Running has been the heart, it could be said, of the athletic world. There are really few, if and, sports that haven’s evolved from the athleticism of one man running and pushing his limits of speed and endurance.
The original line-up for the earliest Olympians had only one completion to sign up for; the stadion race. This race was nothing more than a race from one end of the stadium to the other, but with this, organized competitions and then the world of track and field rounded a whole new corner.
Today the running portions of track and field events are basically broken up into three categories. The races are classified as either being short distance, medium distance or long distance.
Short distance races involve the runners gunning for top speed and acceleration. Given that most races are over in 30 seconds or just a little more, the element of endurance really doesn’t come into play much.
The distance of the race you are preparing for will affect the type of training you should do. For example, preparation for a short distance race should include short bursts of speedy running on your home treadmill.
A bit of science with these short distance runs explains why short distance runs are different from long or even medium distance runs. Sports science has found that top speed and performance while running cannot be held for over 30 seconds due to the buildup of lactic acid in working muscles caused by deficiency of oxygen.
A runner who participates in a 100 yard dash will have to focus his training on acceleration and peaking his top speed more than anything else. The world record times for the 100 yard dash have hovered under 10 seconds with additional fractions of a second shaved off as the sport progresses.
The air around the athlete makes an interesting contribution to the sport of sprinting as well. Imagine the difference it would make if a head-wind were blowing towards you before you ever left the starting blocks.
The difference in wind speed as well as direction can make a significant difference, especially if you ar racing for a record. A maximum tail wind of two miles per hour is allowed for a record to be legal or “wind legal”.
As the altitude(and therefore the air resistance) increases, the air thins and becomes easier to move through, makes a big difference as well. Thin air also makes it harder for an athlete to breath but this doesn’t usually make a difference since virtually all of the oxygen that the runner’s body requires is already stored in his muscles and body when the race begins.