The relationships of anxiety and self-attention to running economy in competitive male distance runners.

Although running economy (RE) is an important physiological characteristic associated with superior distance running performance, little is known about the potential psychological correlates of RE. Therefore, the current study examined the relationship of anxiety and self-attention to RE. Anxiety was measured with the Sport Competition Anxiety Test (SCAT; Martens, 1977) and the Trait Anxiety Inventory (TAI; Spielberger et al., 1970). Self-attention was assessed with the Private Self-Consciousness (PSC) subscale of the Self-Consciousness Scale Revised (SCSR; Scheier and Carver, 1985). Running economy was determined by the oxygen cost of running at a submaximal velocity of 4.13 m s-1 (< 80% of maximal aerobic capacity). The subjects were 18 competitive male distance runners (mean 10-km race time 34.17 min). No relationship was found between anxiety (SCAT: r = -0.18, N.S.; TAI: r = -0.17, N.S.) and RE. However, PSC and RE were related (r = 0.50, P < 0.05), suggesting that runners who habitually directed attention inwards were also the most economical. Runners high in PSC may have been more economical because they were sensitive to muscle tension interfering with performance and subsequently employed relaxation techniques to reduce tension. Additionally, they may have employed cognitive techniques aimed at increasing RE such as positive self-talk and associative strategies. Despite the tenability of these explanations, the association between PSC and RE should be interpreted cautiously due to the small sample size.