Strategic and tactical decision-making in middle distance running

Andy RenfreePrincipal Lecturer in Sport & Exercise ScienceUniversity of WorcesterUnited KingdomWR2 6JAa.renfree@worc.ac.uk

@AndyRenfree

mailto:a.renfree@worc.ac.uk

‘Real’ sporting activity does not involve time to task failure activity. In almost all sport events, competitors are able to vary their work-rate at will

What actually is fatigue?

Numerous definitions appear in the literature:

“Inability to maintain a required or expected power output” (Edwards 1983)

- Reduction in ability of muscle to produce force despite maintenance of neural drive (Peripheral fatigue)- Reduced motor drive (Central fatigue)- Reduced motivation / willpower

Do these definitions reflect individual experiences?

Are experiences consistent between individuals & contexts?

I was ‘tired’“well... my legs

slowed down and I was out of puff”

sometimes I am “tired” after school but

“in a different way”

We all ‘know’ when we

experience fatigue, but find it very

difficult to explain

So how is muscular work-rate regulated?Ulmer (1996) proposed that afferent feedback from the peripheral physiology is interpreted in the context of a known endpoint of exercise.

RPE has been suggested to be the ‘controller’Noakes (2004)

Tucker (2009)

But, RPE is easily dissociated from physiological variables.

St Clair Gibson et al (2006)

Winchester et al (2010)

So how is work regulated?

Models of decision-makingDecision-making is the process of making a choice from a set of options wherethe consequences of that choice are crucial (Bar Eli et al 2001).Rational Decision Making (Simon 1955)requires certain criteria to be met.

-the individual must be faced with a set of behaviour alternatives.

-the individual must have access information relating to all possible outcomes of the choices made.

Such decision making behaviour place severe demands on cognitive processing abilities. As such, effective rational decision making can only occur in ‘Small World’ environments where the decision maker has perfect knowledge of all relevant behaviour alternatives, consequences, and probabilities

Heuristic decision-making takes into account only a limited fraction of available information.

Heuristics may be the preferred method of decision-making in situations where the outcome of actions cannot be calculated with confidence (Gigerenzer & Gaissmaier 2011). Heuristics therefore place lesser demands on individuals.

In contrast to the theoretical small world environments described previously, “largeworlds” exist where some relevant information is unknown or estimated.

In such environments, rational decision-making is not possible.

Renfree et al (2014)

a

b

c d

Information says “benefit is high”

Information says “benefit is low”

Information says “ risk is high”

Information says “ risk is low ”

Risks inferred to be low

Risks inferred to be high

Benefits inferred to be high

Benefits inferred to be low

Positive affect

Negative affect

Negative affect

Positive affect

Use of an overall affective impression is more efficient than rational analysis, especially when the decision to be made is complex or mental resources are limited (Slovic et al 2003)

Emotion may be important

Renfree et al (2012)

Assessment of risk may be important

Micklewright et al (2014)

Tucker et al (2006)

Real World!

What happens in actual competition?

A relative level of performance similar to those achieved by Group 1 (completion of the race at 98.5% of PB speed) would have seen an improvement of 4.1+2.1, 10.7+3.5, and 20.9+7.8 positions for individual athletes in Groups 2, 3, and 4 respectively.

Is this what is happening?

The Influence of Collective Behavior on Pacing in Endurance Competitions (Renfree et al 2015)

https://www.frontiersin.org/search/journal/physiology/section/exercise-physiology?query=renfree&tab=top-results&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.frontiersin.org%2Fjournals%2Fphysiology%2Fsections%2Fexercise-physiology

ConclusionsRegardless of how decisions regarding muscular work are made, it is obvious that in many competitive environments the decisions they do make are poor.

Better understanding of the processes influencing the selection of muscular work rates is essential if effective interventions designed to optimise physiological capacity are to be developed.

At this stage, the obvious practical recommendation that can be made to athletes is that they need to develop the ability to not be influenced by the behaviour of direct competitors in the early stages of endurance activities.

So what?Most pacing research is concerned with finishing time. Gold medals are awarded to athletes who cross the line first.

Tactical Considerations in the Middle-Distance Running Events at the 2012 Olympic

Games: A Case Study (Renfree et al 2014)Mean finishing times were slower than SB times (800-m 97.4% ± 4.3% SB and 1500-m 97.7% ± 1.7% SB). In the 800-m, automatic qualifiers recorded 97.1% ± 2.9% and non-qualifers recorded 97.5% ± 5.3% of SB. The situation was similar in the 1500-m, with qualifiers recording 97.5% ± 1.5% and nonqualifers recording 97.9% ± 1.9% of SB.

Table 1. Probability (p) of finishing in an automatic qualification for athletes in each position at the 400m and 600m points of 800m races.

Intermediate position 400m 600m

1st2nd3rd4th5th6th7th8th

0.800.460.600.400.400.070.08

0

0.870.730.730.40

00.07

00

.

