Talk:Running economy

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 26 August 2019 and 6 December 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Mmashworth, Jbasilico, Amaher327. Peer reviewers: Meredithtroy, Sydneytu, Kousheyo88, Yuezhu511.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 08:26, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Comment

someone should edit this, as it seems to be valuable peice of information for sports science, and kids, in high school doing sports related performance courses. etc —Preceding unsigned comment added by 195.224.58.122 (talk • contribs)

Cleanup needed

Some aspects of the article do not make sense to me. I don't see how RE is able to predict performance better than VO2max. For all I know, I might be a more efficient runner than Haile Gebrsellasie, but my efficiency is useless if I'm not able to generate enough power per kilogram of body mass. While a top endurance athlete might have twice the VO2max of an average Joe, I don't believe he can be twice as efficient. (Think of internal combustion engines: a whole range of power outputs, but roughly the same ballpark in the efficiency department.) GregorB (talk) 17:12, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

I think you are overestimating the efficiency of average Joes and perhaps many internal combustion engines. An average Joe runs a marathon in approximately 4:30; an average Jane in 5:00. Elite men and women can easily cover the distance in half those times. Regarding you vs. Geb, Derek Clayton is a frequently cited example of a great marathoner with a low VO2max. The article states that running economy is a better predictor of race performance than VO2 max; it does not state that a more efficient runner will beat a less efficient runner over any given distance. (Using the internal combustion analogy, a Prius cannot beat a drag racer over a quarter mile course.) Keep in mind that we cannot run for very long at the speeds it takes to achieve VO2max (i.e. vVO2max). Running economy is applicable to submax speeds, certainly anything over 5K. (In this instance, a Prius will easily drop a drag racer over a 26 mile course.) Location (talk) 20:09, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

I did some reading on the subject in the meantime; the study on Zersenay Tadese is very interesting. It appears that VO2max is not the only factor that limits performance, so economy comes into play. I thought at first that running economy is entirely due to biomechanics, but it has to be also due to physiology. Makes sense now.

I'm removing the cleanup tag, but the intro should be rewritten so that it starts with the definition, of course. GregorB (talk) 18:59, 28 October 2009 (UTC)

I had a go at the lead sentence and moved some other information around. Coincidentally, I purchased Noakes' Lore... today, so I'll add more to this as I get through the book. Location (talk) 03:33, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

Much better... and I hope you'll put Noakes' book to good purpose Wikipedia-wise. :-) GregorB (talk) 10:49, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

List of Athletes

Is there a good source for why these particular individuals are examples of high running economy? This isn't something that can be determined from race results; presumably this must come from respirometry results. I know plenty of pro runners have respirometry done, so presumably there's a source for this info. Mokele (talk) 19:03, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

Running Economy in more detail

This should be expanded to include things like exercise and the effects running economy has on it (ie. calories burned in different conditions, etc...) Ciscorucinski (talk) 16:24, 29 August 2013 (UTC)

Environmental conditions section is contradictory

This section says that training in warmer temperatures and colder temperatures both increase running economy.

Both these things could be true relative to a moderate temperature between but the section doesn't mention this. 

As it stands it is confusing and appears contradictory. Adhiyana (talk) 15:38, 7 December 2022 (UTC)