Do intervals + tempo runs help while building a base?

25 x 400 off 1 min rest.

You know how sometimes when you want to read a book, but you're lazy and you grab the Cliff's notes instead? That is essentially what you are doing to yourself if you do repeats during base period. You may know some specific details about the book, but by no means can you confidently finish a book report on that alone.

Base mileage is like you reading the entire book and speed intervals are you skimming the cliff notes to sharpen up on details.

Don't do the mistake of reading the cliff notes and not reading the book, son.

Good analogy, but a better one would be to use the cliff notes sparingly while reading the book to understand concepts that you don't understand just by reading the book.

In other words, doing some tempo runs and even dabbling in aerobic intervals is something that is needed and will help you. The problem comes when you do these too intense or too often.

Wow - thanks for the advice guys...

Does anyone know why this is the case though?

I read a post on here about the building the capillaries in the lungs - but wouldn't aerobic intervals do the same thing?

I'm planning on sticking with these daily long runs but it would be nice to understand a little more how it will pay off :)

sprinter turned distance guy wrote:

I'm planning on sticking with these daily long runs but it would be nice to understand a little more how it will pay off :)

I know this may be hard to believe, but at 50-60 mpw, you aren't doing "daily long runs". It only seems that way because you used to be a sprinter.

You have a good start going, but you have to be a lot more demented to truly become one of us. ;-)

And the other posters were right ... don't skimp on your base. Someone wiser than I once told me that I should find out what I *couldn't* do, and work on that. What you can't do right now is run long and easy. So it's more important for you to work on that than to hit the track. The track feels better to you because that work plays to your natural strengths. You need to work your weaknesses to become a better runner.

Good luck.

Kevin Sullivan once said that base phase would include some workouts. He said this, while defending Brannen's training log of off season repeats.

Grubinski,

Unfortunately - I think you are exactly right... It wasn't really what I wanted to hear but it's probably what I need to hear!

Thanks for taking the time to write...

[quote]heart_of_a_lion wrote:

(You know how sometimes when you want to read a book, but you're lazy and you grab the Cliff's notes instead? That is essentially what you are doing to yourself if you do repeats during base period. You may know some specific details about the book, but by no means can you confidently finish a book report on that alone)

HE'S WRONG........ Even Lydiard said you could add some light fartlek toward the end of your base period. In your case, you could do 15-20 x 400 with a short jog (100 m) at an easy pace. Try to do as much of the aerobic base as you can before you get bored with it, and then add the above mentioned work.....The most important word in Lydiard training is BALANCE.....

Yes you can do interval training, fartlek, and tempo work in the base period.

If you have some good basic speed, then running like you're on the chain gang at zombie slug speed is bound to be a real drag.

The world wont come to an end if your HR goes over 160, I promise. Go ahead and hit running speeds fast enough to actually have some fun. Thats why you want to run again, right? Soccer, basketball, ultimate frisbee, stairs, also make for good conditioning.

if you don't push yourself in the base phase you won't improve.

I've run sub 14.20 and sub 8.15 and I don't have any defined base phase I include intervals and tempos year round, at the start of a build-up they are quite general 10 milers and easy 2km intervals that kind of things they gradually progress to be 5*1km at race pace and that kind of thing.

I do not improve at all off just miles alone. Practise running long and slow and you will become a very good long slow runner.

isn't it daniels who said a lot of great runners achieve what they do inspite of their training :-)but of course, you just have to find what works for you and go with iti find it odd when people ask if they be doing intervals and tempos and reps doing base --- what is the difference between base and full-on training then???i'm a big believe in base, that being said i only do about 3 weeks of just plain runnings, then i do about 5 to 9 weeks of running + 2 tempo runs a week... usually i'll do like 6x1 mile at tempo pace with a 1 minute rest or just 25 minutes at tempo pace... oh yeah and I try to finish my runs with 8 to 10 strides 3x a weekif i really feel like i'm losing sharpness i might do a few 200s with lots of resti've found this gives me a great base to avoid injury and have lots of aerobic power when i move to 'in-season' trainingnot only does base build aerobic endurance, i think mixing it up works so well for runners

father thyme wrote:

if you don't push yourself in the base phase you won't improve.

I've run sub 14.20 and sub 8.15 and I don't have any defined base phase I include intervals and tempos year round, at the start of a build-up they are quite general 10 milers and easy 2km intervals that kind of things they gradually progress to be 5*1km at race pace and that kind of thing.

I do not improve at all off just miles alone. Practise running long and slow and you will become a very good long slow runner.

Right on here. I think it even possible to 5k effort intervals during "base"--it's not the speed of the run inasmuch as the length of the recovery IMO.

For instance, 16x400m@5k Effort w/ 400m Recovery isn't that hard. 4x1600m@5k Ef w/ 400mR is a lot more difficult and feels like "real" VO2 work. I'd do the 400s during the build-up; the 1600s right before race season.

I think it is perfectly fine to do tempo work year round and even 10K paced or a bit slower Fartleks but keep the volume less. Also, multiple 5K paced striders are fine also.

I will even do my tempo work (at MP or a bit faster) within my long run. Another day might be 15 X 30sec. 5K paced Fartleks throughout my run and the other day 3 X 1K or 4 X 800M at 10K pace with full recovery within a mid week longer run. Another day I may do faster, shorter striders. This keeps you in touch with all your paces and keeps joints strong without ever going anaerobic. It prepares you for more faster volume work post base also.

father thyme wrote:

Practise running long and slow and you will become a very good long slow runner.

Base isn't about running long and slow. It is about building your aerobic capacity so you can run long and FAST. If you are running your base workouts properly, you will have no need to do any faster running.

By definition, once you begin interval or tempo training, you are no longer in base phase anymore.

Runners that do this therefore never have an actual base phase in their program.

It is stupid to say you do not improve off of miles alone so you don't need a base phase. You have to complete a whole program to see the effects. The benefit of the better base will not be apparent until weeks later when you are peaking for races.