Limits of Ultra-Endurance Running: An Interdisciplinary Understanding of Performance Barriers

Background: Ultra-endurance running (UER) poses extreme mental and physical challenges that present many barriers to completion, let alone performance. Despite increasing participation in UER events, research into training and racing compared to traditional endurance distances remains limited. Understanding the limitations across physiological and psychological systems is essential for optimizing performance and ensuring participant safety. Methods: This review synthesizes current understanding of major limitations in UER from an interdisciplinary perspective. Physiological systems examined include thermoregulation, oxygen delivery and utilization, running economy and biomechanics, fatigue mechanisms, and digestive function. Psychological strategies including coping mechanisms, goal setting, and mental toughness are analyzed. An evolutionary framework provides the critical background for understanding human capacities and limitations. Results: Minimizing the cost of running, damage to lower limb tissue, and muscle fatigability becomes crucial in UER events. Maintaining a sustainable core body temperature is critical, requiring strategic heat acclimation and individually calculated hydration. Gastrointestinal issues affect almost every UER participant due to multiple factors including reduced splanchnic blood flow, mechanical stress, and nutritional choices. Personalized nutritional strategies including varying types of carbohydrates, protein, and fat intake in fluid or solid form help avoid flavor fatigue. Psychology plays a vital role in coping with complex situations and sustaining performance. Conclusion: Fatigue in UER is multi-factorial, encompassing both physical and mental components. Understanding the complex interplay of these limitations helps prepare competitors for different scenarios and informs evidence-based preparation strategies.

کلیدواژه ها:

Ultra-endurance running ، Thermoregulation ، Gastrointestinal function ، Fatigue ، Nutritional strategies ، Psychological resilience