Base Building: Building a Strong Foundation

The benefits of base building stay with you as you enter your more formal “training block” for Grandma’s Marathon Weekend, other races, and beyond! I like to think of goal races as celebrations and check points more than finish lines, so that the lessons and habits learned along the way continue both in life and in running: perseverance, encouraging myself rather than diminishing how far I’ve come, reevaluating goals, being excited for others whether they are just starting out OR “ahead” of you in some way. Constantly being in a prescribed training block can be a shortcut to burnout, and base building can be the more loose mental break you need before looking ahead to your next race.

When should you start base building?

In short, there is no time like the present! The earlier you start base building, the better you are going to feel on race day come June (or any of the days before and after!). One of the easiest ways to determine what your base building should look like is to consider your starting point (how often, how far, how long are you able to walk/run?), ending point (when does your training plan begin?), and how much time you have to dedicate to running so that it feels both sustainable and fun.

To have your most successful, race, backwards plan from your chosen training plan. Most pre-baked plans available online, in bookstores, or (my favorite) via your local library include the weekly mileage you should be at before beginning the race-specific training block.  This mileage is the actual miles you run consistently. Be honest with yourself here, and you are more likely to have a successful, healthy training cycle. A great rule of thumb is to look at weeks 3 and 4, and see if your current mileage is within range. One of my all-time favorite resources for this is the Defy.Org Calendar Hack (https://www.defy.org/hacks/), where you can input your race date, compare plans, see what your splits look like for certain distances, and export your training calendar to your personal calendar. For folks looking to hit very specific time goals, please keep in mind that whenever you run a certified course, your watch/Strava distance will certainly show that you have run farther than the race distance due to not running every tangent perfectly (getting water, weaving around people, using the bathroom – all of those tangents add up).  Your official chip time will be longer than the time it takes your watch/Strava to hit the prescribed distance.

Some dates and example training plans to help you with your backwards planning, while acknowledging that there are TONS of plans available for all types of runners and walkers:

• William A. Irvin 5K: June 19, 2026
  • 8 week plan: 4/25/26
    • Runner’s Blueprint has you starting from zero and working up from walk/runs three times per week totaling 1:10, to a peak week of 2:10 total time on feet. It is essentially a base-building plan.
    • The Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.) has three levels of training plans (Level 1 is working up from 1:30 running per week spread across 3-4 days, to peaking at 3:25 spread across 4 days; as you move up in levels, expect more time on feet plus adding speedwork, because the goal shifts from finishing, to finishing with certain time/pace goals)
  • 13 week plan: 3/21/26
    • Pfitzinger’s Faster Road Racing, Schedule 1 is 30-40mpw; Schedule 2 is 45-55mpw; Schedule 3 is 60-70mpw)
• Garry Bjorklund Half Marathon: June 20, 2026
  • 12 week plan: 3/28/26
    • B.A.A. has three levels of training plans. As with their 5k plans, the levels shift from a goal of finishing (Level 1) to finishing with certain time/pace goals. Unlike their Level 1 5k plan, their Level 1 Half Marathon plan is based around mileage instead of time on feet.
    • Pfitzinger has 4 levels of training plans in Faster Road Racing, all with specific training paces and speedwork. The schedules are based on mpw: Schedule 1, 31-47mpw; Schedule 2, 46-63mpw; Schedule 3, 61-84mpw; Schedule 4, 81-100mpw
  • 18 week plan: 2/15/26
    • Hal Higdon has many plans from “Novice” (goal of finishing, and builds from 12mpw to 23mpw) to “Intermediate 2” (more speedwork and tempo runs, and builds from 14mpw to 25mpw + 45 minutes at your goal pace, meaning that peak week mileage will vary from person to person)
    • Both Hansons Beginner and Hansons Advanced Half Marathon build to running 6 days per week and include speedwork. The “Beginner” starts at roughly 15mpw, but quickly jumps to mid- to upper-20s by week 4, and peaks at 47mpw. The “Advanced” plan starts at roughly 33mpw, and peaks at 50mpw. They are detailed online as well as in Hansons Half Marathon Method.

