2 sept. 2015

Triathlon and Running Economy

After the previous post, we looked into the economy of running from the point of view of a researcher and not of a coach.  Researchers continue to struggle with the ECONOMY OF RUNNING.  Variables are many and they are not considered as variables most of the time.  We have problems to have models to study economy of running because we are unable to see athletes; we just study theories instead of looking at athletes or plain and simple technique models.  Researchers translate technique in a simpler way, when technique encompasses multiple variables itself and it is impossible to break it down as it has been done by researchers.  It is like a word in a language that cannot be translated because of its multiple meanings.   Albert Einstein said it and started looking at the phenomenon instead of playing with the theories:
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.
If, then, it is true that the axiomatic basis of theoretical physics cannot be extracted from experience but must be freely invented, can we ever hope to find the right way? I answer without hesitation that there is, in my opinion, a right way, and that we are capable of finding it. I hold it true that pure thought can grasp reality, as the ancients dreamed. (Albert Einstein, 1954)

Many confoundable variables are present when doing this kind of research and we end up with a laughable conclusion:
spurious relationship is a perceived relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable that has been estimated incorrectly because the estimate fails to account for a confounding factor. The incorrect estimation suffers from omitted-variable bias.

As a human endeavor, scientists become politically involved and we end up seeing the confounding errors as real variables.   
Factors affecting the energy cost of level running at submaximal speed
Jean‑René Lacour · Muriel Bourdin
Eur J Appl Physiol DOI 10.1007/s00421-015-3115-y
The superiority of black African runners is presumably related to their leg architecture and better elastic energy storage and reuse…
The contrast between the large differences (about 20 %) in Cr between individuals and the small changes (7 % at the most) found in response to training must be underlined; they plead in favor of a major role of inherent factors. This interpretation is, however, challenged by the large improvement in Cr reported by the single long-term study of an outstanding female championship runner…
Among the factors accounting for differences in Cr between individuals, calcaneal tuberosity length seems to be of major importance, accounting for a very high percentage of running cost variance; this, however, was only recently described (Scholz et al. 2008)

Let’s think as a smart coach looking at champions and the competition we are dealing with.  Einstein would say: “I hold it true that pure thought can grasp reality, as the ancients dreamed. (Albert Einstein, 1954).”

Is the technique able to better elastic energy storage and reuse… using the Newtonian concept of a “bouncing ball, with the least vertical movement and maximum horizontal displacement,” as the article written this year says?  We do not need to be from Africa, we need a technique according to our advantage.  Please see our articles regarding running technique in this blog.

 28 juin 2013



Triathlon and Running Technique

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