Significance of the contribution of aerobic and anaerobic components to several distance running performances in female athletes

SummaryTo assess the most important determinant for successful distance running (800 m, 1500 m and 3000 m events) in female athletes, measurements of several anaerobic indices were made (peak power, mean power) using the Wingate anaerobic test (WAnT), and aerobic indices such as oxygen uptake $$(\dot V_{O_{_2 } } )$$ or running velocity (v) at lactate threshold (LT), $$\dot V_{O_2 }$$ , or v at onset of blood lactate accumulation (OBLA), running economy (RE), and maximal oxygen uptake were determined using the incremental treadmill test. The RE was represented by a $$\dot V_{O_2 }$$ value measured at 240 m · min−1 of a standard treadmill velocity. A stepwise multiple regression analysis (SAS stepwise procedure) combined the best features of forward inclusion and backward elimination to determine the most important factors in predicting the performance of running these distances as dependent variables. The stepwise procedure showed that the blood lactate variables such as LT and/or OBLA are highly correlated with, and contributed to predicting performance running 800 m-3000 m, whereas the anaerobic component was related only to running 800 m. In conclusion, blood lactate variables account for a large part of the variation in distance running performance in female as in male runners. The component of the anaerobic system which can be measured by the WAnT was shown to contribute to performance in running 800 m, but not in longer distances.