• Grandma’s Marathon: June 20, 2026
  • 12 week plan: 3/28/26
    • Pfitzinger has 12 week plans in Advanced Marathoning ranging from 35-55mpw to 82-105mpw, usually referred to in discussions by the length of the plan in weeks and the maximum mileage, such as 12/55 (12 weeks, maximum of 55mpw)
  • 16 week plan: 3/2/26
    • Personal Best Running, by Mark Coogan and Scott Douglas, starts at 38mpw and peaks at 65mpw. It includes speedwork and 6 days of running per week, with some easy days specifically being optional. If you need an additional rest day, take it.
  • 18 week plan: 2/15/26
    • Hal Higdon has plans ranging from Novice 1 (training to complete the marathon) with 15-40mpw to Advanced 2 (two days of speedwork, three 20 milers, and weekly mileage from 21mpw to 43mpw). Of note is that Higdon plans often have a bulk of the mileage in those weekend long runs, and increasingly, many newer plans strongly suggest limiting your weekly long run to a maximum of 20-33% of your weekly mileage to reduce the chance of injury due to your body adjusting to more time on feet.
    • Hansons Beginner and Hansons Advanced, like their half marathon plans, build to 6 days on/1 day off, and include both speedwork and tempo work. The Beginner plan starts at roughly 15mpw and peaks at 57.5mpw; The Advanced plan starts at roughly 40mpw and peaks at 61.5mpw. Something unique to Hansons is tossing out the “you must run a certain number of 20 milers” and instead has 16 mile long runs in peak mileage weeks.  I can attest to the efficacy of this plan, as I used it to get my first Boston-qualifying time. More mileage is not always better, and these plans are great for folks looking to spread their miles out across more days. As always, reading the associated book (Hansons Marathon Method) helps!
    • Pfitzinger plans, located in Advanced Marathoning, are often referred to by the number of weeks they take to complete and the maximum weekly mileage, for example “Pfitz 18/55” refers to the 18 week plan that peaks at 55 mpw, and “Pfitz 18/85+” refers to the 18 week plan that peaks at higher than 85mpw
      • Very few people do those highest-mileage plans for a whole host of reasons: more is NOT always better; people have lives and time constraints; running that much is also costly from a shoes/laundry/grocery bill perspective; that is a lot of mileage to run while avoiding injury and/or burnout; and to reiterate, simply running more miles may get you to the point of diminishing returns.
      • As someone who has run marathons with peak weeks in the 40s, 70s, and 115mpw, I can humbly share that when my own training eats into my recovery, while I do not personally get injured, I do absolutely get to the point of diminishing returns because I end up skipping things like meaningful cross training, time doing other things that bring me joy, getting solid sleep, etc. Again – more is NOT always better. Just because you “can” run that much without getting injured, does not mean it is what is best for you or a whole lotta reasons!
  • 20 week plan: 2/1/26
    • A.A. offers Level 1-4 plans varying from 25-40 miles per week to 35-60mpw

What are common base building plans/strategies?

• As mentioned earlier, look ahead to weeks 3-4 of the plan you’re considering. Backwards plan to see if you have enough time to get to that “base mileage” in a healthy, sustainable way – and if the plan makes sense for your current constraints. Remember: part of running your best race is making sure you have fun along the way and still enjoy it after!
• Couch to 5k (sometimes called “C25K”) plans, which are readily available online
• Pfitzinger’s “Base Building” plans in Faster Road Racing
• Following the 10% rule while building mileage, in other words, not increasing your weekly mileage (or time on feet) by more than 10%
• Adding volume before adding intensity (for example, if your selected plan starts at 30 miles per week, build to that number before you add in speedwork since doing both simultaneously can lead to injury and/or burnout)
• Down weeks or “de-load weeks,” meaning planned weeks where you dial down your mileage (or time on feet) and/or intensity, to give your body time to recover and adapt
  
  Reading base building plans

• You may encounter a lot of the same verbiage as you start looking into building your base.  To help things feel more approachable, some of the most common ones are:

  • Pace: Usually measured in minutes per mile/km
  • Easy run: Just as it sounds: an easy-paced run. Sometimes called a “conversational pace” because you should be able to speak in full thoughts while you do it.  Remember: easy is a feeling! If you’re low on sleep, had a hard workout the day before, it is humid out, it’s warm out, or you have recently recovered from illness, your pace may drop.  When temperatures drop in the fall, you run the morning after a glorious summer rain and the humidity drops, or you’ve been running for a number of weeks, your pace may pick up.  When in doubt, slow down. No, seriously – take these days easy. It isn’t a competition!
  • Long run: The longest run of your week, often on a weekend due to typical work schedules, but feel free to move it to a day that best suits your schedule. These are best capped at 20-33% of your weekly mileage (in other words, if I run 45 miles in a week, my long run will top out around 15 miles).
  • Workouts: Harder-effort runs, such as intervals (times during your run that are harder than others, whether it be for certain distances, number of minutes, hill repeats, etc.)
  • Strides: In essence, running fast bursts of speed, often towards the end of a run. Some plans list them in distance (100 meters), and others in time (15-20 seconds), with a certain amount of recovery time between them as your heart rate comes back down. Strides are “low-cost” ways to improve your running speed and form because they’re limited in time and distance, so you don’t find yourself feeling tapped out at the end of your run.
  • Fartlek: Swedish for “speed play” (and honestly, really fun to say), these are flexible ways to give speed work a try. Although some folks structure their fartleks, I personally think this removes the “play” from the equation, and much prefer to have fun with it. You can choose a random landmark such as a mailbox, street light, or hill and run fast to get there. You could pick the chorus of a favorite song and run fast whenever you get to it. The idea here is to run fast for amounts of time you determine so that you’re playing around with it!
  • Hill repeats: Running up a hill (or treadmill set at an incline) for a set amount of time, often 75-90 seconds, and then running back down it. This does not have to be the steepest hill you can find, but rather one where you can go at a controlled speed throughout, with it feeling harder as you approach the top and push yourself to the end of the prescribed time.
  • Tempo Run: This may vary from plan to plan, but often means the goal pace you have for that specific race. Running the 5k? It is likely your goal 5k pace. Running the marathon? It is likely your goal marathon pace. Be sure you’re clear when reading your plan (whether one you got online or from a coach) that you have a shared understanding!