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Endurance is the act of sustaining prolonged stressful effort.
Endurance exercise
Endurance exercise consists of performing low- to medium-intensity exercise for very long periods of time. E.g., jogging or running several miles to hundreds of miles; cycling dozens of miles to thousands of miles; swimming hundreds of yards to dozens of miles.
Physical endurance is differentiated from other forms of physical stress in that in endurance exercise fatigue of the muscles and cardiovascular system do not force the effort to end. The need for sleep, the buildup of non-recyclable waste chemicals, the depletion of convertible energy stores and other needed chemicals (e.g., water, sodium), physical injury, psychological failure, or attainment of the goal will bring the effort to an end.
Equestrian Sport
In equestrian sport, "endurance" refers to long distance races (often 100 miles) ridden by one horse-rider pair. The course is set, and the athletes all start at the same time. Endurance races were part of military history and also have a place in the history of the American West. The Tevis Cup is a famous race from the east to the west side of the Sierra Nevada.
It is an international sport and is governed at the international level by the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI).
Non-athletic endurance
Any act requiring sustained patience or tolerance of stress is endurance. Examples include: racing an automobile for 24 hours; sitting on a flag-pole for several months; surviving as a prisoner-of-war for several years.
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