Multiple studies (1-4, 6) highlight the performance outcomes, and metabolic-implications of training and nutrition specificity.
Aside from all the research it's been fascinating to observe high-profile athletes demonstrating of how 'specific' metabolic-training really is.
When the 2024 Olympic 5k track gold-medalist blows up in a half-marathon, and a consistently victorious half-ironman pro struggles to execute a full ironman win, you're initial reaction is 'well of course' - but then you think, 'really?'
Before jumping in on the data and detail, I want be clear that this isn't a knock on the athlete highlighted. These are world class athletes - period. This is more about highlighting how 'non-transferrable' metabolic-training and fitness is from one focused competitive intensity-duration, to another.
My Awakening - the Specificity of Metabolic-Training
When I was a teenager, in my senior year at high-school, we had just finished the swimming season and the cross-country season was about to start. At this time, one of my competitive swimming buddies was swimming 55 to 56 seconds for 100 meters freestyle - while I would finish in the 57's. I came to fear his strength in the pool. I had run cross-country all through high-school, though my buddy was never a runner. During the easter vacation this year, I consistently ran each day in preparation for the cross-country race season. Two weeks after the easter vacation we had the annual school cross-country race, a 5k run across the parks and sidewalks around the school. I was in front up until about 4k into the race when my swimming buddy pulls up alongside me. I couldn't believe it, he just wasn't supposed to be there. I couldn't believe that his 100meter freestyle strength would work for a 5k run. Unbeknownst to me however, he had thrown everything he had to catch up to me, at the 4km mark. So with 500 meters to run I threw it up another gear, and noticed my swimming buddy having no response. And with the win in hand, so began my awakening that fitness in one sport, has little to do with fitness in another sport.
Well since this time, I've come to understand a lot more about the specificity of metabolic-training in endurance sports.
Track Superstar, Jakob Ingebrigtsen - 5K to Half-Marathon
Thirteen minutes, thirteen seconds. The 2024 Olympic gold medal time of Norwegian track middle-distance superstar Jakob Ingebrigtsen. His rise and performances have been likened and compared to the greats like Bekele, Farah and Gebrselassie. You can read more about Jakob's (and family) training under the 'Norwegian' training method here, but at a high level its most known for focused blood lactate monitoring at specific intensities, and zones.
With Jakob's focus on 1500, 3000, and 5000 track, you can see how focused his training is on these distances and intensities. Some observations would be -
1. 80 kilometers/week, run at zone 1/zone 2 intensity, 75% of which is in the form of 10km runs (35-40mins for Jakob), plus one weekly 'long' run of 20kms (again 75 minutes for Jakob).
2. Two days of each week, include morning intervals (5 x 6mins sets) run at the start of Zone 2 (referred to as LT1, or lactate threshold 1). Then in the afternoon on the same day a further interval session (20x400s) run at the top-end of Zone 2, generally referenced as LT2, or lactate threshold 2.
So overall you note his program is specific to middle-distance racing.
BUT THEN... enter a world class half-marathon?
Well you can watch some of those video-shorts' here - but clearly it doesn't end well. To be fair he ran a 27+ minute 10km (Norwegian record) then stopped, walked, and switched in and out of a run till the finish - and, for most of us his finishing time is what most of us would dream of :). All that said, clearly he was red-lining at this intensity over this duration. In his own words noted by the press,
"Twenty-one km is definitely too long! I’m definitely not going to try again for a couple of years. It’s fun but tough. I tried to stay with the leading group for as long as I could."
So even though Jakob's training included 80 kilometers a week in zone 1 (start of zone 2), and he conducted plenty of race-pace threshold and high-intensity anerobic threshold sets - this wasn't transferrable to the half-marathon 'race duration at these intensities.'
Takeaways and Research for Practical Application
1) As a takeaway from the Ingebrigtsen case, Training Specificity needs to include 'race duration with intensity' sessions. For half-full ironman athletes this means including some 3-8 hour Zone 2 workouts with some 'race-pace intensity' within the session. For marathoners, its 3-4 hour Zone 2 runs with some race-pace intensity, included in the run. Checkout EndureIQ Squad training programs, for practical implementation.
2) For longer distance (>2hours) endurance racing, 'the duration' of training sessions, and fat (diet) intake are key determinates (5) of fat-oxidation capacity, AND fat oxidation capacity has been shown (6, 7) to be a key determinate factor of Ironman, and professional cycling tour performance.
For half-full ironman and marathon athletes, this means training blocks should include frequent long (race duration) aerobic zone 2 workouts, and a higher inclusion of healthy-fats in the diet and training nutrition. Checkout SFuels ZONE 2 Fuel drink, and SFuels PRIMED.
Thanks for reading through - wishing you all the best in training and racing.
Get Specific and Go Longer. Team SFuels.
