The First Rule of Running: Build and Maintain Your Aerobic Base
All great long-distance runners have a well-established aerobic base. You cannot run a successful race at any distance from one mile and above without having first established a base of easy, aerobic running. In this article, I’m going to discuss what the aerobic base is, how you build it up, and how you maintain it over the course of a year and a lifetime.
Aerobic Base Defined
There is not just one definition for aerobic base. Most coaches and most runners have their own definition. Here is the one I’ll use: the ability to run a designated length, in a designated time, while running only at a pace where you can maintain a conversation with a running partner (or with yourself as I often do), or at a pace you have defined as within your “easy” pace. You can find out what your easy pace is through one of the online pace calculators. Some runners also find their base pace using a heart rate monitor but I have no experience with them so I can’t tell you how to use one.
Here’s an example I learned from the Mountain Tactical Institute’s website, in an article written by Jeff Sonderegger. A soldier needs to run a two-mile timed run within a certain time to meet his physical requirement. This soldier should begin at least six months before his timed test running two miles, or even…
