Training and bioenergetic characteristics in elite male and female Kenyan runners.
OBJECTIVE
This study compares the training characteristics and the physical profiles of top-class male and female Kenyan long-distance runners.


METHODS
The subjects were 20 elite Kenyan runners: 13 men (10-km performance time: 10-km performance time of 28 min, 36 s +/- 18 s) and 7 women (32 min, 32 s +/- 65 s). The male runners were separated into high-speed training runners (HST: N = 6) and low-speed training runners (LST: N = 7) depending on whether they train at speeds equal or higher than those associated with the maximal oxygen uptake (vVO2max ). All but one woman were high-speed training runners (female HST: N = 6). Subjects performed an incremental test on a 400-m track to determine VO2max, vVO2max, and the velocity at the lactate threshold (vLT).


RESULTS
Within each gender among the HST group, 10-km performance time was inversely correlated with vVO2max (rho = -0.86, P = 0.05, and rho = -0.95, P = 0.03, for men and women, respectively). HST male runners had a higher VO2max, a lower (but not significantly) fraction of vVO2max (FVO2max ) at the lactate threshold, and a higher energy cost of running (ECR). Among men, the weekly training distance at vVO2max explained 59% of the variance of vVO2max, and vVO2max explained 52% of the variance of 10-km performance time. Kenyan women had a high VO2max and FVO2max at vLT that was lower than their male HST counterparts. ECR was not significantly different between genders.


CONCLUSIONS
The velocity at the VO2max is the main factor predicting the variance of the 10-km performance both in men and women, and high-intensity training contributes to this higher VO2max among men.
Billat
Veronique
V
Faculty of Sport Science, University of Evry-Val d'Essonne, France. veronique.billat@wanadoo.fr
Lepretre
Pierre-Marie
PM
Heugas
Anne-Marie
AM
Laurence
Mille-Hamard
MH
Salim
Drai
D
Koralsztein
Jean Pierre
JP
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007630:Kenya; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D010101:Oxygen Consumption / Q000502:physiology*; D010807:Physical Endurance / Q000502:physiology*; D012420:Running / Q000502:physiology*; D012737:Sex Factors
D019344:Lactic Acid