Grete Waitz

↵ BROWSE ALL +65 ATHLETES / Grete Waitz

↵ BROWSE ALL +65 ATHLETES / Grete Waitz

Grete Waitz

Norwegian Grete Waitz’s training progressed from a junior mid-distance runner through her career to a marathon runner as a senior. Along the way she held multiple world records, world champion titles, an Olympic medal, and 9 New York Marathon victories. Below you’ll find her training as a 21 year old a couple weeks out of a world championship 1500m competition, and then her training as a senior marathoner.

Waitz training diary 1974, leading into her World Champs 1500m bronze

• ‘Easy’ runs at between 3:30-4:00min/km pace.
• Gifted speed, her pb as a 19y/o: 2:05.7 for 800m, 4:17 for 1500m. Between 17-19y/o she ran between 5-7 times/week at fast steady speed.

Waitz marathon training:

• Personal best: 2:24:54 in London (20/04/1986)

To paraphrase Weitz, hard to easy approach is relative and depends on the individual and their stage in career. Some only need 1 session per week, others can handle 3-4,  whilst some also are able to have moderate days between hard and easy days.