Tread Lightly Running Podcast What Running Economy Really Means for Your Performance with Dr Shalaya Kipp
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Nov 1, 2025 Join Dr. Shalaya Kipp, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Mayo Clinic and former elite steeplechase athlete, as she demystifies running economy. Discover how this key performance metric differs from efficiency and its massive impact on endurance events like marathons. Learn practical ways to measure and improve your running economy through training techniques, nutrition, and even your choice of footwear. Shalaya also touches on the effects of gear, stretching, and individual genetic factors on your running performance.
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Running Economy Explained
- Running economy is like gas mileage: it describes how much metabolic energy you use at a given speed.
- A runner who uses less energy at the same pace has better running economy.
Use Heart Rate And RPE To Track Economy
- You can estimate running economy outside a lab using heart rate or RPE while holding pace constant.
- If your heart rate or perceived effort is lower at the same pace, your economy has likely improved.
Super Shoes Boost Economy Significantly
- Super shoes (e.g., Vaporfly) produced large acute improvements in running economy compared with prior foams.
- A reported ~4% economy improvement from Vaporfly is a substantial equipment effect on performance.