Why Running Workouts Alone Feels Harder – The Effect Of Affect
Article by Tait Hearps of Sweat Elite
COVID-19 has changed a lot in the world of 2020. But one notable difference for runners is the absence of group training in the last few months. Has anyone else noticed that a solo workout usually feels worse than when you’re running with others? The effort may feel just as hard, coming up with the motivation to finish the set may be taking an unusually high toll, and the splits you’re running may not reflect what you’re normally capable of when running with training partners.
Alex Hutchinson of Sweat Science just published an article analysing a recent study in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, which provides some really interesting insight into why this may be the case. The study takes a close look at affective feelings and how they may alter performance in either a solo time trial effort, or an effort run with others. As Alex puts it, affect essentially means how much pleasure or displeasure you’re experience, and it is very tightly correlated with mood.
Conducted by researchers in São Paolo, the protocol was to have 14 runners complete a pair of 10km efforts, one alone on a track, and the other competing against the other participants of the study (with at least a week between the efforts). No prizes for guessing which trial saw faster results, the group run resulted in an average time almost one minute faster than the solo effort (39:32 vs 40:28).
This is no surprise, it’s a well-established fact that competition allows athletes to muster another level and push beyond what they are normally capable of in training. But it’s not the improvement in time which is interesting, it’s the other results from the study looking at rating of perceived exertion (RPE – interestingly this is on a scale of 6 to 20, with the idea that it roughly corresponds to heart rate eg 20 = max effort, approaching an approximate max HR value of 200bpm) and subjective rating of affect (how pleasant the experience is on a scale of -5 to 5). The RPE curve from the solo TT almost exactly mirrors the head-to-head effort, despite the athletes running faster. Add to this the affect rating during the head-to-head effort being much higher, and steady, as opposed to the steady decline seen in the solo TT.
Images courtesy International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance
The RPE being similar is again no surprise, as the participants were meant to be giving an all-out effort. It’s a textbook replication of RPE throughout a well-paced effort; culminating in (perceived) exhaustion right on the finish line. But the runners are, on average, faster at a given perceived level of exertion and they rated the experience as being less negative (with two laps to go the average affect rating was roughly 2 for the HTH trial, compared to a negative score for the same point in the solo TT).
What does this mean? What is it about being with others that makes running at a given pace easier? The presence of competition is a big factor in motivation to push yourself physically, add to that the presence of a crowd and it’s not surprising that races see faster performances. But other studies have observed improvements in performance during group workouts with teammates, corresponding with improved affect compared to solo efforts. Is it knowing that you’re not going it alone? That others are sharing the suffering with you? The desire to not feel like you’re letting down and lagging behind your training partners?
Having training partners adds accountability for getting a session done. If you’re arriving by yourself at a track, it’s so much easier to procrastinate starting a tough workout and then fold the cards when it gets hard part way through. That’s part of what has made all the solo running hard for people lately. Add to this the fact that we are social creatures and most people enjoy seeing the group that they train with. The boost in mood from spending the warm up catching up on the week’s happenings also serves to allow you to feel better when getting through your workout. Even introverts can appreciate and benefit from the boost provided by the solidarity of huffing and spluttering through a challenging run with someone else.
This research again highlights that how well you perform, and how you feel is dependent on so much more than where you are sitting in relation to your lactate threshold and VO2 max. Another really interesting study looking at similar variables assessed affect and sense of satisfaction from a given workout when completed either indoors on a treadmill, on an indoor track, or outdoors. Their findings?
“The treadmill setting was rated as least satisfying, while resulting in the highest RPE and slowest performance time. Alternately, the outdoor route resulted in the highest levels of positive engagement, revitalization, tranquillity, and course satisfaction, while also yielding the lowest levels of physical exhaustion and RPE.”
This can all be related to Tim Noakes’ central governor theory, which Alex covers in great detail in his book Endure. For several decades now, Noakes has been looking at the way the brain governs how we exert ourselves. Ever wondered why so few people actually die from pushing themselves beyond their physical limits? Tim did. And he has spent a lot of time researching just this in his Cape Town laboratory. Well, not exactly, but he has investigated in great detail the logical extrapolation of this question… There are a large number of factors that can alter how hard we are willing to push ourselves physically, and how a given level of work is perceived. Affect is one of these, along with how long we think we have to exercise for.
Noakes was involved in publishing a fascinating study along with researchers from the University of Southampton, looking to determine the effect of unknown exercise duration, or an unexpected increase in duration, on RPE, affect and running economy. Sixteen well trained runners completed three bouts of treadmill running at 75% of their peak treadmill running speed. The first trial they were told to run for 20 minutes and stopped at 20 minutes. In another they were told to run for 10 minutes, but at 10 minutes they were told to run for another 10 minutes. In the final trial they were not told how long they would be running for but were stopped at 20 minutes (unknown duration).
The findings really highlight how much perceived exertion is malleable based on our mood and other cerebral factors, rather than our physical boundaries. RPE significantly increased between minutes 10 and 11 when runners were told they had to run for another 10 minutes, compared to the other two trials. In the corresponding period their rating of affect plummeted as well. Another interesting finding is that running economy (measured by oxygen consumption) was significantly lower between minutes 10 to 19 in the group with an unknown exercise duration. Ie. The body used less oxygen for the exact same work when participants weren’t sure how long they would be required to keep up that level of work.
The conclusions the researchers came to were that “the change in RPE between 10 and 11 minutes in the 10 MIN trial suggests that RPE is not purely a measure of physical exertion, as treadmill speed was maintained at a constant pace both before and after the unexpected increase in exercise duration. The associated changes in affect score at similar times in the 10 MIN trial supports the hypothesis that RPE has an affective component.”
These findings bring into question the validity of the classic quote from John L. Parker Jr.’s Once a Runner. “A runner is a miser, spending the pennies of his energy with great stinginess, constantly wanting to know how much he has spent and how much longer he will be expected to pay. He wants to be broke at precisely the moment he no longer needs his coin.” This research suggests that the runner feeling “broke” is a highly pliable endpoint, and can be manipulated by a slew of variables, including catching the miser unawares and extending the moment he no longer needs his coin… suddenly he may find that the necessary mental frameshift has all of a sudden put some more coins back in his pocket.
A note on affect. It can be explained as not what, but how one feels. A workout can feel really hard (high RPE), but if it’s with friends in a beautiful spot it will probably feel really good, leading to higher subjective rating of affect. Conversely, if you’re sore and tired and you haven’t had your coffee and you’re going out alone on a run in the rain and the dark because you have to squeeze it in before work, it may be easy but unpleasant, with a correspondingly low rating of affect. Affect can be boosted by other means too… that upbeat song that you associate with fond memories, the energetic boost and improved mood provided by caffeination.
Another study looking at the effect of company on endurance performance found that, along with a faster overall time (average time of 11:45 (group) vs 12:15 (solo) for a 3km effort) and a faster starting speed, participants felt less vigour after the group run. Suggesting that because they were able to push themselves closer to their physical limits, they felt more tired at the end of the effort.
These findings go a long way to explaining why Kipchoge has thus far only managed to break 2 hours whilst paced by a group. Yes, there was an aerodynamic boost provided by the arrow formation of athletes he ran within, but the psychological effects of having a team of people working alongside him meant that the perceived effort was likely decreased compared to going it alone. This means that it could still be a while longer before any athlete bridges the gap in a marathon race where they may be required to run the final 10km or more alone.
All of this points towards the importance of manipulating factors that change how we feel about a workout in order to get the most out of it. Don’t expect to be smashing your personal bests alone on a treadmill. Don’t be disheartened if your pace in training doesn’t quite match what you are aiming to run in a race, especially when you’re training alone. Run in a beautiful setting, find people to run with who will be able to fully share and understand the golden endorphin glow you’re basking in once the burn of the final rep wears off. Restrictions on training in groups are starting to ease up in a lot of places. Hopefully we will all be in for a pleasant surprise when group workouts become normality again, and that boost in affect makes the splits roll over that little bit faster, and the workout feel a whole lot better.
