There is some confusion over the differences between endurance and stamina, it is important to appreciate the differences so as to develop training that is designed to improve either or both qualities.

In the 1930s a Swedish ‘Natural School’ developed ideas for athletes after studying the movement of animals deep in rural Sweden. Gosta Olander (trainer of Gunter Hagg) and Onni Nisskanen (trainer of Abebe Biikila) ventured that a marathon should be divided into two parts. The first 30 kilometres being the ‘prologue’ which is where stamina is needed. This is defined as the ability to maintain a high speed for a long period of time. It is something that a sprinter does not have, it has to be worked at and it can increase over the years. The trick is to arrive at the 30 kilometre point without being exhausted.  

The last 12 kilometres are the ‘monologue’, also called the period of endurance. This is defined as the ability to keep going. According to many respected writers on the subject, athletes such as Bikila and those Kenyan and Ethiopians that followed, it was their capacity for ‘extreme endurance’, of being able to keep fresh, “to run on endurance the whole way”.  

We have all heard about runners ‘hitting the Wall’ at 20 miles – which is around the same point in the race and occurs at about the time when the body is switching energy recourses from glycogen to burning off fat which is not as efficient. It has long been argued that the body should be made to switch over, in training, during the long runs so that the experience is already in place.  

I feel that training runs should also reflect the Stamina and Endurance aspects as separate activities. Unless you are an elite athlete, it is unlikely that you will run the whole event on ‘extreme endurance’, therefore some training should aim to be run at race pace or faster for sustained periods so as to reach the first 30k without being exhausted. For example 8 mile runs that gradually extend to 10, 12 and 14 miles (and so on) without any reduction in pace – to increase your tolerance of high speed (Stamina).  

The monologue or endurance aspect does not necessitate running the marathon distance or beyond, it could be a long run at LSD pace (Long Steady Distance) on top of a fairly hard training week – so you are running on tired legs, rather than the measurement of mileage. It is more important to take account of ‘time on your feet’.  

So, we have established that the marathon should be thought of in terms of two parts, the first half (in terms of energy used) will take you to around the 30km to 20 mile mark on Stamina training. The second half (in terms of energy required) gets you to the finish, it is the ability to keep going when you are feeling tired and is called the Endurance stage. It is important to allow for both aspects when designing a training schedule as failure to address both could result in a performance that is less than your potential.  

Other aspects to consider include diet, hydration, running ‘negative splits’  and attention to work rate and recovery as measured by heart rate. If any of these aspects are of interest, please let me know.  

Eamonn