Middle-distance runners

Wiles and associates42 found that caffeine decreased the time needed to complete a 1500-m run and that it increased the velocity of the finishing burst among well-trained, middle distance runners. Jacobson and colleagues43 examined 20 elite, strength-trained athletes to determine the effects of caffeine on knee extensors and flexors. They found increases in voluntary strength and power output in this group of well-trained athletes. 

We have seen, then, that long-distance runners must have a great capacity to produce ATP aerobically, in the mitochondria, whereas short- and middle-distance runners need a great capacity to produce energy anaerobically, in the cytoplasm of the muscle cells. It is interesting to note that the muscles of these runners reflect these diverse needs. 

The German middle-distance runner Dieter Baumann gave test results that varied with the time of day he claimed that the nandrolone was in his toothpaste. 

Known as The Clear , it was supplied by BALCO (the Californian Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative) to chosen athletes. The leading drug tester, Don Catlin, is reported to have examined some 20 urine samples that tested positive for THG. Athletes known to have taken it include the British sprinter Dwain Chambers and a number of Americans, including the sprinter Kelli White and middle-distance runner Reginajacobs. Marionjones, who won three gold medals and two bronze medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, admitted THG use in 2007 and was stripped of these medals by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (lAAF). 

The unexplained underperformance syndrome occurs in cycling, rowing, swimming and middle- and long-distance runners. A high proportion of elite adiletes have experienced it. In contrast, it appears much less frequently in adiletes who participate in explosive sports. 

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