that is difficult to recover from. When in marathon training my long runs are generally 22 never over. I feel anything longer removes the positive long run value and becomes a negative for recovery.

NWARunner wrote:

Canefis wrote:

1) For building base does not need workouts (most common mistake)

2) all runs during base building with gradient 1%++, with 0% gradient - you are wasting your time.

1) I disagree as do many people

2) what? are you only running on a treadmill or something?

1) do many people and same low results.... for 5 years cannot shave 1 minute from 5k PR.... or else. Just search LRC forum, same stupid question is flooded all over the board.

2) need hilly terrain for optimal progress