Before the race, she says, you want to reflect on previous experiences, learning from them so that you can prepare how you’ll respond before you get there. In those moments in a race where your body is exhausted, what are the psychological techniques you can use to push your limits?Īccording to Meijen, it’s about being ready for those moments. “There comes a point in the race where the pain, it owns you and you just have to reckon with the fact that you are in a lot of pain and it’s not going to go away and to deal with it.” “I think the first half you run with your legs and the next half you run with your mind,” he says of the Spartathlon. “I guess the bigger picture is self-regulation, how are you able to deal with that?” “You might feel a bit disoriented, a bit confused,” says Meijen. Research suggests that around half of ultramarathon competitors experience significant changes in their mental state. “We then have anaerobic metabolism, which are energy-transfer processes not involving oxygen.” The reason you couldn’t sprint a marathon, he says, is that your body can’t supply energy rapidly enough using the aerobic system. We have aerobic metabolism which molecular oxygen from the atmosphere,” he says. “The body essentially two systems of energy delivery. Could it get faster still? While a sub-two-hour marathon is probably just a matter of time, Burnley says the body does have some limiting factors. The world record marathon is currently just over two hours. “If you put those three together you’ll run a fast marathon,” Burnley says. Third, you need an excellent running economy – the human equivalent of the fuel economy of your car, making efficient use of resources to cover the distance. Second is a high lactate threshold, which is the fastest pace you can run without generating more lactate than your body can get rid of. First you need a high VO2 max, the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during intense exercise. In distance running, three parameters will determine your performance, he tells Crowdscience. Mark Burnley, an endurance physiologist at the University of Kent, investigates the biology that underpins how fast somebody can run at a variety of distances, from sprints to ultramarathons. Kick me in the butt and tell me to keep going.”Īnd with that Karnazes runs off into the darkness – still hurting. “I’m still moving forward, it’s not pretty, it’s not fast, but it is movement. “It’s really demoralising, going this slowly,” he says. “It’s real at this point, you know, your whole body starts to hurt,” he says.Īt this stage of the race Karnazes says the psychological element is important. This is his second Spartathlon, but this time he’s had a tough start and is nursing a bruised hip after being hit by a car. What does it take to be capable of such an act of endurance – both physically and mentally? And what tricks do these athletes use to keep themselves motivated, and on their feet, during a race?Īt the Spartathlon, which a freak storm has made especially harsh this year, Dean Karnazes is one such runner pushing his limits. The popularity of ultramarathons has shot up in recent years – and so too has interest in the science and mechanics of how the body works in these extreme situations.Ĭlearly, anyone who takes part in these kinds of races is going to be running for a very long time. No runner has been able to beat that record since. The annual race was first held in 1983 and the fastest time of 20 hours and 25 minutes was achieved a year later. (This ancient ultra-runner is probably better known for his legendary 26-mile (42km) run from the Bay of Marathon to Athens – the origin of the term ‘marathon’.) Starting at dawn in the shadow of the Acropolis in Athens and finishing in Sparta, the annual event recreates the journey of the ancient Greek messenger Pheidippides, who made the journey in a day and a half to summon Spartan troops. These runners are attempting the Spartathlon. It’s dark, it’s raining heavily and these ultra-distance athletes are in the midst of a staggering 246km road race. In the early hours of a night in late September, somewhere between Athens and Sparta in Greece, a trickle of runners trudge wearily by. To listen to more episodes of CrowdScience from the BBC World Service, please click here. This story is an adaptation of What are the limits of human endurance?, an episode of CrowdScience presented by Marnie Chesterton and produced by Cathy Edwards.
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