Table 2.

Training and racing characteristics of the n = 82 marathon runners

Training characteristics	2.5–3 h	3–3.5 h	3.5–4 h	4–4.5 h	>4.5 h
H·week−1	8.1 ± 2.5	7.9 ± 3.2	6.5 ± 2.7	7.7 ± 2.4	7.3 ± 5.4
Runs·week−1	5.7 ± 1.0	5.0 ± 1.0	4.1 ± 1.3a,b	4.9 ± 1.0b	4.4 ± 1.1a
km·week−1	91.7 ± 31.6	81.5 ± 26.0	62.4 ± 27.3a,b	56.2 ± 14.8a–c	43.8 ± 9.5a–d
h·session−1,*	1.5 ± 0.4	1.6 ± 0.5	1.7 ± 1.1	1.6 ± 0.2	1.7 ± 1.0
km·session−1,*	16.1 ± 4.2	16.4 ± 3.0	15.5 ± 5.2a	12.2 ± 2.1b,c	10.3 ± 2.6a–c
Longest run (km)	37.3 ± 5.8	31.1 ± 7.2	31.8 ± 5.5	32.2 ± 3.6	29.1 ± 8.2
Speed (km·h−1)*	11.4 ± 2.0	11.1 ± 3.6	10.1 ± 3.8	8.1 ± 1.6a,b	8.0 ± 4.0a
Volume (AU)*	537.7 ± 266.1	429.7 ± 230.5	267.3 ± 169.9b	371.1 ± 296.5	201.7 ± 87.0a,b
Load (AU)*	34892 ± 16307	26888 ± 15360	14960 ± 7455a,b	22646 ± 18598	11909 ± 5259a,b
Years training	14.0 ± 7.6	11.0 ± 6.7	11.4 ± 11.5	12.6 ± 13.6	7.2 ± 8.4
Race speed (km·h−1)	14.9 ± 0.6	12.8 ± 0.5	11.3 ± 0.6	10.0 ± 0.4	8.4 ± 8.9

Notes: Data presented as mean ± standard deviation.

^*Aggregated scores: h·session⁻¹ = h·week⁻¹/sessions·week⁻¹, km·session⁻¹ = km·week⁻¹/sessions·week⁻¹; speed = km·session⁻¹/h·session⁻¹; volume = sessions·week⁻¹ × km·week⁻¹; $\text{load}=\%{\dot{\mathrm{V}}\mathrm{O}}_{2\max }\times \text{volume}$.

^aSignificant difference to the 2.5–3 h group.

^bSignificant difference to the 3–3.5 h group.

^cSignificant difference to the 3.5–4 h group.

^dSignificant difference to the 4–4.5 h group.