Mastering the Phases of Endurance Running: A Guide to Building Your Training Block
Running is more than just lacing up your shoes and hitting the pavement; it's a year-round journey with distinct phases or periods, each essential for peak performance and enjoyment. Let’s dive into the various phases of an endurance running block, from the foundational base-building phase to the challenging taper leading into race day, and the crucial recovery period post-race.
Understanding the purpose of these various phases can not only transform your approach to training, making you a more resilient and successful runner, it can also help you navigate these cycles effectively so you can get the most out of your running.
Base Phase:
This phase is often during the off-season, or after a goal race. It’s the least glamorous part of training and probably the most boring, but is crucial for future success. During this season, you focus on gradually increasing mileage and strength to build a solid foundation without the pressure of upcoming races.
A base building season is important to increase your aerobic capacity, improve endurance, prevent injury, increase glycogen storage and fat burning, and to build mental toughness for what’s ahead.
New runners will need a longer base season of about 6 months. Intermediate and experienced athletes will need anywhere from 6-8 weeks depending on their running base and years of experience.
Because most of your mileage is easy, this is a great season to prioritize strength training. If you are new to lifting, this is the optimal time to start. Athletes can often manage two strength days during a prep or peak season, but during base building you can increase this to 3 sessions and not worry about when to schedule your lifts since a majority of your runs will be easy.
Build or Preparation Phase:
This period is geared towards preparing for specific races. Training intensifies with more focused workouts like hill repeats, tempo runs, and long runs that will enhance speed, strength, and power leading into your goal race. The goal of workouts at this time is to get uncomfortable, improve VO2 Max, leg strength and endurance. This phase can be anywhere from 4-12 weeks depending on the race distance you’re training for and your experience. This is the time to include tune-up races that support your goal race. If your goal race is a half marathon, you may race a 10k eight weeks out from your goal race and a 10 miler four weeks out. If you’re training for a marathon, you may race a 10k early on in the cycle as a base point and a half marathon four to five weeks out from your goal race. These tune-up races are not your goal race, but serve as check in points to assess fitness and how training is going. It also serves as a chance to practice race day routine, work through mental training, and find weaknesses to further fine-tune in training.
Peak Phase:
This is when runners peak towards their goal race before tapering down. Most of the workouts during this time focus in on race pace and training volume is at it’s highest. This phase is short at about 2-3 weeks.
Taper Phase:
In this phase, you’ll lower volume while maintaining intensity in the 1-3 weeks leading up to your goal race. This reduction in volume allows the body to recover and perform at it’s best on race day, while keeping the sharpness it needs to hone in on race pace. Volume reduction varies based on your experience and the race distance you’re training for, but can be anywhere from 20-50% per week. The taper period is often the most challenging time for athletes, but is essential to seeing all of your work pay off on race day.
Post-Race or Recovery Phase:
After a race season, this time is for recovery, both physically and mentally. Training is lighter, focusing on recovery runs, walking, low impact cross training, and addressing any injuries or fatigue. Similar to the base building phase of training, this is not the most glamorous part, but it’s extremely important to take this downtime following your race season to ensure longevity and health. It’s the time to visit your physical therapist to address injuries, reduce running volume, or prioritize strength training instead of running. This will help you prepare for a strong base building season to follow.
How to Structure Your Training Year:
Let’s look at structuring a year for a marathoner. We primarily recommend running 1-2 marathons every 12 months to ensure you have the proper build-up and recovery to get the most out of training and reduce the risk of injury and burnout. Many marathoners focus on a spring and fall marathon.
Here’s how you could structure your training year if you are a new marathoner or new to running and aiming for your first or second marathon or if you’re returning to the distance after an extended time away from running:
January-June: Base phase
June-August: Build/preparation phase
August: Peak phase
September: Taper phase
October: Race - goal marathon this month.
November-December: Post-race or recovery phase
For a more experienced marathoner whose been running consistently for several years, you may structure the year like this:
November: Base phase
December-February: Build/preparation phase
March: Peak and Taper Phase
April: Race - goal marathon this month
May: Post-race or recovery phase
June-July: Base phase
August-September: Build/preparation phase
October: Peak and Taper phase
November: Race - goal marathon this month
December: Post-race or recovery phase
Remember, these phases aren’t tied to calendar months, but represent specific training phases in a runner’s endurance schedule. As you can see, you can experience these phases multiple times throughout the year to align with your racing and training goals, as well as to support your individual recovery needs. A recovery phase might last a bit longer following some races. You may have a base building season that is prolonged following an injury that kept you from running.
As we've explored, each running phase brings its own set of challenges and opportunities. If you’re stuck on how to structure your training or aren’t sure how to truly excel and enjoy your running journey year-round, consider the support of our One-on-One Coaching services at Team Sugar Runs. Our coaches are experts in guiding athletes through every phase, ensuring your training is tailored to the season and your personal goals. Whether building your base, gearing up for a race, or recovering post-race, our coaching is designed to navigate you through these phases seamlessly. Embrace each running phase with confidence and expert guidance – explore our One-on-One Coaching today and take your running to new heights.
