unCoachJasonTM
VO2max
The
monthly newsletter of RunCoachJason.com
Jason
Karp, professional coach, consultant, freelance writer
December,
2005
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In
this issue:
A
Brief History of Running
Integrating
Science with Application—Heart Rate
An
Animal Comparison of VO2max
In
Press
Holiday
Gifts
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A
Brief History of Running
Millions
of Americans walk out of their front doors every day to run, but have you ever
thought about how running as a sport began?
The
earliest known running races date back to about 2035 B.C. in ancient Sumer.
In ancient Greece, commonly regarded as the birthplace of competitive
sport, running fast was a highly regarded physical trait. Races
in Greece were held on a rectangular space approximately 230 meters long by 30
meters wide called a stade or stadion. The
shortest of the Greek races—192 meters—took on this name, and the place
where the races were held became known as the stadium.
The winner of the Stadion was considered the fastest man in the Greek
world. This race was the only
event at the first 14 ancient Olympic Games, which began in 776 B.C.
The double Stadion race, or Diaulos (384 meters) was added to the
Olympic program in 724 B.C., and the long race, or Dolichos, shortly followed,
being added to the next Olympic Games in 720 B.C.
Its distance was approximately 4,600 meters, 24 times the distance of
the
Stadion.
Although
running for competition was common in ancient times, little record was kept of
the details of races. This began
to change in the 17th and 18th centuries, mainly in Britain, as
improvements in timekeeping allowed runners to compare their performances to
earlier races. By 1800 A.D.,
newspapers, magazines, and books began to include detailed accounts of running
competitions. The first race of
national importance in the United States took place in 1835, with nine runners
trying to run 10 miles in under 60 minutes.
Only one runner accomplished the task, but this feat created wide
interest in the sport of running in the United States. Two
years later, in 1837, the first track in North America was built in Hoboken,
New Jersey.
When
Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the modern Olympic Games in 1896, running
was again the main competition, with events ranging from 100 meters to the
marathon, the latter introduced to the Olympic Games to honor the ancient
Greeks. In 1913, the International
Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) was formed to govern the sport of track and
field and in 1914 published the first official list of world records.
(Recognizing that track and field athletes are no longer amateurs, the
IAAF changed its name in 2001 to the International Association of Athletics
Federations.)
During
the latter portion of the 20th century, running became part of the social
culture in North America. In
the 1970s and ’80s, the success of
marathoners
Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter initiated the “running boom.” Thousands
of people ran in the streets for fitness and sport.
Today, more
high school kids participate in cross country and track and field
than
in any other sport. On any given
weekend in every part of the
United
States, roads are closed to traffic as thousands of runners race
each
other in dozens of road races. And
after those runners finish their
races,
they can learn how to run a faster race next time from the
extensive
research being done around the world on the physiology of
endurance
performance.
The
sport has come a long way since Pheidippides’
legendary run in 490 B.C. from Marathon to Athens, Greece.
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Integrating
Science with Application—Heart Rate
The
heart is the symbol for our most powerful emotion—love.
It is, as Aristotle said, our center, the seat of our soul.
It can be found among the scribbles in a lovestruck girl’s high
school notebook, as a figure of
The
ancient Greeks may have been the first to acknowledge the existence of the
heart, which they named kardia.
Our words cardiac, cardiovascular, electrocardiogram, echocardiogram,
and cardiologist are
The
heartbeat—the split-second sequence of contractions of the heart’s four
chambers—is the most easily measured physiological indicator of running
intensity, and thus offers you a reliable and objective variable with which to
work. Heart rate monitors, which
have become mainstream, are an excellent way to link your different running
paces with your heart rates, creating an entire heart rate profile.
Once this profile is established, you can develop specific workouts
using your heart rate at a specific pace at a specific time of the training
year. Over months and years of
training, you can match pace changes for workouts
As
a quick guide, do your continuous, aerobic runs at about 70 to 75% of your
maximal HR. To target improvements
in your lactate threshold, run at about 80 to 85% max HR.
To improve VO2max, run intervals at 95 to 100% max HR.
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An
Animal Comparison of VO2max
Despite
such extraordinary aerobic feats as running one mile in 3 minutes, 43 seconds
and a marathon in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 55 seconds, humans actually do not fare
well against many other animals in their
So
if you’re ever running in the woods and you see a wild dog or a wolf (or a
honeybee), you better hope they don’t run (or fly) after you!
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In
Press...
2006
is already shaping up to be a busy writing year for me.
Here’s some of what you can expect to see next year...
Weight
Training for Beginners, in the
January weight loss special issue of Oxygen
magazine.
Weight
Machines vs. Free Weights, a
“boxing-match” comparison of the two types of weight training, in the
February issue of Fitness Management.
The
Top 3 Cardio Workouts, which
describes the what, why, and how of the best cardio workouts for people who
want to obtain the greatest benefit in the least amount of time, in the April
issue of Oxygen
Energy
Systems Training, which describes the
three metabolic pathways by which we produce energy to run and gives specific
workouts to target each of the energy systems, in the April issue of Running
Times.
Workout
Express, a column which details a
30-minute cardio workout,
an accompanying playlist of songs, and a single “must-do” strength
exercise, in the April and June issues of Shape
magazine.
Counting
Calories: Five Ways to Burn More With Running,
in the April issue of Runner’s World.
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Holiday
Gifts
Know
someone who wants to lose weight or become a faster runner?
Give him or her (or yourself) a personal trainer or coach as a holiday
gift. I offer a number of online
and in-person personal training and coaching services, based on individual
needs and goals. I will customize
an exercise or training program specifically for you (or your friend).
For a complete list of services, go to
http://www.runcoachjason.com/coaching.
Have
a friend who is a researcher or is a student who loves statistics?
Want to give that special someone a gift that will make his or her
research easier? My popular book, Directions
for SPSS®:
A Manual for
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To
view past newsletters, go to http://www.runcoachjason.com/newsletter
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with the word “unsubscribe” on the subject line.
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©2005
Jason Karp.
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