Probability (P) of Finishing in an Automatic Qualification for Athletes in Each Position at the 400-m, 800-m, 1000-m, and 1200-m Points of 1500-m Races

Intermediate position

400m 800m 1000m 1200m

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

7th

8th

9th

10th

11th

12th

13th

14th

15th

0.600.400.600.700.500.300.500.300.400.400.100.200.290.33

0

0.600.700.600.600.400.600.100.300.600.300.200.200.29

00

0.700.500.700.400.800.600.400.600.400.10

00.100.14

00

0.700.800.800.700.800.400.600.300.200.10

00000

Fortune Favors the Brave. Tactical Behaviors in the Middle Distance Running

Events at the 2017 IAAF World Championships (Casado & Renfree 2018)

What about fastest losers?

What about finals?

Su (2019) Unpublished

Su (2019) Unpublished

Jones & Whipp (2002)

Championship final performance relative to WR

Male: 1m43.97s (1m40.91s-1m47.09s) Female: 1m57.45s (1m55.92s-2m00.18s)

Any implications for training?

Casado et al (2019)

Conclusions1) Realisation of performance potential requires appropriate strategic and tactical

decision making.

2) This likely involves assessment of risk and reward.

3) If fast times are the goal, then an individually optimal strategy probably exists for each event (although this is easily disrupted).

4) If high positions are the goal, then intermediate positioning is important, particularly in the 800m.

5) In 1500m runners a ‘fastest loser’ position may be the reward for an aggressive early strategy.

6) Cognitive (and physiological) demands of a training session are influenced by who the session is done with. This mean total psychophysiological stress is also influenced.

ReferencesRenfree, Andrew, West, Julia, Corbett, Mark, Rhoden, Clare and St Clair Gibson, Alan (2012) Complex Interplay Between Determinants of Pacing and Performance During 20 km Cycle Time Trials. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 7 (2). pp. 121-129. ISSN 1555-0265

Renfree, Andrew and St Clair Gibson, Alan (2013) Influence of Different Performance Levels on Pacing Strategy During the Women's World Championship Marathon Race. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 8 (3). pp. 279-285. ISSN 1555-0265

Renfree, Andrew, Martin, Louise, Micklewright, D. and St Clair Gibson, Alan (2014) Application of Decision-Making Theory to the Regulation of Muscular Work Rate During Self-Paced Competitive Endurance Activity. Sports Medicine, 44 (2). pp. 147-158. ISSN Print: 1179-2035 Online: 0112-1642

Micklewright, D., Parry, D., Robinson, T., Deacon, G., Renfree, Andrew, St Clair Gibson, Alan and Matthews, W.J. (2015) Risk Perception Influences Athletic Pacing Strategy. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 47 (5). pp. 1026-1037. ISSN Print: 0195-9131 Online: 1530-0315

Renfree, Andrew, Crivoi do Carmo, E., Martin, Louise and Peters, D.M. (2015) The Influence of Collective Behaviour on Pacing in Endurance Competitions. Frontiers in Physiology, 6 (373). ISSN Online: 1664-042X

Renfree, Andrew and Casado, A. (2018) Athletic Races Represent Complex Systems, and Pacing Behavior Should Be Viewed as an Emergent Phenomenon. Frontiers in Physiology, 9. Article-1432. ISSN Online: 1664-042X

Casado, A. and Renfree, Andrew (2018) Fortune Favors the Brave. Tactical Behaviors in the Middle Distance Running Events at the 2017 IAAF World Championships. International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 13 (1). pp. 98-114. ISSN Print: 1555-0265 Online: 1555-0273

Casado, A., Moreno-Pérez, D., Larrosa, M. and Renfree, Andrew (2019) Different Psychophysiological Responses to a High-intensity Repetition Session Performed Alone or in a Group by Elite Middle-distance Runners. European Journal of Sport Science. ISSN Print: 1746-1391 Online: 1536-7290 (In Press)

http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/1646/http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/2283/http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/3429/http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/3432/http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/4051/http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/7133/http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/6686/http://eprints.worc.ac.uk/7686/

Slide Number 1Slide Number 2Slide Number 3Slide Number 4Slide Number 5RPE has been suggested to be the ‘controller’But, RPE is easily dissociated from physiological variables.So how is work regulated?Slide Number 9Slide Number 10Slide Number 11Emotion may be importantAssessment of risk may be importantReal World!What happens in actual competition?Slide Number 16Slide Number 17Is this what is happening?ConclusionsSo what?Tactical Considerations in the Middle-Distance Running Events at the 2012 Olympic Games: A Case Study (Renfree et al 2014)Slide Number 22Slide Number 23Fortune Favors the Brave. Tactical Behaviors in the Middle Distance Running Events at the 2017 IAAF World Championships (Casado & Renfree 2018)Slide Number 25What about fastest losers?Slide Number 27What about finals?Slide Number 29Slide Number 30Championship final performance relative to WRAny implications for training?ConclusionsReferences