Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

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Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Runners (Sports)--Iowa--Cedar Falls; Cross-country running; Physical education and training; Runners (Sports); Iowa--Cedar Falls; Academic theses;

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between time spent at three training loads and running performance during a Division I collegiate cross-country season. Subjects were fifteen collegiate level male and female runners all with competition experience of ≥3 years.. Subjects HRmax was determined during a treadmill run to exhaustion. After the completion of maximal testing, the following HR zones were determined; 1) light intensity(< 80% of HRmax), 2) moderate intensity (between 80-90% of HRmax), and 3) High intensity (> 90% of HR max). During the training season, the amount of time spent at in each heart rate zone was determined for each runner. Correlations between the amount of time spent in each heart rate zone and running performance was determined. The average percentage of total training time spent in each training zone for all the male runners was as follows, (1) Zone 1 = 30. 7%, (2) Zone 2 = 41.9%, and (3) Zone 3 = 24.4% respectively. The female group's average time spent in each heart rate zone was, (1) Zone 1 = 25.6%, (2) Zone 2 = 34.6%, and (3) Zone 3 = 39.7%. The average time spent in each heart rate zone for the combined group of runners was, (1) Zone 1 = 28.4%, (2) Zone 2 = 38.6%, and (3) Zone 3 = 33% respectively. In the male group, a negative correlation coefficient (r = -0.92; P = 0.009) was found for the relationship between total zone 1 percentage and best cross country run time (BestRT) A significant positive correlation was also found between total zone 2 percentage (r = 0.89; P = 0.045) and AveRT. In the female group, a negative correlation coefficient (r = -0.879; P = 0.049) was found for the relationship between total zone 2 percentage and BestRT. The findings of this study suggest that total training time spent at low intensities in the male gender group is associated with improved performance during highly intense endurance events. It also suggests that total training time spent at moderate intensities in the female gender group might be associated with improved performance during highly intense endurance events.

Year of Submission

2006

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

School of Health, Physical Education, and Leisure Services

First Advisor

Forrest Dolgener

Second Advisor

Kevin Finn

Third Advisor

Robin Lund

Comments

If you are the rightful copyright holder of this thesis and wish to have it removed from the Open Access Collection, please submit a request to scholarworks@uni.edu and include clear identification of the work, preferably with URL.

Date Original

2006

Object Description

1 PDF file (46 leaves)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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