Dynamics of relationship of a heart rate and a running pace of amateur track and field athletes specializing in long distances

Heart rate indicator (HR) at long distances is one of the characteristics that make it possible to assess the running economy. Ability to perform a proposed load at a lower heart rate allows to predict a high result in the competition. Studying the dynamics of the pace and heart rate indicators depending on the conditions of the running load in the preparation of qualified athletes is a usual practice. Such studies of amateur track and field athletes are fragmentary, which does not allow to increase effectively the level of their preparedness and the effectiveness of the performance in mass races. The need to solve this problematic issue justifies the relevance of this study. The research aim is to establish the features of changes in the relationship between a heart rate and a running pace of amateur track and field athletes depending on the conditions of the load. The solution to this issue has been conducted based on the use of the following methods: literature analysis, pedagogical testing, heart rate monitoring of the Polar company, electrocardiography, gas analysis, lactatometry, mathematical statistics. The study found that in the heart rate range of 155-164 beats/min, the running pace of amateur track and field athletes during training and at competition does not differ. With a heart rate of 165 to 174 beats/min, the running pace in competition conditions is lower than in training ones. Consequently, the maintenance of the running pace by heart rate at the level of the aerobic oxidation threshold allows to reliably speak about the result of a long-distance running during the competition. In such a way, it was determined that the relationship between running pace and heart rate of amateur track and field athletes is regulated by the condition of the load execution. At the same time the running of an amateur athlete during a competition in the heart rate interval, characterizing the threshold of anaerobic oxidation, does not lead to a reliable increase of running pace, while in the heart rate interval from 130 to 169 beats/min, the running pace significantly increases.