**2. Sports science and training methods**

Over the years, athletes and coaches have sought better training methods to improve their performance. Running a marathon race requires adequate preparation in terms of training. Although exceptional cases of people who ran and finished a marathon race reportedly without known training for the same have been recorded, they are just a few unique cases. One of these is the original marathon race by the Greek soldier Pheidippides cited above, with the apparent lack of training for the race leading to his sudden death soon after the race –after delivering the important message which may have been the key motivation. The other recorded cases are the first African Olympic marathon athletes who participated in the third Olympic Games hosted at St. Louis, USA in 1904. The event was hosted by the USA as a part of a "World's Fair" where various Olympic events were slotted between other attractions at the Fair. With disappointing international participation (Athletes from only thirteen countries entered), the organisers invited everybody at the "World's Fair" to participate. Among those who took this opportunity were two African workers, Len Tau and John Mashiani, who were at the Fair participating in "Anglo-Boer War Historical Libretto" show, a revue that re-enacted scenes from the Anglo-Boer War (1899–1902). Len Tau, who ran barefoot, finished ninth in the marathon, and Jan Masiani thirteenth. They became not only South Africa's first Olympians, but also the first athletes from Africa to participate in the Olympic Games. It is said that Len

Tau was chased off course by a stray dog, and it is estimated that he lost up to six minutes in the process and thus, could have performed much better [29]. Although the escapades of Pheidippides, Len Tau and John Mashiani cited above are hailed as cases of great feats of outstanding performance in marathon races without specific training, it is worth noting that all of them were battle-hardened soldiers [11, 30], probably with the advantage of years of physical training and mental resilience from prolonged wars. This resonates with the fact that early sports' training was intertwined with training of warriors [31].

Over the years, better training plans have been constantly sought, with sports science advancement providing evidence-based methods and procedures to continue achieving more success. The principles of training, such as overload and recovery, have been known since ancient times. The legendary Milo of Croton who was a six-time Olympic Champion in 6th century BC is said to have begun carrying a young calf as a young man on his shoulders each day and walk around a large stadium. And as the animal grew, Milo also grew stronger and eventually he was able to carry a fully-grown bull [32]. It has long been understood that gains in fitness occur when we rest and adapt to the challenges of our workouts [33]. Before the 1900s, most distance runners mainly used continuous forms of training by doing a few long runs and incorporating periods of long walks into their weekly routine, often incorporating a short (half-mile) speed run in early morning and in the evening. The term 'scientific training' was gradually used to refer to the training of athletes, but most training methods continued to rely heavily upon the accumulated experience of successful athletes and trainers [13]. In the early 20th century, interval training -a form of repetition training started becoming popular among runners [11, 34]. In the 1930s, "hill repeats" and "fartlek" (involving varying the speed throughout a run, often alternating fast and slow or fast and medium on varying terrains) emerged as training methods. In the more recent times (late 20th century and early 21st century), the concept of 'Lactate Dynamics Training' or the 'New Interval Training' which combines some aspects of fartlek and interval training is gaining traction. Fartlek training is a training method that was first developed in the late 1930s by the Swedish coach, Gösta Holmér [13, 34] as a response to the Swedish distance athletes' apparent lack of success against the Finnish teams of the day, and also due to limited access to specially built training facilities in Sweden at that time [34]. The word 'fartlek' itself comes from the Swedish word for 'speed play' and indicates the nature of this training method which provides for a variety of speeds or paces, combining continuous aerobic emphasis training with fasterthan-race-pace efforts. Fartlek allows the athletes to run whatever distances and speeds they wish and to 'play' with varying intensity -occasionally running at high intensity, other times at lower intensities -and varying the terrain [34]. It is an incredibly powerful method for all endurance athletes to develop their natural rhythm and accompanying 'lactate dynamics' abilities away from the track with elements of fun and stimulus variations [34, 35].

The new interval training also referred to as lactate dynamics training takes the physiological principles that are similar to fartlek training and adds to it the development of pace and rhythm techniques on the track. It aims at developing race-pace rhythms by raising athlete's awareness through accurate feedback, in the track environment. The 'lactate dynamics training' term is used to specifically classify the training for the lactate shuttle, the dynamic utilisation and clearance of lactate so that lactate is optimally used around the body [34–36]. The emphasis is to avoid suddenly slowing down at the end of the faster repetition and then speeding up at the next repetition -as in classic interval training, but rather to transition smoothly and quickly from the pace of the faster repetition to the pace of the active roll-on recovery. At the end of the roll-on recovery, there should be an equally smooth and

*Sports Science and Efforts towards Sub-Two Hour Marathon Performance DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100005*

rapid transition back to the faster pace of the repetition. The goal is the optimal development of the lactate energy system by training at fluctuating intensities where lactate production, utilisation, and clearance are encouraged. This lactate clearance from the body is accelerated when lactate is shuttled to areas of high oxidative activity while maintaining an active running pace [34–36].

In addition to running exercise, weekly training programs for distance runners of late also incorporate two to three days of interval or circuit-based workouts interspersed with days of long running mileage [11]. They include some other activities in their fitness routines, mainly strength/resistance training to keep their core strong, flexibility exercises, and low-impact activities like water exercise and elliptical or cycling for therapeutic reasons and to target muscles that are not activated by running [11]. This ensures that more parts of the body work together cooperatively to improve running efficiency, thus boosting performance. There is also ongoing discourse among sports scientists on improving training outcomes by matching training loads to athletes' individual hemodynamics and heart function [37–39] as well as leveraging on the much sought after 'endurance running genotype' [40, 41]. Polishing running technique for maximum efficiency by optimising both lower and upper body kinematics has also been subject of continuing biomechanics research [42, 43]. Emerging technology involving electronic pills is also likely to influence performance in distance running and other endurance sports. So far there are reports of the technology having been used on experimental basis in Doha 2019 World Athletics Championships and in Tokyo 2020 Olympic games to monitor endurance athletes' vital signs in real time [44, 45]. These are indications that sports science has impacted and will continue to impact the future of endurance running sports in diverse ways.

