I know, right?! It is hard to relate to. Some people just have these extra "beast mode" zone in which they are almost animalistic when they race. It's a kind of "super power", imo to bring on the pain. The kryptonite is that they often can't spare a single thought towards anything else. It's so evident with Valby this season...
It was pretty funny in the press conference when asked about the weather Parker said it can be cold in Florida, too and that it was 45 degrees when they left for OK. 45 degrees is not cold.
it was honestly baffling to watch this race. there were so so so many times Valby was running in the equivalent of lane 8 around turns despite having nobody beside her.
like truly, wtf was she doing? even on straights she was running sine waves out there.
i'm not joking when i say she might have poor vision. is she possibly near-sighted and doesn't know it, thus doesn't have contacts/glasses?
visual acuity is highly underrated in running. it can make a massive difference.
don't come at me with marla runyan ok, she actually had to be hyperfocused with her vision due to it being considered legally blind. you can tell by her posture she learned how to keep her eyesight as smooth as possible.
it was honestly baffling to watch this race. there were so so so many times Valby was running in the equivalent of lane 8 around turns despite having nobody beside her.
like truly, wtf was she doing? even on straights she was running sine waves out there.
i'm not joking when i say she might have poor vision. is she possibly near-sighted and doesn't know it, thus doesn't have contacts/glasses?
No, I don't think that Valby has poor vision. Just that her coach hasn't prepared her very well on how to run a xc race.
it was honestly baffling to watch this race. there were so so so many times Valby was running in the equivalent of lane 8 around turns despite having nobody beside her.
like truly, wtf was she doing? even on straights she was running sine waves out there.
i'm not joking when i say she might have poor vision. is she possibly near-sighted and doesn't know it, thus doesn't have contacts/glasses?
No, I don't think that Valby has poor vision. Just that her coach hasn't prepared her very well on how to run a xc race.
That and after the race she said she was surprised there was only 200 left when they turned for the finish? Is that not what you figure out the day before? Or maybe even look at a course map well in advance to see?
it was honestly baffling to watch this race. there were so so so many times Valby was running in the equivalent of lane 8 around turns despite having nobody beside her.
like truly, wtf was she doing? even on straights she was running sine waves out there.
i'm not joking when i say she might have poor vision. is she possibly near-sighted and doesn't know it, thus doesn't have contacts/glasses?
No, I don't think that Valby has poor vision. Just that her coach hasn't prepared her very well on how to run a xc race.
How much specialised xc coaching prep is needed to have the athlete RUN THE SHORTEST DISTANCE! No matter - KT is superior.
No, I don't think that Valby has poor vision. Just that her coach hasn't prepared her very well on how to run a xc race.
That and after the race she said she was surprised there was only 200 left when they turned for the finish? Is that not what you figure out the day before?
Or maybe even look at a course map well in advance to see?
I agree. I was shocked when Valby said that. How is it possible that in a race as important as a national championship neither Valby (one of the favorites to win) or her coach bothered to find out that information.
I guarantee you that Touhy and the NC State team didn't skip over their race prep.
Let's keep in mind that many things can be true at the same time.
She did run poor tangents. All the video evidence supports that.
That probably did not cost her the win. Tuohy let her get out to a manageable gap then brought her back. She likely would have brought her back sooner if she had to.
The coach could have prepped her regarding the course and might talk himself horse about running tangents. He might talk about that before every race.
She might then run poor tangents and not translate the prep to the race in the heat of the moment.
NC State's Katelyn Tuohy was the first to cross the finish line in 19:27.7. Tuohy used a final kick to surpass Florida's Parker Valby over the final 1K and s...
It seems like she thought that she thought the course was about to veer right and was trying to run the tangent. The second she realizes its a pretty tight left she cuts back in with the pack. That was right when she was making her break and It looks like it cost her a good 3-4 meters on the field.
She did run poor tangents. All the video evidence supports that.
