How to be an Economical Runner at Her Active Life

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How to be an Economical Runner

Posted October 20, 2007 at 09:00 PM by Lisa Cieplechowicz

Section: Her Fitness, Athletics, Training Programs, Her Health, Her Motivation

Woman Running For many runners, scoring a faster running time can be a point of frustration. Though you train regularly and your technique may seem impeccable, sometimes your efforts seem to add up to nothing when it comes to improving your speed. In fact, how fast or slow you run often has a great deal to do with your economy of motion.

Economy of motion is a simple enough concept. It refers to the relationship between how much energy you expend when you run and how fast you go. Typically, the less energy it take you to run a given distance the faster - or more “economical” - you will run. Unfortunately, as the New York Times reports, improving your running economy is one task that’s particularly difficult to accomplish, if possible at all.

Though exercise physiologists assert that training can help improve one’s economy, many also admit that it’s not clear what kind of training it takes, or how long one must train to see a significant difference. There have been very few documented cases of individuals improving their running economy. Lance Armstrong was one - he gained approximately 1% efficiency per year throughout a 7 year period. British marathoner Paula Radcliffe also managed to increase her economy regularly during an 11-year span. However, scientists continue to question what kind of efforts it takes for the average person to accomplish such a feat.

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