The Physiology Of A Sub 2-Hour Marathon
The four primary determinants of distance running performance are as follows:
VO2max, which represents the maximum integrated capacity of the pulmonary, cardiovascular, and muscular system to uptake, transport, and utilize oxygen respectively;
Lactate threshold (LT), which represents the fraction of VO2max that is required to sustain a relatively high work intensity before lactate begins to accumulate in the blood at a faster rate than it is consumed (at which point glycogenolysis is increased);
Critical speed (CS) and D-Prime (D’), which represent the velocity that a runner can sustain indefinitely before oxygen utilization begins to outstrip oxygen supply and the finite amount of work they can perform at a velocity that is greater than their critical seed; and
Running economy (RE), which describes the oxygen cost of running at a sub-maximal, yet high intensity, speed.
Collectively, these four factors can be used to develop a model of marathon performance. In essence, this model states that whoever has the highest sustainable rate of energy turnover, the greatest ability to transfer that energy in mechanical power and the greatest ability to apply power to the task of running with the greatest efficiency and for the longest duration will dominate the marathon. The crux is that there are metabolic tradeoffs between some of these traits, such that the individual with the highest VO2max will not have the highest economy and vice versa. As a result, the individual who can run a sub-2-hour marathon will not have off-the-chart metrics in all four of the categories above but instead will have the right blend of performance characteristics for the task of running 26.2 miles as fast as possible.
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