Training:Putting Down the Foundation,pt.3

In this third and final installment on base training we get to the heart of this all important part of your training schedule.
"For those of you who are looking to increase mileage to 50 or 60 miles per week max, it is advised to increase the bulk of your mileage on two of your weekday runs(refer to Tuesday and Thursday of the schedule below) and on the designated long run done on the weekend..As for the 'traditional' Sunday long run, it is not an absolute necessity that you must do it every weekend. Something else to consider,if you plan to run marathons I would certainly encourage you to at least work up to a 23 mile long run.It has always baffled me why those training for the marathon would only go as far as 20 miles on their longest run.We've all experienced the pain of those last 6 miles(or less),why not acclimate yourself to the distance before hand?
Some things to watch for as you get further into your base phase: becoming fatigued and/or feeling listless. As fitness improves,your resting pulse lowers. It is not a bad idea to check it each week. They say if your pulse is faster than usual when you wake up,it may indicate that you need to take it easy for a day or two. Perhaps this can all be prevented by trying to sleep a little more as your training volume increases. It is not a crime to take a day off or halve your mileage for a particular day. The saying, 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure',is definitely something you want to keep in mind during this phase.
The following is a sample of what a beginning training program might look like. I would assume that readers have been doing some running prior to starting this. Of course this schedule can be adjusted to fit your level of conditioning.Remember to plug in the out and back exercises referred to previously.
Sunday: 1 hour and 15 minutes of easy running.
Monday: 30 to 40 minutes easy fartlek.
Tuesday: easy running,1 hour.
Wednesday:steady running, 45 minutes.
Thursday: easy running 1 hour.
Friday: 30 to 45 minutes easy fartlek or a run over a hilly course.
Saturday: steady run from 20 to 50 minutes,or,take the day off.
Well,there it is,a base program devised by Arthur Lydiard decades ago.A system that is time tested,proven physiologically and by race performances. As far as distance training fundamentals go---'there is nothing new under the sun."