## **3. Sports science and pursuit of better sports apparel and products**

Together with advancements in training methods, sports science has led to the evolution of sports products that continue to stretch performance limits over time. Technologically enhanced running shoes, apparel, and sports drinks are some of the fronts where sports science is being applied to improve training and performance in endurance running.

#### **3.1 Role of shoes and shoe technology in running performance**

Despite evidence of a few distance runners recording good performance while running barefoot [29, 46, 47], running shoes play a significant role in running performance [48]. One of the exceptions is Len Tau, one of the two first athletes from Africa to participate in an Olympic Games, who is said to have run barefoot and finished ninth during the third modern Olympic Games, St. Louis, USA, despite the lack of specific training for the race and after being chased off-course by stray dogs [29]. According to Lieberman et al. [46] and Rothschild [49], there is evidence of improved intrinsic foot strength and improved physiological economy when running barefoot, but no evidence for injury reduction or improved performance. Several studies support barefoot running and minimalist shoes for the proposed advantages of improved sensory feedback and proprioception and reduced impact forces [46]. Another unique exception that might imply less contribution of running shoes is the case of Jim Thorpe, the first and only athlete ever to win both pentathlon and decathlon Olympic gold medals at a single Olympic Games during the Games of the V Olympiad held in Stockholm, Sweden in 1912. Someone had stolen his shoes just before he was due to compete on the final day, but he found a mismatched pair of replacements, including one from a trash can, and won the

gold medal wearing them [50]. Additionally, some Kenyan athletes are known to have won medals while running barefoot, including Sabina Chebichi, who won her first marathon in 1973 while barefoot and wearing a petticoat [47]. Despite these few recorded cases, the importance of running shoes and their roles in safety and performance have been well appreciated over the years.

Running shoes have continued to evolve since early times, with Adolf Dassler making running shoes in the form known today in the early 1920s [7, 11]. Earlier, there were efforts to make special running shoes, including Japanese five-toed shoes, albeit with no recorded impact on performance; however, this inspired the concept of minimalist shoes even present today such as the Vibram Five Fingers. More impactful distance running shoes currently include prime offerings such as the Nike Vapourfly and Alphafly series, Hoka One One Bondi series, New Balance Fresh Foam, Asics Gel-Nimbus, and Adidas Ultraboost [51]. Appreciating the uniqueness of each runner, some companies offer sneakers customised to specific runners' individual gait type and shoes for those who need stability or have flat feet [11, 52]. Adolf Dassler offered shoes that were made especially for running certain distances, some of which had spikes and were used by successful athletes such as Jesse Owens in the 1930s. In the 1960s, New Balance offered what would be the first mass-produced sneaker weighing less than 11 ounces, and then Nike entered the game with its Waffle Trainer in 1974. Later in 2016, the same company came up with carbon fibre plate (CFP) and foam technology shoes with the vaporfly series, and lately (2019) the Alphafly series –used by Eliud Kipchoge during the INEOS 159 Challenge [7, 53]. Other shoe manufacturers, such as Hoka One One carbon X brands, have also adopted CFP and foam technology. Since this innovation, every women's and men's world records from 5 km to the marathon have been broken [7, 48]. This is largely attributable to innovations in shoe technology leading to increased elastic properties of the shoe which is associated with reduction in the energy cost of running. The latest CFP and foam technology running shoes are said to influence performance by optimising the running technique biomechanics and efficiency, reducing potentially harmful impact forces from the foot ground strikes and returning energy to the runner [7, 52]. Their use is said to aid performance in endurance running by reducing mechanical energy resulting from minimal flexion of the forefoot, with the athlete using midsole foot-ground strike as opposed to the common forefoot landing, and maximising the energy returned from the bounce [7, 48, 53, 54]. The stiff carbon fibre plate within the midsole may also help by redistributing positive lower limb joint work from the knee to the joint of the toes above the ball of the foot, as well as by storing and returning energy to the runner [52]. The CFP and foam technology running shoes are acknowledged to increase running economy by more than 4% [55], corresponding to a greater than 2% improvement in performance/run time [7].

However, the use of CFP shoes has provoked debate on the impact of shoe technology on the essence and credibility of sports. Concern has been raised that, although the true impact of CFP shoes on running performance is yet to be scientifically tested in the field, there are indications that the recent improvements in long-distance running times are technologically driven rather than physiological [7, 28]. Moreover, access to this performance-defining technology may become the primary differentiator of sporting performance in elite athletes. The high cost of the technologically improved shoes would be out of reach for most athletes, especially those from underdeveloped countries such as East Africans who have dominated long-distance running worldwide for more than 50 years, thus alienating them [56]. Another downside dimension could be the financial exploitation of athletes as they go all out to invest in specially made running shoes by manufacturers and/or generic counterfeit vendors in the hope of gaining the widely advertised but scientifically unproven benefits in running training and competitions. This is not remote given

#### *Sports Science and Efforts towards Sub-Two Hour Marathon Performance DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100005*

that several African runners have registered excellent marathon performance running barefoot [29, 46, 47]. In his response to allegations that advanced shoes give him undue advantage, Eliud Kipchoge said that 'records are broken by individuals not footwear'. He however observed that checks and balances are important as running technology evolves [57].
