Running 3-4x a week, chase quality, not more junk Zone 2.
- William Horkoff
- Oct 14
- 4 min read
Every now and then a study drops that makes people rethink what they think they know about training. I came across this one about a week ago and found it super interesting
This one’s a perfect example. A massive “big data” study looked at 120,000 runners and 150,000 marathons using STRAVA data. Basically, they analyzed what people were actually doing in training leading into their races not what they said they were doing.
The results? They found that faster marathoners don’t train at higher intensities. They just train more and almost all of that extra time is spent at low intensity.
What the Data Actually Showed
Runners were grouped by marathon finish time from 2 hours up to 5.5 hours.
Their training was split into three intensity zones based on “critical speed” (which roughly lines up with your lactate thresholds):
Low intensity: below ~82% of critical speed (Zone 1–2)
Medium: 82–100% of critical speed (Zone 3)
High: above critical speed (Zone 4+)
Here’s the kicker:
Every group from 2-hour elites to 5-hour marathoners spent about the same amount of time per week in the medium and high zones.
Roughly 1.5 hours of medium and 50 minutes of high intensity work.
The difference?
The faster groups just did way more low-intensity work on top of that.
They built a bigger aerobic base by adding easy mileage not by doing more “hard” sessions.
What This Means for You
This lines up perfectly with what we see in cycling and triathlon too. At the top level, everyone’s doing a few key sessions a week at threshold or above but the pros simply have the durability and lifestyle to handle 20-30+ hours a week of training, most of it easy.
If you’re someone running 3-4 times per week, you don’t have that luxury. You’ve got a smaller training budget and that means your return comes from how you spend those hours, not how many you can afford.
So instead of trying to copy elite training percentages (80–90% low intensity), focus on quality distribution:
Keep your 2–3 key sessions purposeful (thresholds, intervals, long runs with structure)
Fill the rest with easy aerobic work but don’t just “add more” for the sake of it if it’s going to wreck your recovery or consistency
For time-crunched athletes, it’s not about doing more Zone 2.
It’s about doing enough aerobic work to support the key sessions that move the needle.
The Simple Truth
Faster runners didn’t get fast because they did more VO2 or threshold workouts they got fast because they stacked more weeks of consistent volume over time.
They earned the right to handle more low-intensity work.
They built the aerobic capacity, tendon strength, and efficiency to tolerate 100+ km weeks.
Meanwhile, the rest of us are just trying to squeeze performance out of 2–6 hours of running a week.
And that’s totally fine but it changes the game.
If you’re in that boat:
You’ll get more out of a week built around 2-3 focused sessions and solid recovery than you ever will from trying to mimic a pro’s “Zone 2 pyramid.”
My Take as a Coach
Zone 2 isn’t magic.
It’s just repeatable work the kind you can do a lot of without digging a hole.
For elite or high-volume athletes, that’s the entire foundation of progression.
For athletes with limited training time, it’s still important, but not at the expense of stimulus or quality.
So, if you’ve only got 3-4 runs a week:
Keep one as your long aerobic builder
Make one a threshold/tempo session
Make one your high-intensity or hill rep day
Toss strides or short pickups into the easy runs
Then stack those weeks.
Over time, consistency will grow your “easy” capacity and that’s when you earn the right to add more volume.
Closing Thoughts
Faster marathoners don’t do more “hard." necessarily
They just do more everything else.
Their advantage isn’t in training harder it’s in recovering better and training longer.
For everyone else juggling life, jobs, and fatigue, the smartest thing you can do is build efficient intensity.
Because the elites? They just sprinkle the same workouts you’re already doing… on top of twice as much easy running.
If You Want to Read More
Muniz-Pumares, D., Hunter, B., Meyler, S., Maunder, E., & Smyth, B. (2024). The training intensity distribution of marathon runners across performance levels. Sports Medicine. Advance online publication.
Matomäki, P., et al. (2023). Training characteristics of recreational marathon runners and their relationship to performance. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 5, 1159452.
Esteve-Lanao, J., et al. (2005). How do endurance runners actually train? Relationship with competition performance. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 37(3), 496–504.
Seiler, S., & Kjerland, G. Ø. (2006). Quantifying training intensity distribution in elite endurance athletes: is there evidence for an “optimal” distribution? Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 16(1), 49–56.
Stöggl, T., & Sperlich, B. (2015). The training intensity distribution among well-trained and elite endurance athletes. Frontiers in Physiology, 6, 295.
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