Base-Phase Training for Ultra Runners

By Chase Parnell  — April 1, 2020

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We have no organized races. That’s not an April Fool’s joke. An absence of footraces is of course one of the more benign and insignificant aftereffects of the coronavirus pandemic, but it’s still an unprecedented time in running history and we don’t quite know what to make of it. To me it seems logical to do a reset, make sure we’re one-hundred percent healthy, and then proceed with laying a base for late summer and fall races. 

We likely have 2-4 more months of strong social-distancing restrictions ahead of us. I’m predicting July will be the month that we can return to a certain level of normalcy. I’m also using that month selfishly as that is when we are slated to begin our three month trip to Europe! Our airline tickets are for July 20th but if things are still dicey, we might end up doing just the England portion of the trip and leave September 1st. We shall see about that. Sign up for our Rise & Grind newsletter to follow the developments on that front. 

I wasn’t surprised when Western States pulled the plug on their June 27th race but I raised an eyebrow at the cancellation of the August 1st running of Angeles Crest 100. I guess it’s only five weeks after Western but that seemed to me a very cautious decision, which is totally fine, I’m just viewing things a little more optimistically at this point in time.  

Needless to say, we’re all doing the best we can and making the best decisions we can with the data and information we have. Regardless, we have some time on our hands no matter the timeline so here are a few things to consider moving forward. 

Use this Time to Heal Any Lingering Injuries

I don’t know about you, but I’m the type of runner who unfortunately always has something that’s bothering me physically. Usually I’m nursing an issue that I just never slowed down enough to heal. I hate the feeling of getting out of shape as much as the next person but now might be the time to get one-hundred percent healthy. When was the last time you did a reset and took 10-14 days off completely? Sometimes that can do wonders to help get your lingering injury over the hump. I’m in this boat right now. I just took off two fulls weeks after the L.A. Marathon and now I’m beginning to run again but only at levels that don’t trigger any pain in my problem areas: left hamstring, right achilles, left knee. I want to start ramping up for late summer and fall races but — more importantly — I want these injuries behind me! So consider joining me in an effort to fully mend before building towards any races. 

Knowledge from American Distance Running Legend Bob Kennedy

A common misconception is that base training is just a lot of mileage at a slow pace. While there is some of that, it’s not everything. Bob Kennedy said it best in a Podium Runner article written by Jason Fitzgerald, “I think that the phase of training is defined by what you are focusing on during that phase. 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. 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 agree with Kennedy here and I believe it applies to ultra training just as much as it does any other distance. Most of your base phase sessions will be longer and at an easy to moderate pace, but not all of them. I recommend retaining one day a week of intensity in the form of intervals, tempo run, or fartlek. Also, pencil in one day of strides. We don’t want our bodies to forget how to tap into its full range of motion and run fast!

A Weekly Training Plan You Can Adjust to Fit Your Mileage Target

• Monday: Rest day.
• Tuesday: Easy to moderate run with 4-8 x 100 meter strides (start slow and accelerate until you reach 90% of max speed). 
• Wednesday: Easy to moderate run.
• Thursday: Warmup jog, tempo/intervals/fartlek, cool down jog (alternate type of workout each week).
• Friday: Easy to moderate run.
• Saturday: Longer easy to moderate run.
• Sunday: Easy to moderate run.

Other Overarching Principles to Consider

I recommend a three-week build in mileage volume, followed by a down week, then repeat. For example, this would be a typical 20 week progression with two week taper (weekly mileage): 20, 25, 30, 20, 30, 35, 40, 30, 40, 45, 50, 40, 50, 55, 60, 50, 60, 65, 70, 60, 40, race week. If you find you can’t handle three weeks in a row of increasing mileage, drop it down to two so that every third week is a down week. A common rule of thumb is to not increase your mileage, week over week, more than ten percent. Personally, I like to jump 10 miles per week regardless, but five is a safer bet. 

While I’ve never done this, some people like to focus solely on time instead of mileage. You can still apply the same three-week build principles. Example: 5 hours, 6 hours, 7 hours, 5 hours, 7 hours, 8 hours, 9 hours, 7 hours, and so on and so forth.

Remember to adjust your mileage/time based on the type of environments you’re running in as well. For example, if you have some sort of lavish lifestyle where you spend part of your year in Telluride, Colorado and the rest in the Florida Keys, 40 miles on technical terrain at 10,000 feet of elevation would, in my mind, be equivalent to 60-70 bike path and beach miles. A similar adjustment would apply if your town all of the sudden was slammed by a storm and the mountains became inaccessible and you can only run on the flats.

Remember, it’s never too early to start training on the type of terrain that your summer/fall race will be on. Always try to mimic in practice what you hope to execute on race day!  

Stop and Smell the Roses; Connect with Your Environment

I’m going to recommend that you change your mindset while running in the coming weeks. This is a great time to enjoy all the little things that come your way. Just the other day, I heard a woodpecker poking away on a snag. Normally I’m trying to maintain some sort of pace and effort, but that day I stopped and watched as it bore into the wood in search of food. It took flight and I couldn’t believe how loud its wing flap was. It attached itself to another tree in a singular swooping action — thwap! — and allowed me to watch it from a close distance. It was a five minute stop and I couldn’t have cared less that my heart rate was slowing and I might not be maximizing my minute for minute effort — Strava be damned.

It depends on where you live, but in mountain towns across the West we are just now experiencing the first signs of spring. Our lilacs are starting to bud, birds are far more chattery, and tee-shirts are donned in the afternoon on warmer days. Tune in and take a moment to invest in the experience of being outside by connecting with what you see around you. What’s happening out there? Are you noticing any changes? Consider returning to the same spot each day to notice the effects the season is having on the environment.

And maybe it’s time to do other things like read that interpretive sign that you’ve never given a second look at, or maybe check out that lesser used spur trail that you always pass, or maybe stop and consider whether you can scramble a boulder or scale a tree! It’s all fair game. 

Amidst the coronavirus pandemic and the fact that there are no races in the near future, really try to make sure your running is serving you holistically. Mind and body. Use the basic framework I provided if you like, and put in the work, but don’t let it become a stressor. As we get into June and July, then we can start looking at bumping up the intensity, getting into the meat of race preparation, and going all crazy beast mode. But for now, get yourself healthy and enjoy the slow-down. And you never know what you might find on a run if you’re paying attention.

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