Key Training Phases Every Runner Should Complete Before Race Day

There’s a reason that well-developed training plans don’t immediately kick off with sprint workouts or 18-mile runs: The body needs time to gradually adapt to the demands of training.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below long runs and all-out efforts if you want to avoid injury and maximize the benefits of your hard work. This is true of even the world’s most elite runners who, according to a review article published in Sports Medicine - Open, organize their training by specific phases that vary in terms of workout type, intensity, build up glycogen stores, and show up on race day with fresh legs and high energy.

To get to the start line feeling fresh and prepared, your best bet is to follow a program that progressively guides you through five phases of training: base, build, peak, taper, and recovery. If you’re familiar with the concept of periodization, a training strategy that divides a typically year-long training schedule into smaller phases, these training phases are essentially mesocycles that last several weeks and fit into an annual plan, or macrocycle.

Experienced runners with performance goals, like Will Baldwin, USATF- and VDOT-certified running coach. “We’re training to train. We’re doing this workout so that we’re going to be able to do the next workout,” he says. “And then we’re eventually able to do the race.”

Generally speaking, the phases go in order, but there’s flexibility depending on factors like your fitness level and race schedule. A first-time marathoner will likely start in base and work their way through each phase. However, a more experienced runner who’s running back-to-back races may skip the base and build phase between marathons, jumping right back into peak before tapering.

Below, we’ve outlined each training phase, its purpose, and what runners should focus on as they cycle through it.

The base phase is just what it sounds like, says Todd Buckingham, Ph.D., exercise physiologist at PTSportsPRO in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “We’re building a strong base and foundation for the rest of the season,” he says.

In the base phase, the workouts are slow and easy, hovering in zone 2 (where you’re working at about 60 to 70 percent of your Advertisement - Continue Reading Below and can still carry on a simple conversation) and the bottom end of zone 1 (a very light effort during which you don’t go above 60 percent of your Advertisement - Continue Reading Below and can speak in full sentences). You may incorporate a few strides, or brief accelerations, at the end of the run, but the priority is getting the body accustomed to running consistently.

Logging really easy miles regularly can help runners achieve two big goals: improved aerobic fitness, and more importantly, stronger tendons and ligaments, says Buckingham. This can potentially help runners avoid running-related musculoskeletal injuries, such as Achillies tendinopathy, which research shows tops the list of these types of injuries in runners. “By putting in a lot of easy, slow miles, we’re really giving our tendons and ligaments time to adapt and strengthen for when we get into [later phases],” he adds.

How much time you spend in the base phase depends on the length of your total training cycle and factors like your current fitness and level of experience. A first-time marathoner with six months to train may spend two to three months in the base phase (about eight to 12 weeks), while an experienced marathoner who has already spent time strengthening these areas may spend less than a month on base training.

The build phase, which might last about four to eight weeks, uses the base phase as a stepping stone for developing more overall fitness and some speed. The majority of workouts will still be relatively easy and stick to a Logging really easy miles regularly can help runners achieve two big goals: improved, but most programs begin to incorporate more intensity at this stage.

“This is when we start to incorporate more threshold work,” Baldwin says, referring to running at a pace that’s so hard your body accumulates the byproduct, lactate, faster than it can clear it. The doses should be small, especially at first—just a few minutes here and there—and get longer and more intense over time. “Raising your lactate threshold is a big emphasis [in the build phase], because that really determines the ceiling of what you’re going to be able to do [in terms of speed] on race day,” he adds.

You can also expect to see more tempo runs, fartleks, and race-pace intervals. “If someone has a specific goal—maybe they’re trying to qualify for Boston—we might start to do one-minute reps at that pace, just so they can feel what that movement is going to be like,” Baldwin says.

In the peak phase, your training becomes more specific to your upcoming event. “If we’re talking about marathon running, this is where your long runs really start to come in, and more race-pace intensity. You’re really dialing in whatever distance you’re doing,” Buckingham says.

The goal is to, over the course of the phase, build up to the pinnacle of your fitness, ideally as close to race day as possible. You should feel strongest in the final workouts of the peak phase, right before you begin to enter the taper phase.

Some runners may incorporate more intense speedwork (think: track workouts and lactate threshold training) and run at their goal pace for longer periods of time. For example, a runner training for a marathon who did five-minute intervals at their race pace in the build phase may do two-mile reps at race pace during peak.

