Abstract
Purpose
Marathon and ultramarathon provoke respiratory muscle fatigue and pulmonary dysfunction; nevertheless, it is unknown how the respiratory system responds to multiple, consecutive days of endurance exercise.
Methods
Nine trained individuals (six male) contested 10 marathons in 10 consecutive days. Respiratory muscle strength (maximum static inspiratory and expiratory mouth-pressures), pulmonary function (spirometry), perceptual ratings of respiratory muscle soreness (Visual Analogue Scale), breathlessness (dyspnea, modified Borg CR10 scale), and symptoms of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (URTI), were assessed before and after marathons on days 1, 4, 7, and 10.
Results
Group mean time for 10 marathons was 276 ± 35 min. Relative to pre-challenge baseline (159 ± 32 cmH2O), MEP was reduced after day 1 (136 ± 31 cmH2O, p = 0.017), day 7 (138 ± 42 cmH2O, p = 0.035), and day 10 (130 ± 41 cmH2O, p = 0.008). There was no change in pre-marathon MEP across days 1, 4, 7, or 10 (p > 0.05). Pre-marathon forced vital capacity was significantly diminished at day 4 (4.74 ± 1.09 versus 4.56 ± 1.09 L, p = 0.035), remaining below baseline at day 7 (p = 0.045) and day 10 (p = 0.015). There were no changes in FEV1, FEV1/FVC, PEF, MIP, or respiratory perceptions during the course of the challenge (p > 0.05). In the 15-day post-challenge period, 5/9 (56%) runners reported symptoms of URTI, relative to 1/9 (11%) pre-challenge.
Conclusions
Single-stage marathon provokes acute expiratory muscle fatigue which may have implications for health and/or performance, but 10 consecutive days of marathon running does not elicit cumulative (chronic) changes in respiratory function or perceptions of dyspnea. These data allude to the robustness of the healthy respiratory system.
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Abbreviations
- FVC:
-
Forced vital capacity
- FEV1 :
-
Forced expiratory volume in 1 s
- PIF:
-
Peak inspiratory flow
- PEF:
-
Peak expiratory flow
- MVV:
-
Maximum voluntary ventilation
- MIP:
-
Maximum inspiratory mouth pressure
- MEP:
-
Maximum expiratory mouth pressure
- URTI:
-
Upper respiratory tract infection
- VAS:
-
Visual analogue scale
- SD:
-
Standard deviation
- CV:
-
Coefficient of variation
- SEM:
-
Standard error of measurement
- CI:
-
Confidence interval
- ICC:
-
Intra-class correlation
- ANOVA:
-
Analysis of variance
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Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Glen Moulds, Nick Collins, and the whole team at The Suffolk Academy, Suffolk, UK, for their kind hospitality and cooperation, and the runners who gave their time to participate in data-collection protocols.
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NBT conceived and designed the study. NBT and LAT performed data collection and analysis. NBT, LAT, and BJT interpreted results and drafted manuscript. NBT, LAT, and BJT edited and revised the manuscript. NBT, LAT, and BJT approved the final draft.
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There are no conflicts of interest associated with the production of this study. Data are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation.
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Communicated by Susan Hopkins.
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Tiller, N.B., Turner, L.A. & Taylor, B.J. Pulmonary and respiratory muscle function in response to 10 marathons in 10 days. Eur J Appl Physiol 119, 509–518 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-4037-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-018-4037-2