RunningTempo Practical tools for everyday runners.
Learning path Half-Marathon & Marathon Performance
2 Lesson 2 / 6 lessons

Distribute Training Intensity

Successful endurance training usually contains a large amount of controlled running and a smaller amount of deliberate harder work, but the exact distribution changes by phase.

What this lesson solves

Use pyramidal and polarized models as descriptions, not rigid formulas.

Understand the models

Pyramidal training places most work low, some moderate, and little high. Polarized training emphasizes low and high intensity while limiting the middle.

Periodize instead of copying

Advanced runners may shift the distribution across general, threshold, and race-specific phases. A permanent percentage is less useful than the current purpose.

Keep hard work controlled

Norwegian-style double threshold depends on high volume, testing, and close control. It is an elite method to understand, not a default recreational schedule.

Put it into practice

  1. Label each weekly session low, moderate, or high intensity.
  2. Check whether hard work has a clear purpose.
  3. Adjust the distribution for the current training phase.
Ready to move on when

Most running remains controlled and the deliberate harder work can be completed without degrading the following days.

Avoid this mistake

Do not copy double-threshold or other elite schedules without the volume history, testing, and support that make them controllable.

Related concepts
Training intensity distributionThe way total training time is divided among low, moderate, and high intensities.Tempo runA sustained, controlled faster run used to practice steady effort without racing the workout.Threshold runControlled work near the intensity where sustained effort begins to produce rapidly increasing fatigue.Interval trainingRepeated work periods separated by recovery periods, designed to accumulate time at a chosen intensity.Threshold paceA controlled high aerobic pace near the limit of sustainable steady effort, commonly used to improve endurance at harder intensities.Zone 3A moderate aerobic intensity above easy running that creates more training stimulus and more recovery cost.Easy runA controlled, repeatable run that leaves enough recovery capacity for the rest of the week.