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If you’ve ever looked at parkrun results or masters athletics results, you may have seen something called an age graded percentage. Age grading is one of the most useful ways to compare running performances fairly across different ages and between men and women, but many runners don’t fully understand what it actually means. In simple terms, age grading adjusts your race time based on your age and sex so that performances can be compared on a level playing field. A 55-year-ol

Hydration is important for endurance performance, but hydration needs vary significantly between individuals. Some athletes sweat heavily, while others lose less fluid during exercise. A useful way to estimate hydration needs is to calculate sweat rate. Sweat rate can be estimated by weighing yourself before and after a training session, accounting for any fluid consumed during the session. Sweat rate varies depending on: Temperature Humidity Exercise intensity Clothing Indiv

Power to weight ratio, often expressed as watts per kilogram (W/kg), is one of the most important metrics in cycling performance. It represents how much power you can produce relative to your body weight. Power to weight is especially important when climbing, because climbing speed is largely determined by how much power you can produce relative to the weight you are moving uphill. Two cyclists producing the same power may perform very differently on climbs if one rider is li

Heart rate zones are commonly used to structure endurance training and control training intensity. Training in the correct zones helps athletes build aerobic fitness, improve endurance and avoid doing too much training at high intensity. Most endurance training should be done at relatively low intensity. This is often referred to as Zone 2 training or aerobic training. Training at this intensity improves aerobic capacity, increases mitochondrial density and improves the body’

Fuelling is one of the most important factors in endurance performance. Many endurance athletes train well but underfuel during long sessions and races, which leads to fatigue, reduced performance and poor recovery. Carbohydrate is the primary fuel for moderate to high intensity endurance exercise. During long sessions, the body’s stored carbohydrate (glycogen) becomes depleted, and carbohydrate intake during exercise helps maintain energy levels and performance. Typical carb

Predicting your marathon finish time is useful for setting pacing strategy, training targets and race expectations. One of the most common mistakes runners make is setting a marathon goal time that is not based on current fitness. A common way to estimate marathon performance is to use a recent race result, such as a 5 km, 10 km or half marathon, and apply an endurance prediction formula. These formulas assume that performance declines at a predictable rate as distance increa

One of the biggest mistakes runners make in the marathon is starting too fast. The marathon is rarely limited by speed - it is limited by pacing, fuelling and fatigue resistance. Good pacing can make the difference between a strong final 10 km and a long, painful walk. The most effective marathon pacing strategy for most runners is even pacing or very slightly negative splitting. This means running the second half of the race at the same pace or slightly faster than the first