Hazard score, rating of perceived exertion and pacing strategy during a 10 km running

Abstract

The aim of the study was to verify the modifications on pacing strategy induced by the hazard score of premature fatigue and rated perceived exertion (RPE) in amateur runners during a simulated 10-km running. Fifty five amateur runners with the 10-km run time of 41:39 ± 3:52 min:s participated in the study. The pacing strategy and the RPE were analyzed each kilometer. The hazard score of premature fatigue was expressed as the product of RPE by the remaining distance of the running. An ANOVA one-way for repeated measures was applied to determine possible statistical differences in speed, RPE and hazard score at each kilometer or the running speed differences at each kilometer and the average running speed. Pearson's product moment correlations were calculated between RPE and hazard of premature fatigue and running speed. The speed in the first kilometer was 8.1% higher than the average speed (p ≤ 0.001). There was a progressive decrease in speed during the running with an increment near the last kilometer. The RPE increased linearly until the end of the running and the hazard score of premature fatigue significantly decreased after the third kilometer. During the running there was a strong negative correlation between speed and RPE (r = -0.80; p = 0.006). It was also observed a moderate negative correlation between speed and hazard score of premature fatigue (r = -0.57; p = 0.04). Thus, our results suggested the important role of RPE on speed adjustment during a 10-km running and the increase of running speed near the end of the race seems to be associated to the lower score of hazard of premature fatigue.