Running Longer Was Impossible… Until I Stopped Doing This

[00:00:00] If you’re a runner trying to go faster or farther, you’re training too hard. And here’s the thing, if you wanna run farther without getting tired, this is the episode. If you skip base training, you’re skipping the one thing that actually makes you faster. I know because I did it and for years I stalled until I slowed down and finished an Ironman in 10 hours and two years later ran a sub three hour marathon.

[00:00:23] So here’s how to build your base engine and why. It changes everything. In this episode, you’re gonna learn what base training actually is and what it is not. How to build aerobic volume without injury or burnout. When to use zone one versus zone two pacing. Why low heart rate training feels slow, but it makes you fast.

[00:00:41] And a free training plan download to help you after you finish watching this. I’m Daren D, lake Running Coach and a huge run science training nerd. I’ve spent almost 30 years experimenting talking to experts. And researching, and the goal is to help you and 10,000 other self-coach runners get 1% better each day by building a proper base.

[00:01:01] To help me with all this, I’ve got Mike Trees, who’s an ex pro triathlete and runner, and now he’s a coach. He’s got a half a million followers on Instagram. He used to run a 14 minute 5K, but now can run. Still 17 minute 5K at 62 years old. Let’s get into the episode, run faster with this base training formula.

[00:01:22] Let’s bring it back to the base training. Obviously we now what’s not base training in my base training zone, we’re doing at least 80% of the work. Nice, easy aerobic paces. Zone one or zone two, as people might say, or maximum aerobic heart rate. The math, you should be able to get enough oxygen through the nostrils quite happily, so it’s a very easy pace.

[00:01:41] Running is very bad at building up muscles and muscle mass. So we need some strength and conditioning, some core work, some gym work to build the legs, uh, and strengthen the legs. Then we need another big word, neuromuscular activation. It really means a little bit of sprinting. If people think I’ve talked far too quickly and didn’t understand it all.

[00:02:00] I have put together a base training plan. It’s a training system that will, uh, guide you through base training. So it will cover everything I’ve just said Now. But in more detail and simpler and easier to understand. Alright, go out and get it. Go out and get it. When you should do base training to run your best race, when would you implement it?

[00:02:19] So let’s say, and not to derail this because, but I think it’s very important to know when would you do the 16 week base block? And all I’m doing is focusing on becoming aerobically. Efficient, you know, building the, the aerobic engine, people are starting to call me an aerobic monster. I’m nearly 60. I can go out and run four 30 pace per kilometer, and my heart rate is around about 1 0 5 to one 10.

[00:02:42] What you need to do as well, just to understand the base train a little bit more, is you then get race specific work. So I, I’ve developed plans as well for runners. We can all do the same base training, build up the aerobic engine, the training after base training. Separate. Uh, and once they’ve done the base training, they then split into blocks.

[00:02:59] So for Marathon it might be a, a 16 week block to get ready for marathon, a 5K, probably eight to 10 weeks, no more than that. Just to recap, it’s we, we do training specifically designed to make the aerobic engine bigger. Now before we go deeper, I know base training can feel vague. Most runners, they overthink it, or worse, they skip it completely.

[00:03:19] So I made it simple for you. I put together a free base training guide and a habits cheat sheet that helps you build your aerobic engine 1% better each day. Just scan the QR code on the screen, hit the link in the description, or check the show notes to download it. Let’s get back into it. Aerobic run training is like driving a car.

[00:03:38] Always trying to feel like a pro. And I’m like, yeah, low heart rate, running fast. You know, this is great. So, um, don’t discount the aerobic base stage. Let me just nail it for you why they need to do it. Imagine you have a car in Europe, we drive fiat, you little fiat, and it’s a one liter engine and you put your foot down and rev it.

[00:03:54] Say a hundred kilometers an hour. If you do aerobic training, you start off with an engine that’s a liter big and you get it up to three liters in size. And then once you’ve got that engine at three liters going 160 kilometers an hour, and you say, ah, now I’ve done my aerobic training to make the engine big, now I’m gonna add a turbo on.

[00:04:12] So what a turbo does to a car engine is it makes it more efficient. It doubles the power output. So you need both. You meet both the base training, the race, specific work for healthy living. If I was to pick one and say, well, I don’t race. I just want to be a healthy guy. Just enjoying life, just enjoying your sport and being strong and healthy.

[00:04:29] You could live on base training all year round, but you might get a little bit bored.

[00:04:36] When should you run by heart? Too many novice runners just don’t understand the technology. They don’t understand the science, and they don’t get a, a feeling for how they’re running. I just want them to run and enjoy the running and understand how their body’s moving naturally. And that’s why I get onto a big run on, on run to Feeling.

