A race is a race?
Miles this week: 13 miles
Miles this month: 13 miles
A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they're capable of understanding.”- Pre
The question is how do you make this work art? Early this week, I had a discussion with one of the new runners on the team who has never raced before. He asked me what he needed to do and what to expect. For once in my life, I could not explain it. I did say that there will be people who sprint out like mad and then will die. There is also a bit of jostling, but not to let that bother you. I could not tell him how to race. There are different theories and strategies to racing a race, no matter what distance. Until, you race your first race, you have no idea what works for you and what doesn’t. I have not quite found out what works for me yet, but I do know some strategies that do not work.
1)Starting out in a Sprint- This is the typical freshman mistake. You get so excited that you just sprint out and then lead for the next 400-800m then get passed and then die. I did this almost all through high school, and still do it today if I do not watch myself. I am not saying that I don’t start out fast, but I start out at a decent fast pace but I do not need to run my first mile a full minute faster than my second. I have found that if I go out fast enough say 20 seconds faster than my second mile, I race a lot better. To find out more about this idea runner’s world has a good article: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-259-11738-0,00.html
2)Going out slow- I have found that when I personally go out slow, I can’t seem to pick up my pace. Going out at a medium fast pace allows me to get in a good position, and then I begin to pick up people. It does not matter if you can go a full minute faster in your last mile if your first two miles were slow. I would say hold some energy back in the tank but you do not want to be caught boxed in or in a bad position.
3)Basing your pace off of someone else- My senior year of High School at the State Cross Country meet, I was about a minute off of our first girl. This was not unusual for this is how I usually ran, what was unusual about this was that I was a minute off my PR. If I had kept up with her, I would have been on pace for what I normally ran. Instead, I expected myself to be that far behind her and did not race as hard as I could have. Everybody has a bad day including the best runners (note Alan Webb) and one can’t rely on them for all pace making efforts.
These are only suggestions and what I have found to work for myself, it is not a long list and this might not work for others but it is worth a try. I have yet really to find out what works well for me.
Cara
Miles this month: 13 miles
A race is a work of art that people can look at and be affected in as many ways they're capable of understanding.”- Pre
The question is how do you make this work art? Early this week, I had a discussion with one of the new runners on the team who has never raced before. He asked me what he needed to do and what to expect. For once in my life, I could not explain it. I did say that there will be people who sprint out like mad and then will die. There is also a bit of jostling, but not to let that bother you. I could not tell him how to race. There are different theories and strategies to racing a race, no matter what distance. Until, you race your first race, you have no idea what works for you and what doesn’t. I have not quite found out what works for me yet, but I do know some strategies that do not work.
1)Starting out in a Sprint- This is the typical freshman mistake. You get so excited that you just sprint out and then lead for the next 400-800m then get passed and then die. I did this almost all through high school, and still do it today if I do not watch myself. I am not saying that I don’t start out fast, but I start out at a decent fast pace but I do not need to run my first mile a full minute faster than my second. I have found that if I go out fast enough say 20 seconds faster than my second mile, I race a lot better. To find out more about this idea runner’s world has a good article: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-259-11738-0,00.html
2)Going out slow- I have found that when I personally go out slow, I can’t seem to pick up my pace. Going out at a medium fast pace allows me to get in a good position, and then I begin to pick up people. It does not matter if you can go a full minute faster in your last mile if your first two miles were slow. I would say hold some energy back in the tank but you do not want to be caught boxed in or in a bad position.
3)Basing your pace off of someone else- My senior year of High School at the State Cross Country meet, I was about a minute off of our first girl. This was not unusual for this is how I usually ran, what was unusual about this was that I was a minute off my PR. If I had kept up with her, I would have been on pace for what I normally ran. Instead, I expected myself to be that far behind her and did not race as hard as I could have. Everybody has a bad day including the best runners (note Alan Webb) and one can’t rely on them for all pace making efforts.
These are only suggestions and what I have found to work for myself, it is not a long list and this might not work for others but it is worth a try. I have yet really to find out what works well for me.
Cara