Recovery of physiological variables and performance and relationship between training load and psychometric status during marathon season in a recreational runner:

a case study

Abstract

Some recreational runners participate in consecutive races within a short period. A high frequency of participation may not allow for sufficient recovery time, leading to overreaching. This case study reports on the training load, physiological variables, performance, and psychometric status of a male recreational runner during the 16-week marathon season. The runner completed 4 marathon races in a period of 8 weeks (6-14 week). Training load was quantified based on the cumulative time spent in 3 intensity zones (zone 1: < ventilatory threshold, zone 2: between ventilatory threshold and respiratory compensation point, zone 3: < respiratory compensation point) using heart rate monitoring. The Hooper questionnaire was completed every morning to quantify sleep, stress, fatigue, and muscle soreness. The runner performed 4 identical treadmill running test over the season. The coefficient of variation for maximal velocity and physiological variables was 1.0% and 1.8‐5.2%, respectively. Pearson correlation showed significant relationships between training load and stress, fatigue, and muscle soreness. There was no significant relationship between training load and sleep. In conclusion, it appeared that this runner was able to complete 4 marathon races without overreaching. These findings suggest that the training load and Hooper questionnaire are practical tools for monitoring of recreational runners during the marathon season.