What’s all this talk about aerobic base? It’s the essential training component of endurance sports, the base of the pyramid where all other training adaptations build upon. Base training is a great time for trail runners to build onto their aerobic base, generating mitochondrial density . When properly done, this phase in training allows you to sustain larger, harder efforts with less energy. It can take many years of aerobic training to develop high mitochondrial density. However, the benefits are significant, as it helps athletes maximize their potential by overcoming plateaus, absorb higher training loads, increasing muscular endurance, setting up for VO2 work etc.
The research tells us that training the majority of your weekly volume ( 80-90%) at sub aerobic threshold or < zone 2 cap, improves your heart’s ability to pump blood and your muscle's ability to use oxygen. If you find yourself breathing hard on recovery days or even on warm-ups, you may lack a good aerobic base. Keep this in mind when you are warming up or on your “relaxed” efforts. If you are finding that you are breathing hard it could be that you need more rest or you need to slow down!
Slowing down can be the most challenging zone to train because it may feel too easy to be effective training. “ If your aerobic capacity is low, you may not be able to walk at a brisk pace before your heart drifts up into higher zones.” If you stick with it over time you’ll be able to push yourself harder and harder without feeling out of breath or fatigued. This is the main goal of base training and as an endurance coach I advise longer periods of base training. I typically advise majority my athletes to spend at least 3 months in base phase before transitioning to preparatory phase, specificity training for race season. Specificity to your race goal is not as important in base phase. It’s about getting the time in at low intensity. This is a great time to include other activities you enjoy outside of running such as biking, swimming, skiing etc. The amount of time you can consistently do is most important!
Training Guide ( PE, perceived effort):
Zone 1: Base Training/recovery zone-This should be minimal breathing through the mouth. You should be extremely comfortable training and can sustain this effort for several hours without getting fatigued.
Zone 2: Base Training/endurance zone-This will be a step up from level 1 and most likely will include hills in your activity. Includes breathing through the mouth, but not intense. Should be at a pace in which you could hold a conversation the whole time.
Zone 3: Steady State-This is your race pace for longer endurance distances 50k and above. You are mouth breathing and focusing on turnover and form.
Zone 4: Tempo- This is your half marathon, vertical race, half marathon, threshold type efforts. When you finish this effort you are incapable of producing the same output immediately after. This type of effort you will see in workouts or as you build towards a race. I would ask this type of intensity during periodized speed blocks in a well trained aerobic athlete after several months of sustained level 1/ 2 training.
Zone 5: Interval- You may experience this at the end of a race if you are sprinting to the finish. You will do these shorter focused efforts in speed work. This is purely anaerobic training.
Zone Test Guide:
FTP Test
Aerobic decoupling test
Metabolism test in the lab
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