Energy cost of running in middle-aged amateur runners : is it affected by fatigue? : original research article

Background : The energy cost of running per unit mass and distance (Cr) is reported to increase or to remain constant after a fatigue test in young healthy adults. No studies had been performed on master athletes on this topic. Research question : Does the energy cost of running increase after a half marathon in a group of master athletes? Type of study : Pre-Post single group design. Methods : Ten healthy master athletes took part in the experiment. The experimental protocol involved an incremental test to exhaustion, a half marathon simulation, and two sessions of energy cost assessments before and after the race simulation. Results : Neither comparing fatigue to no-fatigue conditions (p>0.05) nor as a function of the running speed (p>0.05) could show a change in the group mean energy cost. Conclusions : The energy cost of running is not affected by a half marathon race within a group of master athletes.