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Sports Medicine - Open

Table 5 Training volume across intensity zones for 10 world-class marathon runners during the countdown to a major competition

From: The Training Characteristics of World-Class Distance Runners: An Integration of Scientific Literature and Results-Proven Practice

 

Week 5

Week 4

Week 3

Week 2

Week 1a

Total volume

191 ± 29

184 ± 24

188 ± 17

170 ± 30

116 ± 27

Zone 1

150 ± 29

138 ± 22

150 ± 22

134 ± 30

98 ± 22

Zone 2

18 ± 15

27 ± 15

11 ± 13

13 ± 13

5 ± 5

Zone 3

17 ± 8

12 ± 9

21 ± 11

16 ± 15

10 ± 12

Zone 4

3 ± 7

7 ± 7

5 ± 6

5 ± 4

2 ± 2

Zone 5

2 ± 4

1 ± 2

0 ± 1

2 ± 4

2 ± 2

  1. All data are stated in km (mean ± SD)
  2. aMajor competition not included. Zone 6–7 training accounted for < 0.5 km on average in these weeks. The data are collected from training logs from the following athletes (and competitions): Stefano Baldini (Olympic gold in Athens 2004 with 2:10:55), Kenenisa Bekele (winner of Berlin Marathon 2019 with2:01:41), Gelindo Bordin (Olympic gold in Seoul 1988 with 2:10:32), Takayuki Inubushi (2nd in Berlin Marathon 1999 with 2:06:57), Meb Keflezighi (winner of Boston Marathon 2014 with 2:08:37), Eliud Kipchoge (winner of Berlin Marathon 2017 with 2:03:32), Abel Kirui (World Championship gold in Daegu 2011 with 2:07:37), Moses Mosop (2nd in Boston Marathon 2011 with 2:03:06), Geoffrey Mutai (winner of New York Marathon 2011 with 2:05:05), Mubarak Hassan Shami (winner of Paris Marathon 2007 with 2:07:17)
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