[00:04:53] That was a very coach response of, uh, you know, having many athletes. I’m gonna be a bit bit of a devil’s advocate on this one U usually we agree, I’d say a mixture of both. If, if I come to this race. You know, it’s a race I’ve been training for. I know what pace I should be doing. So I, you know, on a flat course, hopefully I’ve been training what that course is.

[00:05:11] I shouldn’t be training flat if it’s a hilly course. If I’m trying to get a best time, which right now I am in the 5K, I want to be peaking at the pace I want to be going, like, you know, for, for a race. Funny enough, ironically enough, I don’t care about heart rate on a race, so it’s more like go a little bit slower, a little bit faster.

[00:05:26] I don’t give a monkeys about the heart rate in a race. Because if you can maintain a higher heart rate than you think you should and you’re just maintaining your pace, well go for it. Thanks for watching this far. If you’re feeling this or anything else I’ve done, the best thing you can do is watch it all the way to the end.

[00:05:41] It keeps the YouTube and podcast algorithm Gods happy, and then shows it to other self-coach runners just like you. And if you really want to help me hit subscribe, like, and share out the link below or in the show notes to a runner that needs base training. Thank you again. How to do sprints the right way for aerobic based training, distance running, and then going for for sprints.

[00:06:02] When we’re talking about the A TP system, it’s generally accept 10 seconds about the maximum he can really go. And the interesting thing with that is I could put a sprint session in of, say, 75 meter strides for an elite athlete and put that on his easy training day because he sprints, he’s not going to build up lactic, but he’s gonna walk back.

[00:06:19] He’s gonna take his time to recover. Make sure that the a TP has. Regenerated within his muscles before doing another sprint, and then can do another. We can use that on easy days even. They’re not getting enough rest and they’re, they’re building up lactate and they’re not developing the aerobic system anymore.

[00:06:34] Um, I know a lot of people that don’t know why they do the rest, so they go, oh, I feel fine. I’ll do these, you know, 15 second hills, and then they’ll have like a, a ten second recovery, five second recovery, and then go back up. And I’m like, no, you’re supposed to have like 40 to six. It should be three to four times longer than you did.

[00:06:49] Yes. And they’re like, but I felt fun. And I’m like, no, this isn’t To smash it out as hard as possible, it’s actually to, to be able to sprint when you’re a hundred percent. So that, that’s, that’s a very, very good point. Why base training is so much fun. Just to recap, it’s, we, we do training. It’s specifically designed to make the aerobic.

[00:07:05] Engine bigger, uh, in base training base is fun. I really like aerobic base. Like I, I found out that it’s almost like spiritual in a way. And it’s zen. You know, the, that’s steady when you get to that, that aerobic building, I call it steady or high Z two heart rate where no lactate is building up. You get efficient enough to me, years to get to the point where my Z two is fast.

[00:07:24] Like I could actually, where I’m like, oh, I’m actually moving here, but my heart rate is low. I felt kinda like a pro. I’m always trying to feel like a pro. I never became a pro like you, but always trying to feel like a pro. And I’m like, yeah, low heart rate, running fast, you know, this is great. Don’t discount.

[00:07:35] The aerobic base stage, the two types of base training explained. The biggest thing that I’ve found out is any type of running you do, I mean even the a hundred meter, everything requires some sort of a base. You get the most benefits out of your race specific training if you have the aerobic base. Let’s split the training into two kinds.

[00:07:55] Base training, which is an aerobic base, training and preparation for races, and these are not my ideas. I’ve cobbled together these ideas from a lot cleverer people than me. So the aerobic training, the base training is aerobic training. It’s designed to make your engine bigger. Uh, and if we can do that for as long as possible, that’s the ideal.

[00:08:14] So if you can do it for six months, that’s better than four months. Three months is still better than two months. I would say 10 weeks is about the minimum time you should devote to a base training plan. I like to work around about 12 to 16 weeks if I can. If you haven’t already, make sure you get that free base training and habits download so you can get faster with your base today.

[00:08:33] And as a bonus, you’ll sign up for my weekly five minutes or less newsletter that goes deep on topics just like this. VO two Max Temple runs the all important mental fitness. Gotta get that brain right and I have a bit of fun in there. ’cause life is for smiling sometimes. This whole running thing gotta have fun.

[00:08:48] But here’s the thing, once the base is built, you can’t just keep stacking easy runs. You gotta go to next level. If you wanna run farther or faster, et cetera, get best times. So you need to add intensity, and that starts with understanding VO two max. That’s your next step. Click the video below if you’re watching or if you’re listening.

[00:09:04] Get that link in the show notes to learn exactly what VO two max is, how to improve it, and how to fit it into your training without overdoing it. See you in that episode. Peace.