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Guide · Training abilities

The Six Running Abilities: What Each Workout Is Actually Training

Running fitness is not a single quality. It is built from several distinct abilities, each developed through different types of training. Some are foundational and support everything else; others are more specific and become increasingly important as a race approaches.

A common way to organise these is into three basic abilities — Aerobic Endurance, Muscular Force, and Speed Skills — and three advanced abilities — Muscular Endurance, Anaerobic Endurance, and Sprint Power. Understanding which ability a workout targets makes its purpose clearer and helps explain why a well-structured plan changes its emphasis over time.

The basic abilities

The basic abilities form the foundation of running performance. They are typically the main focus early in a training cycle, and they continue to be maintained throughout.

Aerobic Endurance

Aerobic Endurance is the ability to run comfortably and efficiently for a long time. It is developed primarily through easy and steady running at low to moderate intensity, including the weekly long run.

This ability underpins every race distance, from 5K to the marathon. A stronger aerobic base allows you to run faster at the same effort, recover more quickly between sessions, and tolerate more training overall. Because it develops gradually, it benefits most from consistent volume over many weeks.

Muscular Force

Muscular Force is the ability to produce force with each stride. It is developed through hill running, hill repeats, and strength-oriented work.

Improved force production supports running economy and helps maintain good form as fatigue sets in. It also contributes to durability — the ability of muscles and connective tissue to handle the repeated load of running without breaking down.

Speed Skills

Speed Skills refer to the coordination and efficiency required to run at higher speeds. They are developed through drills, short strides, and relaxed accelerations over short distances.

These sessions are not intended to be tiring. Their purpose is to improve technique, cadence, and neuromuscular coordination, so that faster running feels smoother and requires less energy.

The advanced abilities

The advanced abilities build on the basic ones. They combine elements of endurance, force, and speed, and are typically emphasised more as a race gets closer.

Muscular Endurance

Muscular Endurance is the ability to sustain a relatively high level of effort for an extended period. It sits between Aerobic Endurance and Muscular Force, and is developed through tempo runs, threshold intervals, and sustained efforts at or near threshold pace.

For many runners, particularly those training for the half marathon and marathon, this is one of the most race-relevant abilities. It determines how long a demanding pace can be maintained before it becomes unsustainable.

Anaerobic Endurance

Anaerobic Endurance is the ability to sustain high-intensity efforts above threshold and recover between them. It is developed through harder interval sessions, such as repeats at or around VO2max pace, with controlled recovery periods.

This ability is especially relevant for shorter races such as the 5K and 10K, where a significant part of the race is run at an intensity that cannot be sustained aerobically for long.

Sprint Power

Sprint Power is the ability to produce short, maximal efforts. It combines Muscular Force and Speed Skills, and is developed through short, fast repetitions with full recovery.

In distance running, Sprint Power is rarely the deciding factor on its own, but it contributes to top-end speed, the ability to respond to changes in pace, and a strong finish.

Why the order matters

The basic and advanced abilities are not trained with equal emphasis at every stage of a training plan.

Earlier in a training cycle, the focus is usually on the basic abilities: building aerobic volume, adding hill work, and developing good running mechanics. This creates a base that can support harder, more specific training later on.

As the race approaches, the emphasis gradually shifts toward the advanced abilities that are most relevant to the target distance. A marathon plan will place more emphasis on Muscular Endurance; a 5K plan will include more Anaerobic Endurance work. In the final weeks, a taper reduces overall training load while maintaining some intensity, so that the athlete arrives at the start line fresh.

This progression — changing the emphasis of training over time rather than repeating the same week — is known as periodization. In 42Runs you can map that year on the web as an annual training plan: weekly Load targets and phases around your A-races, then fill the calendar to match.

Different distances, different priorities

Although all six abilities play a role for every runner, their relative importance depends on the goal race:

Seeing the purpose of each workout

In 42Runs, each workout in a training plan is labelled with the ability it is designed to develop. This makes the purpose of a session visible at a glance — whether a given run is meant to build aerobic endurance, develop threshold endurance, or sharpen speed — and shows how the balance of abilities shifts as a plan progresses toward race day.

For more on how intensity is set for each of these workouts, see our guide to running training zones.