Anaerobic threshold and performance in middle and long distance running

A total of 112 endurance athletes, divided in three groups according to their age, were selected considered in this study. Thirtythree randomly subjects (11 per each age group) were both laboratory--and field--tested for anaerobic threshold (AT) determination. The running speed (RS) and heart rate (HR) at which AT occurred were highly correlated in the two conditions, with R ranging from 0.82 to 0.90, with the highest correlation for the oldest group. All the athletes participated a series of competition races at various distances, and the correlation between RS at AT and actual racing RS was calculated. It was found that RS at AT is highly correlated with racing RS for distances from 5 km and above, with the highest correlation found in the 10 km race for the 12-18 years and the 19-30 years age groups, and for the one hour race for the oldest group. Shorter distances (e.g. 800 m) did not show significant correlation with RS at AT, and this was particularly evident for the oldest group (R = 0.30).