How 'economical' a runner are you?

Zersenay Tadese, world cross-country and half-marathon champion, may be the most "economical" runner in the world according to a new sports science study.

Researchers in Madrid say that Tadese's uses less oxygen per kilometre than any other athlete ever studied -- and that includes other elite Kenyans. Frank Shorter in his prime tested out at 192 ml/kg/kilometer (running at 3:06/km); Tadese's figures: 150 ml/kg/kilometer (running at 3:09//km and at at 2:51/km).

What this means is that independent of VO2 max, haematocrit and other "standard" meassures of performance capability, Tadese may be capable of running a faster 10k and marathon than anyone else on the plane. That's because running economy measures something of huge practical importance to every runner -- not your absolute top speed, but your maximum "cruising speed", the speed at which we try to hover when we're racing.

The Tadese study -- "The key to top-level endurance running performance: A unique example" -- published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine has so impressed exercise scientists Jonathan Dugas, PhD and Ross Tucker, PhD, that they've launched a fascinating and informative series of blogs on running economy on their Science of Sport website..

"Running economy is a measure of how much (or little, as the case may be) oxygen the runner uses for a given, sub-maximal speed. In theory, two runners can have the same maximal capacity for oxygen use (called VO2max), and then the one who is more economical at the sub-maximal speeds is likely to be the better runner", they say.

Of course, if running economy is so important, then what we want to know is how can we improve it. The best way I know is to train at race pace, but I'm sure that Jonathan and Ross will have more to say on that. Meanwhile they've already posted the physical/genetic characteristics you need to be a "naturally" economcial runner. Check it out.