Subscribe to Running Research News

Science of Sport: Things that are important for 5ks and 10ks

Some may surprise you!

By Owen Anderson

Exercise scientists have identified a number of factors which are important for success in 5- and 10-K races. One of these elements, of course, is running speed at lactate threshold. If your velocity at threshold is high, it means that not much lactate appears in your blood at good-quality running speeds. This is a very good thing, because it means that lactate is "staying home" in your muscle cells, supplying the energy you need to operate at a quicksilver pace. Lactate is a tremendous fuel for endurance running, but it can't be used for energy when it is floating around in the blood.

If your running speed at lactate threshold (RSLT) improves, your 5- and 10-K race times will almost always get better. Furthermore, if we lined up a large group of distance runners in order, from the highest RSLT to the lowest, and then lined them up in a different kind of order - from fastest to slowest 10-K times, the two lines would be nearly identical! Running speed at lactate threshold is a very powerful predictor of performance in 5Ks and 10Ks.

Running economy (RE) is also highly correlated with 5- and 10-K performances. RE is simply your "oxygen cost" of running at a particular velocity, expressed in milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute. The lower this cost, the better it is for your performances, partly because it means that you are farther away from your maximal rate of oxygen usage. This gives you some "wiggle room" to increase your running paces without outstripping the ability of your cardiovascular system to supply your muscles with oxygen.

The noted exercise physiologist Pietro Enrico Di Prampero of the University of Udine in Italy (shown at far right in the accompanying photo) found that a 5-percent decrease in the energy cost of running (i. e., a 5-percent improvement in running economy) generally produces about a 4-percent improvement in performance (1). A bit of good news is that 5-percent enhancements in economy are relatively easy to come by for distance runners - when they focus on the right kinds of training (running-specific strength training, hill work, vVO2max running, and race-specific efforts, for example). A 41-minute 10-K runner would dip down to 39:22 for the event - if he/she upgraded economy by 5 percent.

But if we try out the lactate-threshold-speed "trick", lining up runners according to economy and then according to 10-K finishing time, we would find that economy does not do quite as well as lactate-threshold speed at replicating the lines. The reason for this is that lactate-threshold speed contains more physiological information than economy. In fact, lactate-threshold velocity includes an economy element: If you are uneconomical, you can't have a good lactate-threshold speed, because you will be breaking down glucose at high rates and thus blowing excess lactate out your muscles "portholes" into the blood.

VO2max (maximal aerobic capacity) is a surprisingly poor predictor of 5- and 10-K success. Although it is true that if you elevate your VO2max from 45 to 65, for example, your 5- and 10-K performances will undoubtedly improve, we can't be totally sanguine that less-generous VO2max upgrades will always lead to faster running in races. In one recent study, for example, a 5-percent augmentation of VO2max did not lead to faster 5-K performances at all (2)! One problem with VO2max is that it does not contain a lot of information. That is, you might have a high VO2max but still have irksome economy and a lousy lactate threshold. For this reason, when we line up our runners again, the VO2max and performance lines look completely different.

Weekly mileage is also a poor predictor of 5- and 10-K success. Like VO2max, volume is terribly lacking in performance-related information. You can run 70 - or 100 - miles per week, for example, and still have a modest lactate threshold and miserable running economy at high speeds. Yet, many runners treat higher mileage as though it is the factor which can cause their performances to soar.

In contrast, some rather non-traditional factors do a very nice job of foretelling 5- and 10-K times. For example, 50- and 300-meter sprint times are highly correlated with 10-K performances in distance runners (3). This doesn't mean that world-class sprinters will eventually be our very best 10-K harriers (their fast-twitch muscle-fiber composition wouldn't permit it). What it tells us is that the factors which produce very rapid 50- and 300-meter times (explosive contacts with the ground, short foot-contact times, relatively long strides) can also produce superior 5-K and 10-K performances. Being very fast is an asset for distance running, not a liability, and thus endurance runners should strive constantly to do things which upgrade their max running velocities.

Other very non-traditional elements are also linked with distance success. For example, five-jump tests (in which runners attempt to cover as much ground as possible with five consecutive jumps), static-jump exams (in which athletes jump forward from a standing, erect posture), counter-movement jumps (in which runners go into a squat before jumping), and plyometric-leap tests (in which runners land on the ground and then explode forward) all do a fine job of prognosticating 10-K success (ibid). This doesn't tell us that high-jumpers would make great distance runners. Rather, it informs us that the variables which produce powerful jumps and leaps also create outstanding 10-K running - and that we should train in ways which advance our explosive attributes. This is true for elite runners - and for the rest of us, the mere mortals who trod 5- and 10-K courses. Developing the ability to get our feet on and off the ground more quickly and advancing our capacity to push more forcefully on the ground with each step will increase the quality of our training and sharpen our race times, as well. We may not run as fast as elite Kenyans, but we definitely can improve.

With these findings and observations in mind, it is not surprising that a history of regular strength training is a good predictor of endurance success, too (strength training can heighten propulsive force and quickness). Plain-vanilla strength training for running often upgrades running economy by 3 percent, which should improve 5- and 10-K times by about 2 percent. Explosive-type strength training seems to work even more powerfully: One inquiry found that nine weeks of explosive strength training (with an emphasis on hops, bounds, leaps, and various jumps) improved 5-K times by about 30 seconds, and a second, separate investigation detected a 3-percent improvement in 3-K performances after six weeks of plyometric training (4).

The bottom lines? You can make major improvements in your 5- and 10-K running by emphasizing training which optimizes running velocity at lactate threshold, running economy, and max running speed. Furthermore, a consistent reliance on strength training, with an emphasis on movements which mimic the mechanics of running and a gradual progression toward quick-movement resistance work, should put a big smile on your face as you cross the finish lines of your 5- and 10-K races

References

(1) "Energetics of Best Performances in Middle-Distance Running," Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol. 74 (5), pp. 2318-2324, 1993

(2) "Explosive Strength Training Improves 5-Km Running Time by Improving Running Economy and Muscle Power," Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol. 86 (5), pp. 1527-1533, 1999

(3) "The Relationship between Field Tests of Anaerobic Power and 10-Km Run Performance," Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, Vol. 15 (4), pp. 405-412, 2001

(4) "The Effect of Plyometric Training on Distance Running Performance," European Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol. 89 (1), pp. 1-7, 2003

Please visit our web site at www.runningresearchnews.com to get the latest information about training, sports nutrition, and injury prevention.

Copyright © 2006 Running Research News, All rights reserved. Posted with permission.

Comment on this story.

Subscribe to the Runner's Web Weekly Digest