The latest four minute mull explores pacing strategies, physiology and fatigue. In so doing, I offer a theory for the limits to human performance existing at the point where the “reserve” that physiology maintains is no more, the endspurt disappears, and humans are at the limits of what is physiologically possible.
Fatigue/Central Governor
The pursuit of the sub-2 marathon: Where to next?
Where do we go next? Now that Eliud Kipchoge has taken us to the brink of a sub-2 hour marathon, have the boundaries of human endurance been recalibrated? Can we expect a 1:59 soon? Or did the Nike staged event simply move some of the boundaries aside? This piece looks at potential benefits, and asks whether we should expect to see a speeding up, or a slowing down, in the foreseeable future?
Eliud Kipchoge 2:00:25
Eliud Kipchoge has run a marathon in 2:00:25, coming within sight of breaking the 2-hour barrier. How did he do it, and what might we expect in future? This post analyzes the splits, the tactics and the prospects for the 1:59:59 in the future.
2016 publications: From the armchair to the site, via these journals
Much of what you read here on this site is my attempt to translate the research I’m interested in, and which can be applied to the real world, in a way that makes it more “palatable” to you. This post, however, summarizes some of the “source” research, the scientific articles that I’ve had published in the last 12 months, for those wanting to see the academic side of the discussions we have.
Perception is everything. Or is it? The simplification of fatigue
Fatigue is complex. Yet scientists continue to simplify it for the sake of their arguments. I offer a critique of this approach, and some explanations of what fatigue really is.