Economy in track runners and orienteers during path and terrain running.

The aims of the present study were to assess running economy in track runners and orienteers and to identify the factors responsible for any differences. The participants were 11 orienteers and 10 track runners of similar age, body mass, maximal oxygen uptake and training background. However, the orienteers included heavy terrain running in their daily training, whereas the track runners ran almost entirely on the roads and tracks. Maximal oxygen uptake and running economy were calculated during horizontal path running and during cross-country running in rough terrain with steep hills, using a telemetric system (K2, Cosmed, Italy). Running economy during path running was 217+/-12 and 212+/-14 ml x kg(-1) x km(-1) (mean +/- s) in the orienteers and the track runners, respectively. Running economy was impaired by 41-52% in heavy terrain (P < 0.05), and was less pronounced in the orienteers than in the track runners (88+/-18 vs 109+/-26 ml x kg(-1) x km(-1); P < 0.05). In conclusion, the better running economy of orienteers when changing from horizontal path to heavy terrain running could be an innate ability, or it could be speculated that specific training may improve running economy, indicating the importance of specific training for orienteers.

Orienteering performance and ingestion of glucose and glucose polymers.

The benefit of glucose polymer ingestion in addition to 2.5 per cent glucose before and during a prolonged orienteering competition was studied. The final time in the competition in the group ingesting 2.5 per cent glucose (group G, n = 10) was 113 min 37 s +/- 8 min 11 s, and in the group which had additionally ingested glucose polymer (group G + GP, n = 8) 107 min 18s +/- 4 min 41 s (NS). One fifth (21 per cent) of the time difference between the two groups was due to difference in orienteering errors. Group G + GP orienteered the last third of the competition faster than group G (p less than 0.05). The time ratio between the last third of the competition and the first third of the competition was lower in group G + GP than in group G (p less than 0.05). After the competition, there was statistically insignificant tendency to higher serum glucose and lower serum free fatty acid concentrations in group G + GP, and serum insulin concentration was higher in group G + GP than in group G (p less than 0.05). Three subjects reported that they exhausted during the competition. These same three subjects had the lowest serum glucose concentrations after the competition (2.9 mmol.1(-1), 2.9 mmol.1(-1), 3.5 mmol.1(-1] and all of them were from group G. It is concluded that glucose polymer syrup ingestion is beneficial for prolonged psychophysical performance.