So far we had defined four physical abilities which can be improved by training: endurance, resistance, strength and speed; endurance being the ability to sustain a certain percentage of one's maximal consumption of oxygen (VO2max) over distances of more than 3000m. Its evolution vs. the distance run is shown in Fig.2 (green curved). The percentage drop of VO2max is due to the drop in the reserves of glycogen, as well as to the ability to burn fat efficiently. These two types of endurance, which we will call "glycogen" endurance and "simple" endurance, sum up to constitute the "global" endurance. The plot shows the relative importance of these two types of endurance, according to the competition distance: on a 40K, the glycogen deficit (in red) counts for 10%, the pure endurance deficit (in blue) for 25%, and this leads to 35% of global endurance (in green). In conclusion, the marathoner's specific training shall be different from the 100K runner's: he should do long sessions involving quick sections to run out of glycogen, to eventually induce an over-compensation of glycogen. It's same as with the dietetics preparation to competitions: the marathoner might follow the Scandinavian Dissociated meals (carbohydrates) , whereas they would be useless to the 100K runner.
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