Muscle Damage in Ultrarunning

Recent research points to muscle damage as the biggest factor in your success or failure at ultra distances

By Alex Hutchinson

ALEX HUTCHINSON ROUNDS UP THE LATEST IN ENDURANCE RESEARCH There are a lot of things that can go wrong in an ultramarathon, from mundane blisters to—as for ultra legend Jim Walmsley at the 2016 Western States hundred-miler—getting swept downstream while trying to cross a river. But if you can dodge these sorts of logistical bullets, it’s surprisingly hard to put your finger on what ultimately limits ultra performance. For marathons and shorter races, it’s all about oxygen: the fastest finishers tend to have high VO2 max and running economy. But researchers have repeatedly found that these oxygen-related measurements are poor predictors of how you’ll fare in an ultra. In a recent issue of the journal Sports Medicine, physiologists Nick Tiller and Guillaume Millet—both devoted ultrarunners and longtime ultra researchers—make the…

You're reading a preview of

Canadian Running (Digital) - 1 Issue, Trail Special 2025

DiscountMags is a licensed distributor (not a publisher) of the above content and Publication through Zinio LLC. Accordingly, we have no editorial control over the Publications. Any opinions, advice, statements, services, offers or other information or content expressed or made available by third parties, including those made in Publications offered on our website, are those of the respective author(s) or publisher(s) and not of DiscountMags. DiscountMags does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, truthfulness, or usefulness of all or any portion of any publication or any services or offers made by third parties, nor will we be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on information contained in any Publication, or your use of services offered, or your acceptance of any offers made through the Service or the Publications. For content removal requests, please contact Zinio.