I havent run in a while. I was on a break. Now I have to start up again. lets go!
3 principles of base building
1- You can build for a lifetime
Every low heart rate run, every aerobic session is an investment in your base. Your capacity for base is infinite. You’ll see real improvement after several months, much more if you stay consistent for years.
The real fast runners are that fast in large part because they’ve been putting in miles since high school and college. Same with fast adults, they’ve been stacking up years of training.
Your base fitness is durable. There are many cases of longtime runners stopping for years, then returning and getting back to a high level.
2- You can only build so quickly
Your aerobic system will develop faster than your musculoskeletal system. It’s great if you’re motivated to run tons of miles, but bone density & tendon adaptations require time.
You can’t force fitness. You can’t just go from a 25 min 5k to a sub 20 min 5k in 4 months, no matter how hard you train. Your body can only progress at a given rate. Patience is essential.
Look to your 4-6 week previous load and historical load to guide ramp rates. See when/how you got injured and make adjustments. For example, coming off injury I was able to get back to 30 mile weeks quickly, but when I approach 70 mile weeks, it needs to be more gradual.
More cross training is a good way to get additional volume. I like an hour or more of aerobic training to match every hour run. Sign up for a 70.3 and you’ll build a solid base training for that. Or just be very active: swim, hike, ride your bike whenever you can.
3- You need some occasional breaks
You can’t just build for 52 weeks a year. You need some time to decompress, physically and mentally.
Sign up for a couple main races. Build, peak, race, take time off or just try to maintain.
If you haven’t lifted weights, focusing on that for 3-6 months, 3-4x week can make you a better runner in the long term. Just jog a couple times a week or bike, you’ll come back stronger and faster than you expect.
The Rolex Life 
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