Less Running = Faster Marathons, per new Boston Marathon Study

22/09/2025 11 min

Listen "Less Running = Faster Marathons, per new Boston Marathon Study"

Episode Synopsis

Today’s notes and references:The paper: Training Volume and Training Frequency Changes Associated with Boston Marathon Race Performancelink:https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-025-02304-4?cjdata=MXxZfDB8WXww Other research by the same team:Gastrointestinal cell injury and perceived symptoms after running the Boston Marathonhttps://www.frontiersin.org/journals/physiology/articles/10.3389/fphys.2023.1268306/fullExertional Heat Stroke at the Boston Marathon: Demographics and the Environmenthttps://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2021/09000/exertional_heat_stroke_at_the_boston_marathon_.3.aspxThe larger study I mention, of 151,000 runners, published Dec 2024:The training intensity distribution of marathon runners across performance levelshttps://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/en/publications/the-training-intensity-distribution-of-marathon-runners-across-peOur video breaking down the previous study:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39QVsDoCK8sRun Long Run Healthy is brought to you by Marathon Handbook.➡ https://marathonhandbook.comSubscribe to the Run Long Run Healthy podcast:➡ Spotify: https://bit.ly/RLRH-spotify➡ Apple podcasts: apple.co/43iqUKxGet the RLRH weekly newsletter (choose free or paid):➡ https://marathonhandbook.com/run-long...➡ https://runlongrunhealthy.substack.com/Follow us online:BRADY ON X ➡ https://x.com/B_Holmer/PHYSIOLOGICALLY SPEAKING (Brady's Newsletter) ➡ https://www.physiologicallyspeaking.com/MARATHON HANDBOOK IG ➡ / marathon.handbook 00:00 Introducing the study01:16 Describing the complimentary study02:21 The hypothesis - base building phase more important?03:22 Methodology and survey details05:31 Findings - macrocycle06:28 Findings - mesocyclone07:20 The big learning - less runs in mesocycle = faster marathon08:09 Our 3 takeaways