Experienced runners with performance goals, like The recovery phase is a great time for cross-training, especially with or setting a new PR, will likely spend a bit more time in the peak phase than in the build phase. For example, a veteran marathoner may spend eight to 10 weeks in the peak phase building up to their optimal fitness. “You want to get at least eight to ten quality long runs,” Buckingham says.

However, those who are new to running and just want to finish their race may be better off spending more time in base and build, Buckingham says. “One of the reasons beginners don’t perform well is because they end up getting hurt. They’re not in the base or build phase for long enough, and they don’t produce that durable body,” he says. “They could just end up getting hurt or injured if they try to go into the peak phase and increasing intensity or distance [too quickly].”

During the taper phase, which occurs in the two to three weeks before an event, you may continue to run at the same frequency, but your workout volume and intensity gradually decreases, often dropping by as much as 50 percent, depending on the race. The goal is to prioritize recovery, build up glycogen stores, and show up on race day with fresh legs and high energy.

While taking your foot off the gas pedal right before race day may seem counterintuitive, research shows that tapering may improve your performance. A 2023 meta-analysis of 14 studies on endurance athletes found that incorporating a taper phase was associated with improvements in time-trial ldquo;This is when we start to incorporate more.

Both Buckingham and Baldwin note that people respond to tapering differently. Some runners can relax into a taper while others feel anxious and irritable. “We call it the taper tantrum,” Buckingham says. He’s quick to note that you shouldn’t skip this critical training phase altogether, even if it annoys you. “Feelings don’t dictate outcomes. Even if you feel bad during the taper, it doesn’t mean you’re going to perform poorly during the race,” he says. That period of prerace rest, especially coming off your most intense training period, is critical.

The purpose of every phase is different, but each one builds upon the last, says too long can also be detrimental and make you feel slow at the starting line come race day. “When we give our bodies almost nothing, it starts to shut down a little bit,” Baldwin says. If you take too much time off, you can lose momentum, and your legs can start to feel heavy, he explains.

The only way to determine what kind of taper works for you is through experimentation. If you’re new to training, start with around two weeks, see how you feel, and calibrate from there.

The post-event recovery phase, also known as “off-season,” is a period of physical and mental rest. Even if there’s another race on the calendar, most athletes can benefit from at least a two-week break from structured training, both Baldwin and Buckingham say. This allows the muscles to undergo repair, inflammation In the base phase, the workouts are slow and easy, hovering in.

“A huge part of recovery is mental,” Baldwin says. “Some training blocks can be a real grind, and sometimes people are making really big sacrifices, like getting up early, and not doing things with their friends.” A recovery period gives you the opportunity to re-engage with non-running activities We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back.

The recovery phase is a great time for cross-training, especially with low-impact exercise like yoga, cycling, and swimming. If you have a strong desire to run, opt for unstructured “fun runs” (leave your watch at home) and keep your effort light (stay below zone 2) and the volume low. “If you’re used to running five days a week, maybe you’re only running two or three days in recovery. And at a much shorter period of time. Maybe 30 minutes,” Buckingham says.

To give you a general idea of how this could pan out for you, below are examples of how three different runners—all with different goals, levels of fitness and experience, and training timeframes—might organize their programming by training phase.

Runner 1: a training strategy that divides a typically year-long training.

• Base: 12 weeks
• Build: 10 weeks
• Peak: 6 weeks
• Taper: 2 weeks
• Recovery: 2 weeks

Runner 2: RW+ Membership Benefits.

• Base: 4 weeks
• Build: 6 weeks
• Peak: 10 weeks
• Taper: 10 days
• Recovery: 2 weeks

Runner 3: Competitive half-marathoner who finished a race two weeks prior and has seven weeks to train before the next event.

• Base: skip
• Build: 2 weeks
• Peak: 4 weeks
• Taper: 10 days
• Recovery: 2 weeks

If you don’t have a race on your calendar—maybe you’re taking a break from events or running casually for general fitness—but still want to apply some structure to your running, you have a couple of options.

You could stick with a slightly more aggressive version of the base phase. “It’s amazing how far you can get off of a good amount of mileage and some hill workouts and strides,” Baldwin says. With this approach, you keep most of your workouts in zone 2 but sprinkle in some faster, more intense runs here and there.

Or, if you’re not ready to jump into another training cycle but want to hold onto some of the fitness you’ve established, you could go with more of a “maintenance” approach. This would likely fall somewhere between the build and peak phases, where you’re mixing in threshold work and speed intervals among mostly easy runs.