The relationship of aerobic and anaerobic power to distance running performance

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of various measures of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism to 10 km run time. Subjects were 14 trained and experienced female distance runners whose mean (±SD) age, mass, percent body fat, and VO2 max were 31.3 ± 2.8 yr, 58.5 ± 6.7 kg, 17.5 ± 3.9 percent, and 48.9 ± 4.9 ml· min−1 · kg−1 respectively. Results indicated that ventilation threshold (VT), velocity at VO2 max (vVO2 max), V02max, 50 m sprint time, and peak knee extension torque at 400 deg· sec−1 were significantly correlated with 10 km run time (p ≤ .05). Stepwise multiple regression indicated that VT was the strongest single predictor explaining 48% of the variance while 50 m sprint time increased the explained variance to 67.2% (SEE = 1.40 min). The regression equation developed was: Y' = 48.65 ‐ .270 (VT ml· min−1 · kg−1 + .90 (50m in sec). The results of this investigation provide evidence that distance running performance may be attributed to individual variables such as VT and anaerobi...