Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2024 May 2;10(1):50.
doi: 10.1186/s40798-024-00717-5.

Quantitative Analysis of 92 12-Week Sub-elite Marathon Training Plans

Melanie Knopp  1   2 , Daniel Appelhans  3 , Martin Schönfelder  3 , Stephen Seiler  4 , Henning Wackerhage  3
Affiliations

Quantitative Analysis of 92 12-Week Sub-elite Marathon Training Plans

Melanie Knopp et al. Sports Med Open. .

Abstract

Background: A typical training plan is a mix of many training sessions with different intensities and durations to achieve a specific goal, like running a marathon in a certain time. Scientific publications provide little specific information to aid in writing a comprehensive training plan. This review aims to systematically and quantitatively analyse the last 12 weeks before a marathon as recommended in 92 sub-elite training plans.

Methods: We retrieved 92 marathon training plans and linked their running training sessions to five intensity zones. Subsequently, each training plan was grouped based on the total running volume in peak week into high (> 90 km/week), middle (65-90 km/week), and low (< 65 km/week) training volume plan categories.

Results: In the final 12 weeks before a race, recommended weekly running volume averaged 108 km, 59 km, and 43 km for high, middle, and low distance marathon training plans. The intensity distribution of these plans followed a pyramidal training structure with 15-67-10-5-3%, 14-63-18-2-3%, and 12-67-17-2-2% in zones 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, for high, middle, and low volume training plans, respectively.

Conclusions: By quantitatively analysing 92 recommended marathon training plans, we can specify typical recommendations for the last 12 weeks before a marathon race. Whilst this approach has obvious limitations such as no evidence for the effectiveness of the training plans investigated, it is arguably a useful strategy to narrow the gap between science and practice.

Keywords: Endurance; Marathon; Recreational athletes; Running; Training guidelines.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

DA, MS, SS, and HW have no conflicts of interest relevant to the content of this article. MK works at adidas but sees no issues regarding conflicts of interest for this research.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
This line chart displays the weekly volume (in km) of the 12 weeks leading up to the race week, where week 0 refers to the week of the race and excludes the marathon race itself. The chart includes three ribbons indicating the different volume groups analysed: high, middle, and low. The lines in the chart represent the average value of the plans in each group, with the top and bottom of the bands indicating the maximum and minimum values within each group, respectively
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
This line chart displays the weekly long run (in km) of the 12 weeks leading up to the race week, where week 0 refers to the week of the race and excludes the marathon race itself. The chart includes three ribbons indicating the different volume groups analysed: high, middle, and low. The lines in the chart represent the average value of the plans in each group, with the top and bottom of the bands indicating the maximum and minimum values within each group, respectively
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
This bar chart displays the percentage of weekly volume distribution across the five intensity zones during the 12 weeks prior to the race week, where week 0 represents the week of the race with the race itself excluded. The chart is divided into three panels: A represents the high volume group, B represents the middle volume group, and C represents the low volume group. Refer to Table 2 for intensity zone descriptions
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Nikolaidis PT, Rosemann T, Knechtle B. Sex differences in the age of peak marathon race time. Chin J Physiol. 2018;61:85–91. doi: 10.4077/cjp.2018.bag535. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Knechtle B, Di Gangi S, Rüst CA, Nikolaidis PT. Performance differences between the sexes in the Boston marathon From 1972 to 2017. J Strength Cond Res. 2020;34(2):566–576. doi: 10.1519/jsc.0000000000002760. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Reusser M, Sousa CV, Villiger E, Alvero Cruz JR, Hill L, Rosemann T, et al. Increased participation and decreased performance in recreational master athletes in “Berlin Marathon” 1974–2019. Front. Physiol. 2021 doi: 10.3389/fphys.2021.631237. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wackerhage H, Schoenfeld BJ. Personalized, evidence-informed training plans and exercise prescriptions for performance. Fitness and Health Sports Med. 2021;51(9):1805–1813. doi: 10.1007/s40279-021-01495-w. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Midgley AW, McNaughton LR, Jones AM. Training to enhance the physiological determinants of long-distance running performance: can valid recommendations be given to runners and coaches based on current scientific knowledge? Sports Med. 2007;37(10):857–880. doi: 10.2165/00007256-200737100-00003. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources