Endurance sports are simply measures of human ability, right?

Wrong. For today’s competitive athletes, peak performance isn’t possible without the help of science. 

Elite endurance athletes such as runners, cyclists, triathletes, and skiers, can look no further than their own wrists to measure and improve their performances.

“I use a Coros Space 3,” said senior and Lincoln Cross Country athlete Elyse Henriksen. “I use it to track my pace and my splits in workouts as well as distance when I’m doing a training run.” The Coros can also track Henricksen’s sleep, heart rate, and blood oxygen levels. 

Similar brands include Garmin, Suunto or Apple Watch. Dave Valenzuela, Lincoln anatomy and physiology teacher, wears a WHOOP, another fitness and health tracker, on his wrist. He is gearing up to run the Chicago Marathon in October, and uses science to inform his fitness.

“Science is getting so ahead that you can get biomarkers that can tell you when you are primed to endeavor in a really big marathon,” said Valenzuela. His WHOOP measures his heart rate variability as he sleeps. “The higher the variability between the beats of your heart, the more your body is primed to take a very big load the next day.” 

Data from sport watches can also prevent overtraining and help injured athletes bounce back quicker. According to a recent article in Lehigh University News, a student football player was rehabilitated from an ACL tear in half the expected time thanks to wearable technology. 

Senior Elyse Henriksen also pays attention to the technology on her feet. “I think shoe choice is a big thing,” said Henriksen. “Training shoes and racing flats as well as spikes are all pretty well considered when you’re racing, especially if you want to race at a high level.” 

But sometimes technology goes too far. According to Henrickson, modern shoes have been so engineered to optimize performance that some models are banned from competitions, as they are believed to give the wearer an unfair advantage. The Ironman website, for example, lists prohibited shoes from six prominent brands.