Estimating the cost of training disruptions on marathon performance

Completing a marathon usually requires at least 12-16 weeks of consistent training, but busy lifestyles, illness or injury, and motivational issues can all conspire to disrupt training. This study aims to investigate the frequency and performance cost of training disruptions, especially among recreational runners. Using more than 15 million activities, from 300,000 recreational runners who completed marathons during 2014-2017, we identified periods of varying durations up to 16 weeks before the marathon where runners experienced a complete cessation of training (so-called training disruptions). We identified runners who had completed multiple marathons including: (i) at least one disrupted marathon with a long training disruption of ≥ 7 days; and (ii) at least one undisrupted marathon with no training disruptions. Next, we calculated the performance cost of long training disruptions as the percentage difference between these disrupted and undisrupted marathon times, comparing the frequency and cost of training disruptions according to the sex, age, and ability of runner, and whether the disruptions occurred early or late in training. Over 50% of runners experienced short training disruptions up to and including 6 days, but longer disruptions were found to be increasingly less frequent among those who made it to race-day. Runners who experience longer training disruptions ( ≥ 7 days) suffer a finish-time cost of 5-8% compared to when the same runners experienced only short training disruptions (<7 days). While we found little difference (<5%) in the likelihood of disruptions-when comparing runners based on sex, age, ability, and the timing of a disruption-we did find significant differences in the the cost of disruptions (10-15%) among these groups. Two sample t -tests indicate that long training disruptions lead to a greater finish-time cost for males (5%) than females (3.5%). Faster runners also experience a greater finish-time cost (5.4%) than slower runners (2.6%). And, when disruptions occur late in training (close to race-day), they are associated with a greater finish-time cost (5.2%) than similar disruptions occurring earlier in training (4.4%). By parameterising and quantifying the cost of training disruptions, this work can help runners and coaches to better understand the relationship between training consistency and marathon performance. This has the potential to help them to better evaluate disruption risk during training and to plan for race-day more appropriately when disruptions do occur.

Factors associated with injuries in first-time marathon runners from the New York City marathon

OBJECTIVES

To determine how baseline characteristics of first-time marathon runners and training patterns are associated with risk of injuries during training and the race.

METHODS

First-time adult marathon runners who were registered for the 2017 New York City Marathon were monitored starting 12 weeks prior to the race. Baseline data collection included demographics and running experience. Running frequency, distance, and injury occurrence were self-reported using online surveys every 2 weeks.

RESULTS

A total of 720 runners participated of which 675 completed the study. There were 64/675 (9.5%) who had major injuries during training or the race that preventing starting or finishing the race. An additional 332 (49.2%) had minor injuries interfering with training and/or affecting race performance. Injury incidence was not significantly different based on age or sex. Runners who completed a half marathon prior to the study were less likely to report getting injured [multivariable odds ratio (OR) 0.40, (0.22, 0.76), p= 0.005]. Runners who averaged <4 training runs per week during the study were less likely to report getting injured compared to those who averaged ≥4 per week [relative risk 1.36, (1.13-1.63), p= 0.001]. Longest training run distance during the study was inversely associated with race-day injury incidence [OR 0.87 (0.81, 0.94), p< 0.001].

CONCLUSION

Injuries are common among first-time marathon runners. We found that risk of injury during training was associated with lack of half marathon experience and averaging ≥4 training runs per week. Longer training runs were associated with a lower incidence of race-day injuries. These results can inform the development of targeted injury-prevention interventions.

Longer Disciplined Tapers Improve Marathon Performance for Recreational Runners

For marathoners the taper refers to a period of reduced training load in the weeks before race-day. It helps runners to recover from the stresses of weeks of high-volume, high-intensity training to enhance race-day performance. The aim of this study was to analyse the taper strategies of recreational runners to determine whether particular forms of taper were more or less favorable to race-day performance.

