It is not clear whether or not recreational runners can recover aerobic fitness and performance within one week after marathon running. This study aimed to investigate the effects of running a marathon race on aerobic fitness and performance one week later. Eleven recreational runners (six men, five women) completed the race in 3 h 36 min 20 s ± 41 min 34 s (mean ± standard deviation). Before and 7 days after the race, they performed a treadmill running test. Perceived muscle soreness was assessed before the race and for the following 7 days. The magnitude of changes in the treadmill running test was considered possibly trivial for maximal oxygen uptake (V˙O2max) (mean difference −1.2 ml/kg/min; ±90% confidence limits 2 ml/kg/min), unclear for %V˙O2max at anaerobic threshold (AT) (−0.5; ±4.1%) and RE (0.2; ±3.5 ml/kg/km), and likely trivial for both velocity at AT and peak (−0.2; ±0.49 km/h and −0.3; ±0.28 km/h). Perceived muscle soreness increased until 3 days after the race, but there were no clear differences between the values before the race and 4–7 days after it. These results show that physiological capacity associated with marathon running performance is recovered within 7 days after a marathon run.

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between classic physiological variables [maximal oxygen uptake (_VO 2 max), z _VO 2 max at anaerobic threshold (AT), and running economy (RE)] and running performance in recreational runners. 39 recreational runners (24 males and 15 females) underwent a treadmill running test to determine the classic physiological variables and velocity at AT (vAT). AT was deˆned as the point at which the respiratory exchange ratio stabilized above 1.0, and it was used as an indirect performance variable. Multiple regression analysis showed that 94z of vAT values were explained by all classic physiological variables (p＜0.001). In addition, all variables were signiˆcantly explanatory (_VO 2 max, p＜ 0.001; z _VO 2 max at AT, p＜0.001; and RE, p＜0.001). In total, 35 subjects had completed a marathon within the past year. For these subjects, single regression analysis was performed, which showed that 67z of recent marathon times was explained by vAT (r＝0.82, p＜0.05). This study indicated that during a treadmill running test, _VO 2 max, z _VO 2 max at AT, and RE can precisely explain vAT, which is highly correlated with recent marathon times.