Ryan’s 100 mile update: The importance of building a strong base of fitness

As mentioned on a previous blog post I am running the Surf the Murph 100 mile race in October. As I prepare to take on this challenge, I will be providing monthly updates on my progress. This is as much to hold me accountable to my training as it is for anything else, but I’m hoping others find this interesting and maybe inspirational as well.

This month I want to discuss the importance of building a strong base of fitness when starting a running program. I’m not a coach or expert but I believe building up a strong base is important in order to create sustainable success in a pursuit toward fitness. But first, here is a brief update on how training progressed throughout March, as well an update on the Goldy’s 10 mile run that I ran on April 7th.

Things got back on track in March

After a rough month in February partially due to weather, training mostly got back on track during March. I consistently worked out 6 days per week, 4 running and 2 biking. As I mentioned in my goal setting post last month, I’m hoping to record a good time at the Fargo Marathon in May. Throughout March, I continued to increase my base run miles while starting to do more speed work and interval runs. Also, I started doing more hill repeat workouts as well (these are not that fun). I’m hoping that this combined with another 6 weeks of training will help me reach my goals at Fargo.

Goldy’s run shows I am on track for Fargo

While I didn’t have any specific goals for the 10 mile, I was really hoping for something under 1 hour 15 minutes (7:30 mile pace). I met this target by finishing in 1 hour 14 minutes and 19 seconds. We had a perfect day of weather for running, so I can’t complain there.

The intimidating part of this finish time is that in order to meet my stretch goal at Fargo of running 3 hours 15 minutes, I would need to maintain that pace for 16+ more miles. I can definitely tell you that would not have happened this day but I have 6 more weeks to make it happen! But it is encouraging to realize that at the very least I am on track for a marathon PR at Fargo. Without having an all out effort race to judge, it’s really hard to tell where you’re at.

The importance of base building

If you are new to running or a veteran, it is important to build a strong base. One of the hardest things about starting a new running or fitness program is getting over that “hump” of the first few weeks of training. I remember starting my running program 10 years ago and being very sweaty and tired after every run. If I didn’t have a marathon on my schedule I probably would have quit at that point. But after weeks and weeks of consistent running, I began to build a strong base of fitness and running became easier. I distinctly remember the day when my running went from being difficult due to a lack of breath (i.e. breathing heavy) to being difficult due to tired legs. In my opinion, this is the beginning of building a strong cardiovascular base.

Getting started

How do you start to build a strong cardiovascular base on fitness? It starts by working out often but also going easy. If you seen information about staying in the “fat burning zone”, your efforts should be similar to this. You should be able to have a conversation during your workouts when running easy. If you are just starting your run program, you will improve quickly even by running slow just because you are building a strong base. You will also likely lose weight since you are running in a zone where fat is easily burned.

I used the program seen here for my first marathon. This program is great for beginners because it starts at a relatively manageable 15 miles per week with a long run of 6 miles. It focuses on slowly building up mileage and all runs are at an “easy” pace. If you complete this program as a first timer, you will definitely finish a marathon! If you want to run something shorter than a marathon, there is a program for those on the same website.

Building my new base

Although I’ve been working on my base for the past 10 years, I need to hit a new level to achieve my 100 mile goal. Over the next several months I will be working on expanding my current base of fitness from a marathon distance to something longer. This will require some long miles but the payoff will be worth the effort.

What other tips do you have when starting a fitness program?