The plan
- Duration
- 8 weeks
- Runs per week
- 4 in weeks 1 to 4, 5 from week 5
- Easy runs
- 45 minutes in Zone 2; two a week, three from week 5
- Long run
- 90 to 120 minutes in Zone 2, once a week
- Hard session
- Norwegian 4×4, once a week
- Progression
- The long run grows 10 minutes a week, and drops back to 90 at week 5 when the third easy run enters.
What running sessions does the week include?
Easy Zone 2 runs, one Zone 2 long run, and one Norwegian 4×4. That's four runs a week, and from week 5 it's five.
The plan runs on three to four Zone 2 runs a week, one of them the long run. Weeks 1 to 4 hold three; weeks 5 to 8 hold four. The 4×4 rides on top as the week's one hard session.
Easy runs are 45 minutes, every week. The long run starts at 90 minutes and grows to two hours.
Each run has a job. The easy runs are most of your week, and they stay easy so you can keep doing them. The long run is the one that builds, and it's the only run that gets longer. The 4×4 is the hard one. One a week is enough; more would crowd out the easy running the whole plan rests on.
The plan schedules running only, so strength and anything else you train go on the rest days.
All in, you're running roughly four hours in week 1 and roughly five at the peak, the interval session included.
What do you run in weeks 1 to 4?
Three Zone 2 runs and one Norwegian 4×4, with the long run growing by 10 minutes a week.
- Monday: easy Zone 2 run, 45 minutes
- Tuesday: rest
- Wednesday: Norwegian 4×4
- Thursday: rest
- Friday: easy Zone 2 run, 45 minutes
- Saturday: rest
- Sunday: Zone 2 long run, 90 minutes in week 1, 100 in week 2, 110 in week 3, 120 in week 4
One number moves each week, and it's Sunday's. The rest of the week repeats on purpose. The base comes from doing the same week again and again. The long run grows 10 minutes at a time so each new Sunday lands inside a week that still works.
Three of each week's four runs are Zone 2 runs, and holding the range is the job RunBeat's Zone Training does:
Zone Training in RunBeat
RunBeat tells you to speed up or slow down to stay in zone, right over your music or podcast.
What do you run in weeks 5 to 8?
Four Zone 2 runs and one Norwegian 4×4. The fourth run goes in on Thursday, and the long run starts back at 90 minutes and builds to 120 again.
- Monday: easy Zone 2 run, 45 minutes
- Tuesday: rest
- Wednesday: Norwegian 4×4
- Thursday: easy Zone 2 run, 45 minutes
- Friday: rest
- Saturday: easy Zone 2 run, 45 minutes
- Sunday: Zone 2 long run, 90 minutes in week 5, 100 in week 6, 110 in week 7, 120 in week 8
Week 5 adds one easy run, and pulling the long run back to 90 minutes is what makes room for it. Your week still gets longer: the new Thursday run adds more time than the shorter Sunday takes out. From there the long run climbs 10 minutes a week again. Week 8 is your biggest: four Zone 2 runs, the 4×4, and a two-hour long run.
The 4×4's timing is built into RunBeat as the Norwegian 4×4 preset in Timed Intervals:
Timed Intervals in RunBeat
RunBeat calls every work and rest phase, and your Apple Music playlists switch with it.
What is base training for running?
Base training is the phase where most of the week's running is easy Zone 2 volume and the week is built to repeat. The harder training that comes later stands on the base those repeated weeks build. This plan is that phase laid out: 8 weeks of mostly easy running with one hard session a week.
How many weeks does it take to build an aerobic base?
This plan takes 8 weeks to put the structure in place. Published base plans run anywhere from 6 to 16 weeks. We set this one at 8 because it lays structure over running you already do: one build of the long run, then the same build again with the extra run in place, and that second week is the one you keep.
The base itself doesn't finish when the plan does. It keeps building for as long as the weeks keep repeating, and the pace you can hold inside the zone rises as the base builds.
What do you do after week 8?
Keep running week 8. Four Zone 2 runs and one Norwegian 4×4 is a week you can repeat for as long as building the base is the goal.
From there you've got two natural next moves. One is sharpening the top end with a dedicated VO₂ max block, a different build from this plan's one 4×4 a week. The other is pointing the base at a race. For a HYROX race, the 8-week HYROX running plan turns a base like this one into race preparation.