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How athletes withstand the marathon
Jonathan Esteve-Lanao and Alejandro Lucia at the European University of Madrid and colleagues at the VU University-Amsterdam and the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse evaluated the heart rate response of 211 middle- and long-distance runners during running competitions ranging in length from five to 100 km. These runners were not elite performers but all were serious competitors and some had enjoyed success in regional competitions.
The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, found that throughout the course of the races, the runners' heart rate increased in a very controlled way, which appeared to be scaled to the distance of the race. When the heart rate response was scaled to the proportional distance completed, the results across races of different lengths were virtually identical.
Esteve-Lanao said runners who "hit the wall" when the athlete's glycogen stores have run so low that the body must burn stored fat for energy, which does not burn so easily, leading to dramatic fatigue and, potentially, life-threatening collapses.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
This news arrived on: 08/15/2008
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Posted Comments:
08-21-2008 19:27
Melody Yaneza wrote:
This is a very timely entry
With the 2008 Beijing Olympics currently ongoing, this explains much of the players' stamina. Speaking of marathon, the track and field game saw a historic moment this year for Bahrain as they clinched their first gold and their first medal ever in the whole history of the Olympics. So kudos and congratulations to them and to their delegate Mr. Ramzi!
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