Samantha Clare Midlife Runner, Writer, Creator I’m Samantha, and I’m starting over as a runner in midlife after severe illness changed my body, confidence, and future plans. The Mature Runner is my comeback space for documenting the rebuild: training plans, small wins, lots of overthinking, and the very stubborn dream of one day running a Boston qualifier. My goal is to create a space for anyone who has ever wondered whether it’s too late to start again. I don’t think it is. samantha@thematurerunner.com

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Base Build Week 3: Base Training is Working

Jun 19

By about Wednesday, I was absolutely sick of the thought of doing another general aerobic run. I do them on the same route, for the most part, and the repeated nature of this training was really starting to get to me. So much so that I kind of went rogue on Friday and let my Garmin tell me what to do. I know better than that. But I did it anyway. And you know what?! It was fun and I’d do it again!

But did Friday impact my long run on Saturday? Nope! Therefore, my behavior is justified – Garmin for the win.

In fact, Saturday’s long run was amazing. One of those runs where you come in and everything is right with the world. I’ll go into more detail in the training update below, but for this section its enough to say that I’m confident that I’m already seeing progress and, while writing this am quite happy with doing a few more weeks of base training.

Training Update: Base Build Week 3

We’re doing the thing and seeing improvements! I’ve never completed 8km without taking walk breaks before. Even during my doomed marathon attempt, I ran run/walk strategies on all of my races leading up to the marathon. I just never thought my lungs would be capable of running any sort of distance without a break. This week I proved that theory wrong though!

In fact, I think it might actually be easier on my system NOT to take the walk breaks and avoid the unnecessary fluctuations in both effort and heart rate. Now that’s not saying that the run/walk method isn’t great – I had some good success with it … I just feel that, at this time, I’m better off being able to maintain a chill state.

The week in summary looked like this:

Infographic summarizing Samantha’s Week 3 5K base build: 11 activities, four runs, 21.95 km of running, and a new 8.01 km endurance milestone. — Week 3 turned consistency into progression. I completed 11 activities, including four runs, five walks, and two strength sessions, with 21.95 km of total running and a new longest run of 8.01 km. It was a strong step forward in the base build, but also a reminder that progress works best when hard efforts and long runs are spaced with enough recovery.

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Jun 5

Base Build Week 1: We’re Doing this Thing!

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