In the dissertation the author 's program of construction of the training process of highly qualified athletes in marathon running in the Olympic training cycle is substantiated, developed and experimentally checked. A set of methods was used to solve the problems of research work: analysis and generalization of scientific and methodological literature, pedagogical observation, pedagogical testing, anthropometric, physiological research methods, computer programs for rapid assessment of functional readiness «SHVSM», pedagogical experiment, mathematical methods statistics. The scientific novelty of the obtained results is that for the first time: • established modern scientific and methodological approaches to the organization of the training process of highly qualified runners for the marathon distance at the stage of maximum realization of individual capabilities; • developed and experimentally tested the author's program for building a training process for athletes in marathon running in the Olympic training cycle with a clear algorithm for planning individual competitive activities, the amount of training loads in different types of training, running loads of different intensity and direction within individual micro-, meso- and macrocycles of the four-year Olympic training cycle; • developed model characteristics of physical and functional fitness of highly qualified athletes who specialize in marathon running: quantitative values of indicators of general physical performance, aerobic capacity, anaerobic, anaerobic-aerobic and aerobic ways of energy supply, muscle activity, muscle activity, body, general, speed, speed and strength endurance and general level of functional training, which are necessary for athletes to achieve high sports results in marathon running; • the effectiveness of the strategy of gradual change of the range of competitive distances and the number of performances at the main and adjacent distances is determined and the most optimal options for their combination are determined, which helps to increase the efficiency of the runners training process. The data on the need to further improve the training process of athletes who specialize in marathon, due to the unsatisfactory results of domestic marathon runners at international competitions in the last 15-20 years, have been confirmed. The results of research on the possibility of improving the training program of highly qualified marathon runners by increasing the amount of training loads, by redistributing the amount of physical activity to different types of training and with an emphasis on training loads mainly aerobic. The results of research on the importance of improving the experience of individual training and the results of performances at competitions of leaders of domestic and world sports in order to develop modern effective programs for building the training process of highly qualified marathon runners were further developed.
The results of the dissertation research are introduced into the work of the departments of theory and methods of physical culture and sports of Zaporizhzhia National University of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, in particular, in the teaching of disciplines «Theory and methods of sports training», «Olympic and professional sports», «Athletics with teaching methods. Running for medium, long and ultra-long distances», «Sports and pedagogical improvement (athletics)», in the educational process and practice of SC «Pershotravnevets STP» Ukraine (Berdyansk), SC «Motor Sich» (Zaporizhzhiya), Department of Youth and Sports, Kyiv Regional Center for Olympic Training, Municipal Institution «Zaporizhzhian Regional School of Higher Sportsmanship» of Zaporizhzhiya Regional Council, specialized children's and youth school of the Olympic reserve (Zaporizhzhiya), SC «Metallurg» (Zaporizhzhiya), All-Ukrainian physical culture and sports society «Kolos» AIC of Ukraine, which is confirmed by the relevant acts of implementation.
