A recent analysis looked at the 16 weeks of training before 151,813 marathons, representing more than 119,000 runners.
The big takeaway?
Faster marathon runners trained more—but most of that additional training was easy running.
As runners got faster, the amount of moderate- and high-intensity running didn’t increase nearly as much. Instead, they accumulated more low-intensity, Zone 1 mileage.
More than 80% of the fastest runners followed a pyramidal training distribution:
A lot of easy running
Some moderate running
A small amount of hard running
This is an important reminder that marathon fitness doesn’t necessarily come from cramming more intervals, hills, VO₂max workouts, and tempo sessions into the week.
Those workouts can be useful. But the foundation is still consistent, sustainable aerobic volume.
For many runners—especially those dealing with injuries, busy schedules, or difficulty recovering—the answer may not be to train harder.
It may simply be to run easy more consistently.
At Black Bear Physical Therapy, we want training to build fitness without constantly pushing runners toward the edge of what they can recover from.