Physiological Profiles of High School Female Cross Country Runners

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Abstract
Percent body fat, ratings of perceived exertion and maximal oxygen consumption during a continuous running treadmill test were obtained on 127 high school female cross country runners. These young runners (x 15.6 yrs) were running approximately 25 miles per week at the time of testing. They had an average [Vdot]O2 max of 50.8 ml · min-1 and an HR max of 198.0 bpm. The mean percent body fat, as determined from hydrostatic weighing, was 15.4%. The onset of metabolic acidosis was estimated to occur at 78% of [Vdot]O2 max. A stepwise multiple regression with the 3000 meter run as the dependent variable indicated that max treadmill run time, weight relative [Vdot]O2 max and [Vdot] max entered the equation in that order, yielding an R of 0.67. Both HR and RPE increased with work intensity, but not at equal rates. These high school female runners had higher [Vdot]O2 max's than previously reported for this age group; however, they were considerably below these values reported for national caliber distance runners.

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