The objective of this study was to investigate pacing strategy, perceived exertion and heart rate during a competitive run simulation. Eight recreational runners ran a 10 km distance in an outdoor 400 m track with 28-30ºC temperature. Before the run they were asked to run the 10 km as faster as possible. The run velocity, the perceived exertion and the heart rate were measured each 400 m. The speed of run decreased on 19th and 20th laps (p < 0.05). The heart rate increased significantly on 7th and 10th laps (p < 0.05) and achieved steady state afterwards, while the perceived exertion increased statistically until the 13th lap (p < 0.05). These data suggest that pacing strategy, perceived exertion and heart rate have different temporal adjustments during a competitive run. Possibly the run strategy is established before the competition simulation and has an economic aspect to the last lap. This economic effect of run strategy is determined until the half of the distance is completed by rate of perceived exertion modulation, which is a result of metabolic, context and cognitive feedbacks.
Borg scale; Teleoanticipation; Pacing strategy; Fatigue; Afferent signals
