PUBLISHED 10/17/2006
How To Build A Solid Base
The Twin Peaks 5-K/10-K program is designed for those who are ready to handle a heavier workload. To use the beginner's program, you should have been running about 15 to 20 miles per week for six months. If you're not quite there yet, here's how to build your base to the point where you're ready to scale the peaks.
Instead of doing three miles four days a week, which is a typical schedule of many beginning runners, try running on alternate days and varying the distance (3-5-3-5, for example). This will challenge your body, and gradually build your endurance, while giving you recovery days to adapt to the changes.
After a few weeks, start to add hills one day a week: This doesn't have to be a "hill repeat" workout, per se. You can get the same strength-building benefits of hill running by finding a hilly course. Besides, changing your running route once in a while is a good thing.
Gradually increase the distance of one of your runs by five to 10 minutes per week. (Back off five to 10 minutes every third or fourth week to give your body a break from distance running.) This weekly run will become your "long run," the cornerstone of any endurance running and racing program.
Do a 5-K race: You don't have to wait until you're ready for the Twin Peaks program to participate in the most popular racing distance in America. Use the race, however, as a training tool, an opportunity to see what running at a harder-than-normal pace for 3.1 miles feels like. This, says coach John Henwood, "will lift your fitness and increase the amount of oxygen you can take in. If you're running just normal pace all the time, you never get to expand your lungs."
Your first 5-K will also give you a benchmark for the distance. So that a few months down the road, when you're ready for your 5-K (and later 10-K) race at the conclusion of the Twin Peaks program, you'll be able to gauge your improvement.
