Your Marathon Training Zones

When I was a young high school cross country runner my coach would always tell me to run 400 meter repeats at a precise pace or mile repeats in an exact amount of time. I didn’t question the coach’s instructions – I just carried them out. Later, as a collegiate runner, I began to question why I was training at those paces. I asked my coaches who nearly always had a really clever and enlightening answer like “because I told you to” or because that is how you train”. I had to take it upon myself to research and discover why certain training paces were important to my development as a runner. I learned in exercise physiology courses how my body reacts to the demands I was placing upon it. I was finally able to understand what paces I should be running and why. I grew as a runner and my performances improved because I understood why I was training and had a reason for every workout I did. It helped me to understand what each workout did and why I was doing them. I firmly believe that you will enjoy more success if you understand why you do each workout. Understanding the workouts starts with knowing your training zones.

Your Training Zones

All of your marathon training paces fall into one of four training “zones”. If you took all of the workouts you could come up with, using all of the possible combinations of training paces, interval distances, recovery times and run times – and put them in book form – you would have a publication so heavy you could use it to max out your bench press. Even though there are an almost unlimited number of running workouts there are actually only four basic training “zones” or groups. Your specific training program may use all or only one of these zones. If you are a beginning runner that is only trying to finish your first marathon you may use only one training zone. If you are a competitive marathon runner or are trying to run a new PR you will use all four.

Each of these training zones incorporates a range of training paces, exercise intensities and running volumes. Each training zone is also associated with a different physiological stimulus or training effect.

All of these zones have many different names and aliases. No matter what they are called they all refer to the same physiological process and training protocols. Training paces in each zone are ranges rather than specific paces. Specific pace training is a more detailed and complex training system that depends upon your goal race and experience level.

Aerobic Conditioning Zone or Endurance Zone

This one makes up the larger percentage of a marathon runners training menu. This zone is also known as endurance training, base training, conversational running, easy running and long-slow-distance running. This training zone will improve your overall endurance by increasing your blood volume, increasing oxygen supply to your muscles and improving your muscles ability to extract and use that oxygen to produce energy. This type of running also makes your muscles more “injury resistant” and more resistant to fatigue.

Training Distance – 2 miles to over 20 miles

Training Paces – 30 - 90 seconds per miles slower than marathon pace

Percent of VO2 max – 55% to 75%

Percent of MHR (maximum heart rate) – 70% to 80%

Perceived Intensity Level - Easy

Anaerobic Conditioning Zone or Stamina Zone

Anaerobic conditioning is sometimes known as anaerobic threshold training, lactate threshold training or lactate turn point training. Running in this zone will improve your ability to run for long distances at high running intensities. It will improve your body’s ability to process accumulating lactic acid to produce energy and will train your neuromuscular system to deal with the physiological changes caused by higher intensity running. 10K pace is usually about 3% faster than anaerobic threshold. That makes training paces at or near 10K pace very effective at improving your anaerobic threshold.

Training Distance – 1200 meters to 3+ miles

Training Paces – 15 seconds slower than 10K pace to 5K pace

Percent of VO2 max – 75% to 90%

Percent of MHR – 80% to 90%

Perceived Intensity Level – Somewhat Hard to Hard

Aerobic Capacity Zone or Speed Zone

Aerobic capacity is a very accurate description of this training zone, which is also called VO2 max training, vVO2 max training (velocity @ VO2 max) and speed training. The purpose or aerobic capacity training is just what it says. It is intended to improve the capacity of your aerobic system – it improves your body’s maximum ability to deliver and use oxygen to produce energy. Aerobic capacity training is performed at between 5K and 3K paces.

Training Distance – 400 meters to 1 mile.

Training Paces – 5K pace to 3K pace

Percent of VO2 max – 90% to 100%

Percent of MHR – 90% to 98%

Perceived Intensity Level – Very Hard

Anaerobic Capacity Zone or Strength/Power Zone

Just as aerobic capacity describes your body’s maximum ability to produce energy using oxygen, anaerobic capacity is you maximum ability to produce energy without oxygen. It is measure of your top short distance running speed. Training at your anaerobic capacity level involves running short distances at nearly all out pace.

Training Distance – 100 meters to 800 meters

Training Paces – Sprint pace to 2K pace

Percent of VO2 max – 100% to 140%

Percent of MHR – 98% to 100%

Perceived Intensity Level – Extreme – The coach is trying to kill me!

Continue to Your Marathon Training Paces

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