Basic training Beginner
Ready to conquer running?
Base training is one of the best investments you can make as a runner. It provides you with a strong physical and mental foundation to build upon, allowing you to keep running both gentle and enjoyable in the long run. By spending time strengthening your muscles and improving your endurance, each run becomes more enjoyable.
Training your body step by step helps you avoid injuries that many runners experience when they increase their distance too quickly. Base training makes you stable, strengthens joints and ligaments, and increases your endurance—so you can feel confident in tackling longer distances without harming your body. Additionally, it builds your self-confidence and a strong mental attitude. Every training session you complete makes you a better and stronger runner.
Think of base training as your superpower—it prepares you for everything from your first five kilometers to a marathon. It’s a path that provides better health, stronger willpower, and most importantly—a love for running that lasts a lifetime.
Before we get started…
It’s more important to get out regularly than to push yourself too hard at the beginning.
A good posture and proper running technique make running gentler and more efficient. Try running with a slight forward lean and avoid taking steps that are too long. This helps conserve energy and reduces the strain on your knees and joints.
Feeling tired is normal, but pain is a warning sign. If you experience pain, take a break and give your body time to recover. Base training is about building a strong foundation that you can build on without stress.
Recovery is just as important as the training itself. Get enough sleep and allow your body time to recover between sessions – that’s when it really gets stronger.
Always warm up properly before tackling quality sessions – intervals, threshold, fartlek, and hills! Take 10-15 minutes of easy running to wake up your body, and make sure to add a few short bursts to find your stride and get your heart rate going. It’s your chance to prepare both body and mind to give your best during the session – and it also ensures you avoid any unfortunate injuries.
Hills & long runs
Let’s get started with base training, and the goal is to get moving, find a great feeling, and – most importantly – have fun along the way! We’ll focus on easy long runs where you can run at a comfortable pace and enjoy every step, preferably with someone to chat with along the way.
To build both running efficiency and strength, we’ll tackle hills – which build extra strength and stability. And of course, long runs will also be part of the plan, where you’ll strengthen both endurance and mental toughness. These long runs will help you build your body and feel stronger each week.
Week 1
Session 1: Distance 30 min.
Session 2: Long run 60 min.
Week 2
Session 1: Distance 30 min.
Session 2: Hills 10 x 30 sec. Controlled but uncomfortable. Walk slowly down.
Session 3: Long run 65 min.
Week 3
Session 1: Distance 40 min. + 5 strides
Session 2: Long run 70 min.
Intervals & Fartlek
In the next three weeks, we’ll increase the pace and incorporate interval and fartlek sessions to raise your heart rate and challenge your cardiovascular system! Each speed increase builds a stronger foundation for your new running goals, and here you’ll have the chance to feel your strength grow with every session. This is when you’ll start to notice your endurance improving and your body responding. Approach each training session with energy and curiosity, and let your desire to progress drive you forward.
Week 4
Session 1: Distance 40 min.
Session 2: Intervals 10 x 60 sec. Run fast! 90 sec. standing rest
Session 3: Long run 70 min.
Week 5
Session 1: Fartlek 10 x 60/60 sec. Alternate fast with easy jog
Session 2: Distance 60 min.
Week 6
Session 1: Distance 30 min
Session 2: Intervals 3 x (30 + 45 + 60 + 45 + 30 sec.) Run fast with equal standing rest to the interval length
Session 3: Long run 75 min.
Different Training Sessions During Base Training
Distance
The distance session is your time to simply enjoy running, clear your mind, and find peace in your steps. Keep your heart rate low and run with a relaxed, easy feeling. The goal is to help your muscles, joints, and ligaments get accustomed to running – a session that strengthens you from the inside out, step by step.
Hills
Hill training is one of our favorite workouts in running – it builds both strength and speed while boosting recovery. The hills can be long, short, steep, or gentle, and each variation has its purpose: developing endurance, building explosive speed, or strengthening technique and running muscles. Choose your hill and let each step bring you closer to becoming a stronger, faster runner!
Intervals
Intervals are the sessions where we really challenge ourselves and take running to the next level! Here, we focus on increasing speed and improving oxygen uptake to become faster and stronger. Intervals are usually short and intense, with longer recovery in between – perhaps in the form of an easy jog or a brief standing or walking rest.
Threshold
Threshold pace is the speed you can maintain just on the edge where your body can remove lactic acid as quickly as it’s produced. It’s a “comfortably hard” pace where you run fast but controlled, without crossing the line into feeling extremely fatigued. The goal with threshold training is to improve your endurance and your ability to run at high speeds for longer periods, as you gradually teach your body to handle lactic acid more effectively.
Threshold pace is often said to be the pace you could maintain in a race lasting around 60 minutes, or roughly 80-85% of your max heart rate. For many, it feels like a pace where you can speak in short sentences, but you start to feel some effort in your breathing.
Long Runs
The long run is a runner’s sacred time – a vital part of the journey to the finish line. It’s all about building endurance and getting your body used to being active for long periods, with sessions ranging from 70 minutes to over three hours. The longer the race you’re aiming for, the more valuable these long runs become. They don’t just strengthen the body for prolonged exertion, but also build the mental patience and determination needed to take you all the way to the finish line.
Threshold & Combo sessions
In the final block, the focus is on building a solid foundation and strengthening endurance, so you’ll be well-prepared for this year’s big goals. We’ll incorporate threshold workouts to drive you forward and complement them with inspiring combo workouts, where we mix threshold training and faster intervals within the same session.
Week 7
Session 1: Distance 30 min
Session 2: Threshold 4 x 4 min. Run fast, uncomfortable but controlled. 60 sec. standing rest.
Session 3: Long run 80 min
Week 8
Session 1: Distance 40 min.
Session 2: 5 x 60 sec. fast with 30 sec. standing rest. 1 x 7 min fast but controlled. 60 sec. standing rest. 5 x 30 sec. fast with 30 sec. standing rest.
Session 3: Long run 85 min
Week 9
Session 1: Threshold 7 + 5 min fast but controlled with 90 sec. standing rest
Session 2: Long run 90 min