Lore of running by Timothy Noakes

Burfoot 1981t Costill(1982) Wyndham 11:44 marathon km WR 1975 Pollock (1977) km WR etal. (1969) Costill&Winrow (1970a) Davies & Thompson (1979) Jooste etal. (1980) Costill&Higdon(1981) Dill etal (1967) 1969 etal. (1990b) etal. (1990b) Costill etal. (1971b) WR = world record. Predicted sea-level values from measurements recorded at medium altitude (5,784 feet) by adding 11%. tSubsequently not ratified (short course). 2 seconds). If VOjmax is the sole explanation for differences in running performance, then Prefontaine should have been better by at least 16% in all distances.

1966), about improved by only 5 60% to lower than in 15% even elite athletes. , Because with intensive training, it Wyndham VOjmax can be 1989; is clear that the V02max value anywhere near how much he or she trains. Therefore, average healthy individual wiU never achieve a those of the elite athletes, no matter because V02max activities, who it is is an indirect measure of potential for success in endurance clear that hereditary factors become champions. Even among elite athletes with ing must play important roles in determin- will quite similar performances, V02max values may vary quite dramatically.

The authors suggested that they did not find VOjmax to be a good predictor of running ability because they were dealing with a homogeneous group of runners with very similar VOzmax 10-km race times. The authors concluded that a high (above 67 ml/kg/min) helped each athlete gain membership to this performance group, but within VOjmax was this selected elite group, running efficiency and not the factor discriminating success in the 10-km race. 28 Lore of Running • I will take their interpretation one step further.