Anderson - Running Science

Owen Anderson, PhD

Human Kinetics

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Anderson, Owen, 1947

Running science / Owen Anderson.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. Running--Training. 2. Sports sciences. I. Title.

GV1061.5.A63 2013

796.42--dc23

2013004559

ISBN-10: 0-7360-7418-X (print)

ISBN-13: 978-0-7360-7418-6 (print)

Copyright 2013 by Owen Anderson

All rights reserved. Except for use in a review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying, and recording, and in any information storage and retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

This publication is written and published to provide accurate and authoritative information relevant to the subject matter presented. It is published and sold with the understanding that the author and publisher are not engaged in rendering legal, medical, or other professional services by reason of their authorship or publication of this work. If medical or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

The web addresses cited in this text were current as of January 2013, unless otherwise noted.

Developmental Editors: Tom Hanlon and Heather Healy

Assistant Editors: Claire Marty and Sarah Wiseman

Copyeditor: Ann Prisland

Indexer: Nan N. Badgett

Permissions Manager: Martha Gullo

Graphic Designer: Joe Buck

Graphic Artist: Julie Denzer

Cover Designer: Keith Blomberg

Photograph (cover): Human Kinetics

Photographs (interior): Human Kinetics unless otherwise noted

Photo Asset Manager: Laura Fitch

Visual Production Assistant: Joyce Brumfield

Photo Production Manager: Jason Allen

Art Manager: Kelly Hendren

Associate Art Manager: Alan L. Wilborn

Illustrations: Human Kinetics unless otherwise noted

Printer: McNaughton & Gunn

We thank Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, and Walt Reynolds of The Trainers Studio in Lansing, Michigan, for assistance in providing the location for the photo shoot for this book.

Human Kinetics books are available at special discounts for bulk purchase. Special editions or book excerpts can also be created to specification. For details, contact the Special Sales Manager at Human Kinetics.

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

The paper in this book is certified under a sustainable forestry program.

Human Kinetics

Website: www.HumanKinetics.com

United States: Human Kinetics

P.O. Box 5076

Champaign, IL 61825-5076

800-747-4457

e-mail: humank@hkusa.com

Canada: Human Kinetics

475 Devonshire Road Unit 100

Windsor, ON N8Y 2L5

800-465-7301 (in Canada only)

e-mail: info@hkcanada.com

Europe: Human Kinetics

107 Bradford Road

Stanningley

Leeds LS28 6AT, United Kingdom

+44 (0) 113 255 5665

e-mail: hk@hkeurope.com

Australia: Human Kinetics

57A Price Avenue

Lower Mitcham, South Australia 5062

08 8372 0999

e-mail: info@hkaustralia.com

New Zealand: Human Kinetics

P.O. Box 80

Torrens Park, South Australia 5062

0800 222 062

e-mail: info@hknewzealand.com

E4428

To Liz, for your constant, unfailing caring and support and for keeping me moving forward even in the most-troubled times with no thought for yourself

To Chemtai, for teaching me so much about Kenyan running and never giving up

To my parents, for mentoring me to do rather than watch

To Cori, for being such a cool, tough, and loving daughter

To Uncle Bud, for life-long friendship

To all the kids in the Tana River Delta, for inspiring and trusting me and for holding on to hope and working for a better future

To Eunice and Namwezi, for your integrity and for showing me how to help the Delta kids

To Lyn, for your great friendship, always welcoming chair, and incomparable roast-beef sandwiches

To Le, for introducing me to real friendship and a positive approach to life

And to pastors Jim and Matt, for your faith, guidance, and encouragement

I would like to thank my Human Kinetics editors, Claire Marty, Tom Hanlon, Heather Healy, and Sarah Wiseman, for expertly guiding this book to completion.

I would also like to thank Walt Reynolds for our always productive and stimulating discussions of innovative training techniques and for helping me to understand so many valuable concepts and practices concerning running form and running specific strengthening.

I would like to thank Chemtai Rionotukei, Walter Reynolds, and Julia Williams for their patient, wonderful, and skilled work during the photo shoot for this book. Chemtai, Walter, and Julie spent countless hours ensuring that each exercise, drill, and running segment was photographed optimally. I would also like to express my gratitude to Neil Bernstein for his professional and outstanding work taking the photos.

The science of running is undergoing a revolution that has entered its fifth decade. In the 1970s, exercise physiologists were sure that endurance running was about oxygen, with oxygen limitation the cause of fatigue during exercise and O2max the physiological variable to be examined.

From a scientific perspective, endurance runners were little more than hearts and leg muscles. The heart was the pump that sent oxygen to the lower appendages, and specialized structures in those muscle fibers called mitochondria used the oxygen to provide the energy necessary for running. Once the limit in that system was reached, anaerobic energy took over, lactic acid built up in the muscles, and the hapless runner was done for the day. A competitor with a better oxygen-delivery and supply system won the race.

In that model, which had its origins in the 1920s at the Harvard Fatigue Laboratory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the work of Nobel Prizewinning physiologist A.V. Hill seemed to show that lactic acid could decrease muscular force production, and the brain and spinal cord were just along for the ride, responding meekly to the requests of the heart and leg muscles. If the leg muscles had a steady bath of oxygen, the nervous system sent enough impulses to keep them moving at the requisite rate.

All of this seemed fine until some probing running researchers began to reveal in the 1970s and 1980s that there were other physiological variables that predicted running success. Notably, running economy (i.e., a measure of how stingy runners were with their oxygen) and lactate-threshold velocity (i.e., the velocity above which lactate began to build up in the blood; originally called anaerobic threshold speed) were shown to be relatively reliable predictors of endurance performance.

Limits of O2max and the Role of the Nervous System

Making matters much worse for the traditional model, studies began to appear that revealed that