Elite Running “A lot of people run a race to see who is the fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more.” -Steve Prefontaine. Long distance running in athletics have races ranging from 3 thousand meters to ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand meters, and all the way up to the marathon which is a grueling forty two kilometers. It includes cross country races over similar distances. Olympic events include the five and ten thousand meter races, held on a track, and the marathon contested on roads. Like the middle distance races ( eight hundred and fifteen hundred meter), long distance races are ran at a strategic pace, but less seldom …show more content…
To be a great you will need the endurance training, to expand your anaerobic threshold. The strength training, which will increase running economy, VO2 max and overall strength. Then the speed, speed training will get you the raw fast pace you will need in a race to beat out others and maybe even win that final kick. First off is the endurance, this will actually be the thing to keep you up during races and help you not tire. To do this you will need to get more miles in, this will increase your anaerobic threshold, this is the limit in which how fast your system can clear out as much lactic acid in your muscles as it can get out. In other words if you consistently run longer distances you will increase this threshold, if you want to train for a ten kilometer race you will need to train using eight, nine, or seven kilometer runs to get you up to that long distance to grow this threshold. Additionally strength training will be immensely helpful. Strength exercises will develop your VO2max, running economy, also the power you will feel in ones legs as they run. As an example, a very effective form of strength training are plyometrics: plyometrics are like box jumps, ladders exercises, etc. Doing this consistently will improve running efficiency by two to four percent. At the same time speed training will most likely be your number one reason a person will be …show more content…
Recovery is becoming increasingly important to the high-performing athlete in a bid to reduce fatigue and enhance performance. One excellent reason for recovery is to reduce the amount of lactic acid buildup in your body. After an intense training session, you will have lactic acid built up in the body. This is the burning sensation in ones legs or how sore they can be, which will lower someone's overall performance. For this reason stretching, heat or cold therapy are all perfect choices to flush out the remaining lactic acid buildup. Moreover getting enough sleep as an athlete is as important as the training or food choices. Sleep will improve water reabsorption ( which will keep you hydrated since during the night the kidney balances water, electrolytes, and sodium), healing of the body, repairs damaged tissue, and to have an alert mind. By all means you can go without sleep, but with no sleep a human body and mind will not be functioning even close to full capacity which is not including running making you even more tired. Of course something a person can do but doesn’t have to do is physiotherapy. Minor or serious injuries or other types of pain are good reasons to see a physiotherapist, they will relieve you of most muscle stress or give you exercises to work on improving some weak muscle groups, stiff areas, or tight muscles. When I had severe muscle soreness and a stiff hip, I went in for an appointment, going in they gave me a