Race Soon, how do I hang with the big boys?

Your best strategy is to be faster. If that isn't an option, then you're screwed.

Dial it up wrote:

Your best strategy is to be faster. If that isn't an option, then you're screwed.

Yeah, I don't really understand what the OP is asking. If you're 6th fastest, why the hell do you think you can win the race?

I'm no expert and certainly not qualified to pretend to be one but it seems like you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by having an out of the box approach. It sounds like you can't beat them by hanging with the pack and out lasting themx but what if they posit I've split the race and you negative split the race. By the time you caught up, you'd have more left in the tank than the rest. Watch dave wottle in the 72 olympics for inspiration

Master pacing strategy only possible with performance enhancing hat.

You can only win if you run your race and don't try and keep with the pack.

Blah Blah. wrote:

You can only win if you run your race and don't try and keep with the pack.

This never worked for me. Not once. 9 times out of 10 the pack gets away, you get stuck in no-mans-land and you're done.

If they go out stupidly fast, then yeah, hang back and claw your way back. But otherwise you should be hanging on the back and try to outlast them.

Don't go into it expecting to have the race of your life. Like other people said above, a change in tactics might help. You might try just going out slower for the first minute, and then killing it from there so that you don't go alactic right from the start of the race.

In other words, act like you run for CU.

Start under control, try to get where you want to be in the race by two miles, I'm assuming you're running 5k... if you can't get to the lead group you're not gonna get there most likely...

Hey guys. I have a similar question. I'm in a championship race this Saturday. 5 guys, including me, are substantially ahead of everyone else. There's this one guy that tries to hang with us other 5 and then dies a little more than I die. Any tips?

Go out front and slow it down like Mo Farah. I assume you have sub-50 second 400 speed.

The Voice of Wisdom wrote:

Dial it up wrote:

Your best strategy is to be faster. If that isn't an option, then you're screwed.

Yeah, I don't really understand what the OP is asking. If you're 6th fastest, why the hell do you think you can win the race?

OP watches too many movies.

You'll never beat 5/5 guys who are faster than you by hanging back and trying to reel them in in the 3rd mile- they just won't all come back. Sure, you'll probably snag 1 or 2, maybe 3 if you're lucky. But, no chance you win. Now, if the top 2 guys are significantly faster than you, running your race for 3rd may be the smartest move.

But, If you want a chance to win, run right on their heels and trust that you've gotten stronger since your last race.

pop_pop!_v2.2.1 wrote:

The Voice of Wisdom wrote:

Yeah, I don't really understand what the OP is asking. If you're 6th fastest, why the hell do you think you can win the race?

OP watches too many movies.

Isn't the whole point of track and cross country trying to win races that on paper you should never have a chance? Isn't that what Centrowitz did? Why run the race?

#5 wrote:

Hey guys. I have a similar question. I'm in a championship race this Saturday. 5 guys, including me, are substantially ahead of everyone else. There's this one guy that tries to hang with us other 5 and then dies a little more than I die. Any tips?

Flash #6 your cheeks as he falls off the back.

I knew a guy who was in a similar position in HS. The difference was he was much better than the other 5 in the 800.

His coach would tell him to not go out fast and to catch them during the middle mile. Well he tried this a couple of times and it didn't work. There was still a mile left and the 5 all did a push from 1200 out that he couldn't stick with because he was tired from having just caught up.

One miserable rainy regional race, he went out like he was supposed to but he ended up wallowing in the cold rain and just couldn't get himself to bother with catching up during the middle mile.

At 800 to go, there was a sharp turn and the #2 kid on his team was no more than 10 seconds back. He had never lost to #2 and it focused him in a hurry and he took off. He ran the last 800, on grass/mud, with a sharp turn and slightly uphill in 2:02 or 2:03. The leader ran the last 800 in 2:38. The 35 seconds he made up put him in second, only 2 seconds back.

Over the next couple of years, he practiced this strategy of hiding 30 seconds back from the leader. As he improved, the need to run 2:02 diminished but each year he would get to his peak race and that was the strategy he used. He eventually ran 1:50 for 800.

How are the big boys you talk about? Guys on your team? Guys on other teams? How close are you to number 5? To number 1?

If all your team is pretty close, and the big boys are on other teams, then you should run together as a team at a pace which pushes you all, but does not break you.

If the bigs boys are number one on your team, or even 1-5 on your team and you are trying to stick with them, then it depends on how far you are behind. If not too far, then you should push yourself. Eventually you should be able to hang...or not...meanng your just not good enough. Best to find that out.

If, however, you are way behind #5 (30+ seconds), then you need to pick out someone on another team to hang with. Something faster than you think you can go, but not crazy.

You really did not give us enough info to go on.

Try to work yourself into a position that allows you to see all 6 by the first mile. I assume you're running 8k, so you have time to move up. You should be up with the guys at 3k and then you've just gotta cover moves and stay as relaxed as possible through 5k. Know at 5k-6k you won't feel great but you are ready to cover a move or make a push yourself. Once you get to 6k it just becomes time to prove your manhood; there is no strategy, just balls. You've just gotta sack up.

Lay back, but not too far. Keep an eye on 'em.

Relax and throw it down from halfway. If you die, no worries, just hold your form and rhythm, give it your best through the line.

I can tell you have what it takes.

I would echo what others have said. If you have tried going out fast, and the result is typically dying in the 2nd half, I wouldn't expect success to come from trying a sub-optimal strategy again. If you're the 6th best of the 6 person lead pack, why not try trailing just off the #5 guy in that pack, and choose a point in the race to try to attack him - perhaps at the 1.5 or 2m mark. I agree that you don't want to be stuck way back in no man's land, but sometimes running 5 seconds slower in the first mile can be the difference between feeling stretched vs feeling quite comfortable. Start with a reasonable goal - finishing 4th or 5th in stead of 6th. If you race to that strategy, I suspect you will perform better than you have been. Then, if you race to your full potential, you just might be surprised to find yourself in the right place at the right time one of these weeks and have a shot at top 3 or better.

Another consideration to throw into the mix, is whether you have a sense to which you have outperformed or underperformed your fitness (as measured by workouts) so far this season? If you have underperformed, it could well be that you are going out too hard in the first mile. You might be due for a breakout race if you deploy better tactics.