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Are you ready for a monster discussion on base training, the Maffetone Method, and more training geekery? I definitely am – and this article is a beast – so grab a cup of coffee and settle in for a wild ride. Today we’re going to cover several questions and topics: • What is “base” or “foundational” training?

• What is the Maffetone Method? • What are the benefits of the Maffetone Method? • The (significant) drawbacks of the Maffetone Method • How to design a proper base training phase I rarely discuss specific training methods (“Run Less, Run Faster” for example) unless I have very strong opinions about them. Like! But I think there’s a valuable discussion to be had about how runners should build their endurance.

And the base phase of training is the perfect place to start this conversation. So first, what is base training anyway? What Exactly is Base Training? Let’s see how some famous coaches define base training. Process Scheduling Program In C there.

Greg McMillan, of the “McMillan Running Calculator” fame and author of, defines base training as: Our base training comes directly from Arthur Lydiard with slight modifications for our athletes. There are two workouts that are performed in the base phase. The first workout is a leg speed workout. Year-round, it is important for distance runners to work on leg speed. Leg speed workouts are NOT heavy breathing workouts.

They are neuromuscular workouts to make sure the brain and muscles remember how to turn the legs over quickly. Since we don’t want to breath heavy (indicating a large build up of lactic acid- a big no-no while in the base phase), these workouts include repeats lasting less than 30 seconds.

A good example might be 10 x 150m striding the first 50m, running quickly the second 50m then at 90% of top speed for the final 50m. You can see that the focus here is NOT on hard workouts – but even so, there is still a weekly session where you run quite fast. And Brad Hudson, coach to many elites and author of, explains the base phase (or as he calls it, the “introductory period”) as: The purpose of the introductory period is to establish an appropriate fitness foundation that will prepare you for the more challenging and focused training of the fundamental and sharpening periods. Priority number one is to gradually but steadily increase your running mileage Other priorities of the introductory period include establishing a foundation of neuromuscular fitness with very small doses of maximal-intensity running and beginning the long process of developing efficiency and fatigue-resistance at race pace with small doses of running in the race-pace range Bob Kennedy, the dominant American distance runner in the 1990s and first American to break 13:00 in the 5,000m, agrees.

In, he says: There are three basic phases to a training cycle: base, strength, and speed. The problem that most athletes have is that they think [the phases] are mutually exclusive.

I think that the phase of training is defined by what you are focusing on during that phase. But you always do a little of all of those things. There’s never a time of year when you’re just running mileage or you’re just doing speed. You’re always doing all of it, it’s just a matter of to what degree. I also reached out to Jay Johnson, coach to multiple national champions, about what he thinks should be included in a base training phase (or “” as he calls it): Foundational training doesn’t need to be so black and white. You can do a progression run that is mostly below [lactate] threshold and it might end with 5 minutes of running that’s just past threshold, yet the amount of lactate produced is minimal and is cleared in just a few minutes of cooling down.