HOW MUCH DOES MISSED TRAINING TIME AFFECT MARATHON PREPARATION?

​What is the effect and magnitude 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.”…
Some interesting findings from this study of over 300,000 runners..
Runners who experience longer training disruptions (greater than 7 days) suffer a finish-time cost of 5-8% compared to when the same runners experienced only short training disruptions (<7 days)
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%)
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%)
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Feely C, Smyth B, Caulfield B, Lawlor A. Estimating the cost of training disruptions on marathon performance. Front Sports Act Living. 2023 Jan 10;4:1096124.