Methods: We analyzed the training activities of more than 158,000 recreational marathon runners to define tapers based on a decrease in training volume (weekly distance). We identified different types of taper based on a combination of duration (1–4 weeks of decreasing training) and discipline (strict tapers progressively decrease training in the weeks before the marathon, relaxed tapers do not) and we grouped runners based on their taper type to determine the popularity of different types of taper and their associated performance characteristics.

Results: Kruskal-Wallis tests (H(7)≥ 521.11, p < 0.001), followed by posthoc Dunns tests with a Bonferroni correction, confirmed that strict tapers were associated with better marathon performance than relaxed tapers (p < 0.001) and that longer tapers of up to 3 weeks were associated with better performance than shorter tapers (p < 0.001). Results indicated that strict 3-week tapers were associated with superior marathon finish-time benefits (a median finish-time saving of 5 min 32.4 s or 2.6%) compared with a minimal taper (p < 0.001). We further found that female runners were associated with greater finish-time benefits than men, for a given taper type ( ≤ 3-weeks in duration), based on Mann Whitney U tests of significance with p < 0.001.

Conclusion: The findings of this study for recreational runners are consistent with related studies on highly-trained athletes, where disciplined tapers were associated with comparable performance benefits. The findings also highlight how most recreational runners (64%) adopt less disciplined (2-week and 3-week) tapers and suggest that shifting to a more disciplined taper strategy could improve performance relative to the benefits of a less disciplined taper.

Retrospective Analysis of Training and Its Response in Marathon Finishers Based on Fitness App Data

Objective: Finishing a marathon requires to prepare for a 42.2 km run. Current literature describes which training characteristics are related to marathon performance. However, which training is most effective in terms of a performance improvement remains unclear.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of training responses during a 16 weeks training period prior to an absolved marathon. The analysis was performed on unsupervised fitness app data (Runtastic) from 6,771 marathon finishers. Differences in training volume and intensity between three response and three marathon performance groups were analyzed. Training response was quantified by the improvement of the velocity of 10 km runs Δv₁₀ between the first and last 4 weeks of the training period. Response and marathon performance groups were classified by the 33.3rd and 66.6th percentile of Δv₁₀ and the marathon performance time, respectively.

Results: Subjects allocated in the faster marathon performance group showed systematically higher training volume and higher shares of training at low intensities. Only subjects in the moderate and high response group increased their training velocity continuously along the 16 weeks of training.

Conclusion: We demonstrate that a combination of maximized training volumes at low intensities, a continuous increase in average running speed up to the aimed marathon velocity and high intensity runs ≤ 5 % of the overall training volume was accompanied by an improved 10 km performance which likely benefited the marathon performance as well. The study at hand proves that unsupervised workouts recorded with fitness apps can be a valuable data source for future studies in sport science.

Bidirectional Associations across Time between Entitativity, Positive Affect, Generosity, and Religiousness in Adolescents Training with a Religiously Affiliated Charity Marathon Team

Numerous studies have established that participation in regular physical activity provides physical, cognitive, and affective benefits to adolescents, but fewer studies have examined how athletic involvement might affect character, social, or religious developmental markers of psychosocial functioning. The purpose of this study is to examine the bidirectional associations between entitativity (group closeness), positive affect, generosity, and religiousness across time among adolescents and emerging adults involved in charitable marathon training. We collected data from 396 adolescents and emerging adults who trained for half/full marathons with a religiously affiliated charity team. Participants completed measures at three occasions over 18 weeks (pre-training, mid-training, post-race). We conducted cross-lagged path analysis of latent factors to study concurrent and longitudinal effects of intrinsic religiousness, positive affectivity, and entitativity on interpersonal generosity and fundraising. Participants who reported higher levels of pre-training generosity were more likely to experience positive affect during training, which predicted higher levels of post-race generosity. Likewise, the internalization of religious ideas, reflected in increased intrinsic religiousness during training, was associated with higher post-race generosity. Overall, results support the potential of charitable sporting events to promote positive psychosocial developmental outcomes.