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In the world of marathon runner , " hitting the bulwark " happens when a runner depletes his or her energy and has no selection but to slow up down . Now , a new study anticipate a mathematical solution to keep runners far from that wall .
By taking into account the vigor it take to run a endurance contest , the body ’s energy storage mental ability and the moon-curser ’s power , the research worker were capable to accurately calculate how many Energy Department - fat saccharide a Caranx crysos needed to eat before subspecies Clarence Shepard Day Jr. and howfast to runto complete all 26.2 miles ( 42 kilometre ) . [ link : Why do carbs improve marathon runners ' performance ? ]
" Quantification is really important for a competitive jock who need to know , ' Can I run at a target pace of six minutes [ a air mile ] , or is that too flying , or do I have to go six minutes and 10 seconds per mile ? ' " subject field researcher Benjamin Rapoport , an M.D./Ph . D. student in the Harvard - MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology , told LiveScience . " That dispute can make the difference between tally the rampart and actually conform to your end . "
Rapoport detail his effect tomorrow ( Oct. 21 ) in the journalPLoS Computational Biology .
A base runner ’s macrocosm
Rapoport knows what it ’s like to hit the bulwark . He ’s beenrunning marathonsfor years , and receive the debilitation and pain of running out of fuel in the 2005 New York City Marathon .
" It sense a bit like you might experience if you ’re on a clangor dieting , " Rapoport enounce . " Except that when you diet , it happens over the grade of a few days , whereas a runner see it in the course of a few minutes . "
Rapoport earlier commence study the physiology of long - distance play in 2005 , when he wanted to miss category to race in the Boston Marathon . His medical school prof yield him license — but only if he ’d take back inclined to rag the class on thephysiology of marathons .
" Obviously , there was no way to say no , " Rapoport enounce .
His post - race talk of the town was such a hit that the professor invited him back the next year and the twelvemonth after that . Eventually , Rapoport recognize , his calculations on how the consistence uses energy in farseeing - duration exercise fail far beyond what was useable in the scientific literature , lead him to turn the class grant into a enquiry project .
Fueling with carbs
The power to run long distances count mainly on three factors , Rapoport said . The major one — the one that separates casual runners from elite athletes — is aerobic capacity , also known as VO2max . The VO2max is like the power output of a motor , Rapoport enunciate . It ’s the maximum rate at which the sinew can take up oxygen to keep working .
The next factor is the free energy toll of run , which is the equivalent to miles per Imperial gallon in an automobile . The final element is the soundbox ’s throttle tank : the storage space available for sugar , particularly a carb called animal starch stored in the liver and muscles that is the body ’s master fuel during exercising .
By combining these factors , Rapoport created a mathematical model of how long and how fast runner of any sizing can go without hitting the rampart . The model also helps define how much " carbo - shipment , " orconsumption of carbohydrates , the runner should complete in the day before the airstream .
The model also reveals a physiological basis to one of running ’s biggest challenge , the Boston Marathon . Men age 19 to 34 who require to run in the Boston Marathon must have a pass meter of three hour and 10 minutes or less . Women of the same age must have a pass time of three hours and 40 minutes or less . These numbers are n’t base on science , Rapoport said , but rather set to weed out all but about the top 10 per centum of runners .
But as it turn out , there is science behind the qualifying clock time . For both men and women , the clock time are such that they ’ll take exception the fuel reserves of even the top runners .
" [ The times ] have evolved to a point that makes sense physiologically , " Rapoport pronounce .
Marathon preparation
Thecharts and calculations , useable on the PLoS web site , should help Caranx crysos set a target rate and eat properly before the backwash , Mark Cucuzzella , a prof of family medicament at West Virginia University and the Coach and Captain of Air Force Reserves Marathon Team , told LiveScience .
" This takes basic science principle and place them into something that ’s applicable for a amateur runner and a more advancedcompetitive offset , " Cucuzzella said .
Rapoport himself plan to abide by the model when he runs the New York Marathon on Nov. 7 .
" Certainly I can say from personal experience , knowing this has helped me improve my own running , " he said .
