Cellular respiration is a 3 step process that makes energy. Every organism on earth needs cellular respiration to survive because without energy an organism cannot survive. The chemical formula for cellular respiration is C6H12O6+6O2 > 6CO2+6H2O+38 ATP. So how do runners perform cellular respiration in a race?
First the runner must breath in and air goes through the mouth and through the air way to get to the lungs. The lungs then take oxygen from the air and diffuse it into the blood. The blood then travels everywhere in the body through arteries and veins to deliver oxygen to cells. At the same time the food the runner ate is physically broken down in the stomach and the nutrients are absorbed by the small intestines …show more content…
This step takes place in the cytoplasm of cells and is anaerobic which means it does not require the presence of oxygen. The runner eats a meal before the race and their body uses the glucose from the food to start glycolysis. In glycolysis the runner’s body takes the glucose and uses a little bit of ATP to convert it to pyruvic acid. The 6 CO2 molecules in glucose are split to make 2 pyruvic acid molecules each containing 3 CO2 molecules. The runner’s body converts the glucose to pyruvic acid because it is a more usable form of glucose and is needed for the second step in cellular respiration. Also throughout this step the runner’s body will create 2 ATP molecules and 2 NADH …show more content…
The runner can do this by controlling their breathing to try and keep their heart rate down and get a good amount of oxygen. Running has a high demand for ATP because the muscles need it to exert a lot of force to run quickly and effectively. The heart rate of the runner increases because as the muscles are exerting a lot of energy they need more energy to keep going and the heart has to pump blood to those muscle to give them oxygen to perform aerobic respiration. Controlled breathing would allow the runner to get more oxygen for longer and keep their heart rate lower so they can run faster for longer. Diet can also help a runner run faster. The runner needs to eat a lot of carbs before the race because carbs are short term energy and include glucose which is needed for respiration. High carb foods include pasta, chicken, rice and many others. Proper eating before a race, controlled breathing, skill, and training and technique all can help a runner run a race the fastest they possibly