Physiological and training characteristics of recreational marathon runners

Dan Gordon,1 Sarah Wightman,2 Itay Basevitch,1 James Johnstone,1 Carolina Espejo-Sanchez,1 Chelsea Beckford,1 Mariette Boal,1 Adrian Scruton,1 Mike Ferrandino,1 Viviane Merzbach1 1Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, 2The Flying Runner, Cambridge, UK Purpose: T...

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Main Authors: Gordon D (Author), Wightman S (Author), Basevitch I (Author), Johnstone J (Author), Espejo-Sanchez C (Author), Beckford C (Author), Boal M (Author), Scruton A (Author), Ferrandino M (Author), Merzbach V (Author)
Format: Book
Published: Dove Medical Press, 2017-11-01T00:00:00Z.
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Summary:Dan Gordon,1 Sarah Wightman,2 Itay Basevitch,1 James Johnstone,1 Carolina Espejo-Sanchez,1 Chelsea Beckford,1 Mariette Boal,1 Adrian Scruton,1 Mike Ferrandino,1 Viviane Merzbach1 1Cambridge Centre for Sport and Exercise Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, 2The Flying Runner, Cambridge, UK Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the physical and training characteristics of recreational marathon runners within finish time bandings (2.5&ndash;3&nbsp;h, 3&ndash;3.5&nbsp;h, 3.5&ndash;4&nbsp;h, 4&ndash;4.5&nbsp;h and >4.5&nbsp;h).Materials and methods: A total of 97 recreational marathon runners (age 42.4 &plusmn; 9.9 years; mass 69.2 &plusmn; 11.3&nbsp;kg; stature 172.8 &plusmn; 9.1&nbsp;cm), with a marathon finish time of 229.1 &plusmn; 48.7&nbsp;min, of whom n = 34 were female and n = 63 were male, completed an incremental treadmill test for the determination of lactate threshold (LT1), lactate turn point (LT2) and running economy (RE). Following a 7-min recovery, they completed a test to volitional exhaustion starting at LT2 for the assessment of VO2max. In addition, all participants completed a questionnaire gathering information on their current training regimes exploring weekly distances, training frequencies, types of sessions, longest run in a week, with estimations of training speed, and load and volume derived from these data.Results: Training frequency was shown to be significantly greater for the 2.5&ndash;3&nbsp;h group compared to the 3.5&ndash;4&nbsp;h runners (P < 0.001) and >4.5&nbsp;h group (P = 0.004), while distance per session (km&sdot;session&ndash;1) was significantly greater for the 2.5&ndash;3&nbsp;h group (16.1 &plusmn; 4.2) compared to the 3.5&ndash;4&nbsp;h group (15.5 &plusmn; 5.2; P = 0.01) and >4.5&nbsp;h group (10.3 &plusmn; 2.6; P = 0.001). Race speed correlated with LT1 (r = 0.791), LT2 (r = 0.721) and distance per session (r = 0.563).Conclusion: The data highlight profound differences for key components of marathon running (VO2max, LT1, LT2, RE and % VO2max) within a group of recreational runners with the discriminating training variables being training frequency and the absolute training speed. Keywords: endurance running, nonelite, workout structures, maximal oxygen uptake, running economy, aerobic capacity
Item Description:1179-1543