Changes

[[Running Economy]] is how much energy it takes you to run. The better your economy, the faster and further you can run. Running economy is obviously determined to some extent by biomechanical efficiency, especially [[Cadence]]. Changes in things like arm movement and the amount of "bounce" can have a direct impact on running economy. However there There is some evidence that biochemical changes may have a significant impact on running economy. For instance, slow twitch [[Muscle|muscles]] require less oxygen for the same level of work as fast which muscles do, and burning fat requires more oxygen than carbohydrates. =Why Should You Care?=Running Economy can vary by as much as 30% between runners of a similar [[VO2max|V̇O₂max]]<ref name="Daniels-1985"/>. The two charts below show the [[VO2max|V̇O₂max]] and running economy of Paula Radcliffe over a 10 year period<ref name="Jones2006"/>. Over that time Paula Radcliffe's race performance dramatically improved even though her [[VO2max|V̇O₂max]] did not. This suggests that for elite athletes at least, improvements in running economy are critical. It's generally believed that Running Economy is more "trainable" than [[VO2max|V̇O₂max]] in athletes that have been training for years<ref name="Moore2016"/>.