The coach could have prepped her regarding the course and might talk himself horse about running tangents.
She might then run poor tangents
We don't know if what you wrote is true or not. But if it is, then her coach isn't doing a good enough job as a coach and he needs to do better.
Plus she doesn't run on the inside of the turns. Plus she had no idea that after the final turn there was 200 meters to the finish. Stunning!
That's why I used words like "could" and "might."
But let's ask ourselves, do we think a college coach, working with one of the great young talents in the sport, talks to her about the course, about running tangents, about how to use the features of the course to her advantage, etc.? Or do we think he doesn't do that?
Agreed. There were at least 2 instances I saw where she made bad moves on the curves.
In one she went completely off and in the second one you can see Touhy cut a much better tangent than Valby and make up ground.
Actually Valby ran wide on many turns, not just two.
Tuohy even passed Valby on the INSIDE of a turn.
Valby has been running wide on the turns all year. Why didn't her coach educate her not to do that? Big failure on the part of her coach.
Solinsky makes over 100 grand based on his name, not his coaching abilities. He never took Parker Valby to any of the Oklahoma State meets when all viable contenders went to at least one (particularly the Cowboy Jamboree). John Anderson said in intro it was a twisty turnee course. Add in the hills and turns and you have a technical (or at least challenging) course.
Did Parker Valby lose 100 yards on the tangents? Tuohy looked the consummate professional - stalking all the way. Hell, if I can bump Solinsky off a track, what running IQ does he have?
How much did Coach Holloway lose in bonus today? 40% of base salary is $125,000.
What do you mean regarding Holloway and a bonus? And I assume that Solinsky earns $150k. Many no name D1 distance coaches earn more than $100k in low cost miswestern cities.
We don't know if what you wrote is true or not. But if it is, then her coach isn't doing a good enough job as a coach and he needs to do better.
Plus she doesn't run on the inside of the turns. Plus she had no idea that after the final turn there was 200 meters to the finish. Stunning!
That's why I used words like "could" and "might."
But let's ask ourselves, do we think a college coach, working with one of the great young talents in the sport, talks to her about the course, about running tangents, about how to use the features of the course to her advantage, etc.? Or do we think he doesn't do that?
I don't know if her coach talks to Valby about those things and she doesn't listen. Or if he doesn't talk to her about those things at all.
But I have talked to many D1 coaches and D1 runners over the years and it's amazing how often race strategy and tactics were never discussed even once between coach and runner.
Coaches often give runners lots of empty pep talks like "run within yourself", "don't go out too fast", "you can do it", etc. Very vague and pretty much pointless.
I've given very specific race strategy and tactics to college runners that I've known at three different D1 schools because their coaches didn't give them any race advice at all.
One of the D1 coaches was honest enough to tell her top runner to get race advice from me because the coach knew that I knew much more about racing than she did. (The other two coaches I gave race advice to their runners behind their coaches back.)
I won't mention names, but two of the coaches are well known, and one of the well known coaches was even a former pro runner. And no race advice from any of them. It's crazy. You'd be surprised at how poorly some college runners are prepared for their races.
So the fact that Valby's coach was a former pro runner doesn't necessarily mean that he gives her good race advice.
While I completely disagree that Valby lost on the tangents(Tuohy was going to win either way), I thought it was very strange and her comments on it were also strange.
I don’t blame coach as that is something you can tell someone over and over, but he’s not the one racing, she has to put it in the action.
I also remember thinking her racing style in the outside of lane 1 in track the spring was odd. She was like a little too farther away than most people would be. Which brings me to my next point.
She is not going to Boston because she doesn’t know how to run behind a pacer. Granted, there is no one on her team for her to train with so that doesn’t help. But all the evidence above + her comments about getting annoyed with running around people in the first 1k has me thinking she would be uncomfortable in that scenario.
I also see her acting as a pacemaker for most championship races for the rest of the year if she fix the thought process or reach and untouchable fitness level.