Basecamp Week 1

BASECAMP WEEK #1

TRAINING WEEK DETAILS

For details on what I mean by Quality, Speed Economy, Long Run & Medium Long Run, please see the FAQ page HERE. 

QUALITY

EASY RUN W/ 4 x 1 MINUTE PICKUPS

Easy running is a hard concept for some people to grasp. There is a cultural tendency to think that things must be hard for them to be beneficial. The old saying, “No pain; no gain.” is more deeply ingrained in people than they realize. The greatest running benefits that you can gain come from easy running. All the key physiological adaptations that we encourage are coming from easy running. In a base building program, the most critical aspect of what we are trying to achieve: a strong foundation for future running success, comes from easy running. It is absolutely essential that you concentrate on easy running in this program. What is easy? Here are a few ways to ensure you are going easy:

• Is your breathing relaxed & controlled? Is it in a smooth, even rhythm?
• Can you carry on a conversation? If you can easily talk while you are running, then you are likely running easy.
• Can you breathe only through your nose? This is the highest test of running easy. If you want to be absolutely certain you are running very easy, you’ll be able to breath with our mouth closed. 

So getting into a space where you know what your easy feels like is very important. I would really like you to do this without focusing on your pace per mile. Are you using a Geekometer (smart watch) in your training? If so, you just need to realize that it is a very useful tool but it is not going to be used in this program to control your running. We will run on efforts & time, not on pace per mile. This will allow us to get out of the pace mindset. 

For this workout you are running an easy 4 miles & interspersed in the 4 miles are 4 pickups of 1 min with a minimum of 5 minutes of very easy running between them. Be sure you are alt least 1 mile into your easy run before you start your pickups so you are warmed up.  A pickup is run at a pace just faster than your easy pace. It should feel a little quick, a little sprightly. It should be relaxed & smooth, NOT a sprint or a hard effort. Just pickup the pace a bit so you feel like you are running faster than the easy pace you started running at the beginning of the run. You’ll do 4 of these. Be sure that you don’t get carried away & start getting faster & faster throughout the run! It can be very easy to get overly excited & carried away with an exciting new program. Be sure to go back to a very easy pace after each pickup. 

SPEED ECONOMY

4 x FLAT STRIDES

Strides are similar to pickups but are implemented in this program differently. After you finish your easy 4M run, you want to find a flat, even surface (track or road) that is approximately 60-80 meters long. You can also jusde these on time & it will be about 10-12 seconds long. A stride is a fast run of very short duration. You want to be quick & sprightly but still very relaxed in the face, neck, shoulders & arms. THIS IS NOT A SPRINT. If a sprint were 100% effort (all out), a stride would be 85-90% effort. Fast but relaxed. Concentrate on beautiful form. How will you know what beautiful form is? Just picture a galloping horse & hold that in your mind. Strong, fast & relaxed. The  walk back after you 80 meters or 12 seconds to start the next stride. 

MEDIUM LONG RUN

4 Miles

LONG RUN

4-6 miles

FUNDAMENTALS TOPIC

MINDSET

How you approach every day you train will impact your overall benefit of the program exponentially. You must have a positive, relaxed mental space for your training to give you it’s full benefit. You have heard this over & over in life. It has become a cliche. That is so unfortunate. Everything comes back to attitude. Sometimes it is helpful to look at the negative impacts of attitude to help us come to a positive mental outlook.