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Lead Stories: Tuesday, December 2, 2008

ASK FLASH:Base Building, Boston Marathon Predictor, and Flash on a Mountain

Posted April 1st, 2007 at 3:32 PM by Joshua Flash Gordon

Section: Running & Training, Columns, Training Tips, Ask Flash

Need advice? Injured? Confused? Overwhelmed? Bored? ASK FLASH!
ASK FLASH is a free advice column to help you with all of your running, fitness and nutrition inquiries. To ASK FLASH — simply fill out the form at the conclusion of the column.

Hope all you folks are enjoying the nice weather that is finally rolling in this time of year! Keep the questions coming…

Q. Most of the time, summer is the time to put in the miles and build a base for the fall races. Previously, all that was advocated was long slow easy aerobic running during the base building stage. Lately, some schedules have been written to include tempos, strides, etc … in the base building stage. What is your opinion?
~Base in Baltimore

A. To answer your question, let’s begin by asking what is the purpose of the base training period? Every period and every run should have a purpose. Yes, fun is an acceptable purpose. The base training period is primarily about preparing yourself mentally and physically for the demands of the more rigorous portions of your training program. Whether you are training for a 5k or a marathon, you can’t declare a fitness resolution and get at it whole hog. So, how exactly should the base training period be performed to prepare for the tempo runs, long runs, fartleks, intervals, hill workouts, strides, and other components that most running programs rely heavily on?
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Lessons From the Past . . .

Posted October 27th, 2006 at 12:00 PM by Jim Fortner

Section: Running & Training

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Jim Fortner is a weekly, guest contributor to TFS. Make sure to also check out his own personal running and advice site: “Jim2’s Running Page”.

A couple of weeks ago, I was going through a cabinet where I store books that I have owned for as long as 35 years. I have the complete works of two of my favorite authors, Hemingway and Faulkner, that I read 25-30 years ago and have decided to reread this summer.

While selecting the volume with which I will start….Hemingway’s, “The Sun Also Rises”….I came upon the first book about running that I bought when I started running 20 years ago. It’s the first edition of Runner’s World’s “The Complete Runner” which was published in 1973. I had forgotten that I have it.

The content of it is quite different than that of the latest (1997) edition. Some of the articles are reprints that had previously appeared in RW’s magazine. Others were written specifically for the book. Most are as valid today as when they were written. A few are a bit archaic, however. Read the rest of this entry »

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