Why are elite runners so not tired after a race?

I notice after my long runs even if I really go balls out at the end that I recover really quick and sometimes I disappoint myself because of this because I think "man I probably could had gone a lot faster" but then I risk injury, it's just because I'm in better shape than I was a few months ago. Like maybe I can't run a hell of a lot faster but I sure RECOVER faster.. now if I want to feel completely wasted after a run like when I first started running then I'm usually doing HIIT and not my regular runs.

Because they arent taxing their aerobic systems at that speed. The nueromuscular system is the less efficient system.

Bob Schul country wrote:

Because they arent taxing their aerobic systems at that speed. The nueromuscular system is the less efficient system.

And what does the neuromuscular system do? How is it fuelled?

Because when you win, nothing hurts.

Bekele could have gone 12:25 the day he done 12:37. He was running around a lot evan after getting the wr immediately. He is handed a bunch of flowers by some women and grabs them and continues running as if he is starting a relay race with a baton. When I first watched that video of his wr I thought the women was really inconsiderate and stupid. Why would you throw a bunch of flowers at someone immediately after he's literally run a 5k wr. Give him a brake to fukking recover. When I saw him grabing the flowers as if he had just done a nice easy run up until that point I knew he was the greatest.

I thought about this too once upon a time. I remember watching El-G in his world record 3:43 mile on youtube. The guy did not even look tired after that.

Me too I asked myself that question many times.

Some can say is because doping. I dont think so. Of course some of those can be doped. But thats not the answer.

Is something that has to do with their level of fitness. But also with their ability to run relaxed and hide everything emotionally.

Everybody has in mind Almaz Ayana race when she broke 10k wr. From the beginning to the end we just saw on her face a relaxed expression as relaxed was her running style, it was an incredible race.

Elite runners and particular east African , Kenyans runners have the ability to run very relaxed at high speed and to not

show anything from their face expression. This particular in race is a great ability. Cos they dont give any advantage to their

competitors.

When you run at a world record pace doping or not doping you just gives all you have, and I dont believe if somebody is clean

after the finish need to collapse to the ground while if somebody is doped after the finish can smile and keep on jogging.

Maybe is true the opposite .

To me it just depends from how fit and trained somebody is and from individual phisiological and psychological values.

Before I talked about Almaz Ayana and now I want talk of somebody that is opposite to Ayana.

Mo Farah. Opposite cos while Ayana is not so strong in the last 400-200 m

Mo Farah has won so many races not only for his ability to run at a fast pace but also cos his last 400-200 were so good.

In any of Mo Farah races with those all out 400- 200 final the pain and the fatigue is huge and they cannot do and they dont

have to do anything to hide it. Mouth is open wide, eyes are wide out , legs are burning , the anaerobic system gives all

out. And in this type of sprint when they arrive they show all their fatigue.

But also in this case after few recovery minutes they can keep to light jogging thats absolutely normal.

I definitively think it's mostly a mental thing. They probably suffer alot, but they make an effort to look relaxed.

Also one reason many people colapse is because they stop too suddenly after finishing. The legs are pumping alot of blood when running so if you stop too suddenly you will start to feel dizzy. Best thing is to go on jogging for a bit, and then ease into a walk.

Alot of people fool themselves they colapse because they are so tired, but really it's just this simple thing that they stop to suddenly.

Lydiard Cerutty wrote:

They have a better aerobic engine than you do.

???

The worse shape you're in, the worse you feel after a race. As others have said, elites spend an incredible amount of time training -- way longer / harder than the actual race. Mo Farah has said he never felt pain in a race until the last lap or two. Unless, it's a record attempt where these guys are going hard from the gun, just a lap or two of pain isn' t hard to recover from.

The interesting thing is elite female runners collapsing at the finish far, far more than male runners, who almost never collapse. It's obviously not a fitness thing, but I read somewhere it's a biological thing where their legs just give out under extreme stress. Odd, only for females.

Indeedy diddly wrote:

Lydiard Cerutty wrote:

They have a better aerobic engine than you do.

Mostly this.

But also elites rarely run all-out for time. They spend the first 5-10 laps of a 5K running at marathon pace and then gradually crank it up past threshold. Probably only the last mile is big effort.

Bet the OP runs hard from the start to do their 17:59 (and note that's about 4-5 mins more running than an elite 5K)

More interestingly to not being tired most of the top Kenyans running seemingly impossible times aren’t even sweating. Look up a video of kimetto finishing in WR fashion for the thon, the man isn’t even breaking a sweat.

Les wrote:

The worse shape you're in, the worse you feel after a race. As others have said, elites spend an incredible amount of time training -- way longer / harder than the actual race. Mo Farah has said he never felt pain in a race until the last lap or two. Unless, it's a record attempt where these guys are going hard from the gun, just a lap or two of pain isn' t hard to recover from.

The interesting thing is elite female runners collapsing at the finish far, far more than male runners, who almost never collapse. It's obviously not a fitness thing, but I read somewhere it's a biological thing where their legs just give out under extreme stress. Odd, only for females.

Yes, only females, except some males, like Roger Bannister.

Les wrote:

It's obviously not a fitness thing, but I read somewhere it's a biological thing where their legs just give out under extreme stress. Odd, only for females.

Ima try that.

Better dope

Im guessing the OP has never seen the women's 800m in the heptathlon.

You perform better when you're not tired. Personally, for me whenever I get PR's I do get really exhausted at the end but during the run I feel great.It's the greatest thing when I run 17:59 for a 4800 meter run. You're a whole 200m faster than me!

Why are you so obsessed with Bekele? lol

literally, half your posts are about Bekele!