Teaching good lane positioning is very important in distance races, especially at the high school level. I see kids make foolish moves and unnecessarily put themselves in lane 2 or 3 for laps on end all the time. Many kids don't know any better, some do but don't seem to care. Either way, strategy is very important in distance racing, especially when you are trying to teach a kid who isn't the most talented in the field how to "race well".
for a novice in a strung out distance race with everyone in a line you know where the next guy is -- what truly matters -- by seeing their back in front of you. do i need to veer out to know that? and if they are going slow, i don't suss the pack, i pass his butt.
i mean, if the leader is 10s ahead, that's trivia. you're not catching him. his time will be on the results after. actual race data is where are my next couple rivals and how do they look. because maybe i can catch them.
if you just have to know how the rest of the heat is doing, as the leaders hit the curve (and you are still on the straight) they will sweep across your eyeline. and you can glance over your shoulder to see if there's anyone right there. but what do i care where last place is? that too will be on the results. focus on you and the part of the race you can change.
i am sure your coach is like don't veer out both to save energy/time/distance and because you'd be repeatedly and predictably giving your nearest chasing rival a passing lane right up the rail -- in order to figure out where he is. which is counterproductive.
now, if it's a pack race, and you're good, that's different, but even they don't waste a ton of useless energy. they find a comfortable spot in the pack, make sure the leaders don't take off and leave them, and then work their game plan. their concern would be more passing when they can, making sure they don't get blocked in at the end, and perhaps counting heads to qualify from a heat. again, they would be less concerned with comprehensive knowledge of all entries, and instead on, i need to be top 5 and am roughly midpack. i need to make sure no one blocks me to my right. etc.
run your race. for HS kids that's usually worry about the next guys down the track and the guy right on your a$$. you should intuitively know where they are or see them on the curve ahead.
if i am chasing you i would love it if you predictably veered out a lane looking around twice a lap.
your focus on the track should be your little 5 meters or so of space. can i pass him. can he pass me. am i on pace. can i go quicker. and am i set up for my endgame well.
if you want the flavor of everyone's race, check the results after, and have your parents or a friend video the race from up in the stands a little, or if the race is streamed, watch that after. evaluate your race, and if you want to scout someone else, watch the video. but for purposes of my race right now, if the leader is 25 yards down the track, it's a waste to spend energy seeing that, or to give the guy behind me any opening. that's trivia for the race results. you compete on your patch. you don't need to see the whole field to fight over that patch.
I ran prs in some very fast races against good competition, where my positioning may not have been perfect.
On this board, the critics would jump in and say. "If you remained on the rail, you could have been 1.2 seconds faster."
When actually I prd by 10 seconds due a better field!
This is like criticizing hs Webb running at the Pre meet, or some Illinois kid who prs in Arcadia 3200 by 20 seconds with great field and perfect weather.
The end all and be all is not "staying on the rail".
Teaching good lane positioning is very important in distance races, especially at the high school level. I see kids make foolish moves and unnecessarily put themselves in lane 2 or 3 for laps on end all the time. Many kids don't know any better, some do but don't seem to care. Either way, strategy is very important in distance racing, especially when you are trying to teach a kid who isn't the most talented in the field how to "race well".
Lane positioning is one thing... but a novice high school racer better be focusing on pace rather than race until about the last quarter of the race. Attempting to get a kid who doesn't even know his own redline yet to employ a bunch of strategy is just not a sound way to coach young guys. You end up with guys who end up dying every race or sandbagging every race.
Once a runner finds his red line... he can then find his peer group of racers that he will see throughout the year.
But bopping out to see where you are isn't that big a deal... and at high school speeds... drafting isn't really isn't critical unless you are into a significant headwind.
When you can’t be coached please come here and look for approval because the Savages enjoy it. Your coach doesn’t want you wasting energy and you call them dumb. SMH. Clear sign you can’t be coached and follow instructions.
Teaching good lane positioning is very important in distance races, especially at the high school level. I see kids make foolish moves and unnecessarily put themselves in lane 2 or 3 for laps on end all the time. Many kids don't know any better, some do but don't seem to care. Either way, strategy is very important in distance racing, especially when you are trying to teach a kid who isn't the most talented in the field how to "race well".
Lane positioning is one thing... but a novice high school racer better be focusing on pace rather than race until about the last quarter of the race. Attempting to get a kid who doesn't even know his own redline yet to employ a bunch of strategy is just not a sound way to coach young guys. You end up with guys who end up dying every race or sandbagging every race.
Once a runner finds his red line... he can then find his peer group of racers that he will see throughout the year.
But bopping out to see where you are isn't that big a deal... and at high school speeds... drafting isn't really isn't critical unless you are into a significant headwind.
Both pacing yourself and lane positioning are important. It's not an either/or thing.
Most HS races start way too fast for the first lap or two and then everyone settles down. The slower kids tend to get pulled out too fast. As a coach, you need to balance telling your athletes to "run their own race" vs "stay attached" depending on the unique scenario of each race. Either way, kids need to position themselves to run to their full potential or simply win if they are the best in the field.
Track isn't anything like Country or Road Running where everyone essentially just runs their own race (with minimal pack running/strategy involved up front).
Just run the whole race in any of the outer lanes then stop appropriately early before the finish line and you ran the exact distance...and the outer lanes are never congested so no worrying about getting tripped!
Silly troll thread, but I will still take this opportunity to point out that running in lane 2 can have a lot of benefits:
1) You are less likely to make contact with other runners and fall or get disqualified.
2) You don't have to worry about getting boxed in.
3) You are always ready to immediately respond to changes in pace.
But if you are just running by yourself with nobody nearby, drifting out to lane 2 is a sign that you might not be focusing. Relaxing and staying calm is always good, but completely spacing out is not so good.
If he ran a tangent to go 1 meter wide over 25 meters and then eased back to lane one over the next 25 meters he’d only run an extra 4 cm per straightaway if I’m applying the Pythagorean Theorem correctly. So technically he ran extra distance but not much.
Yes, this is technically correct. It is essentially zero meters extra if you just float out to lane two on the straight-away and drift back before the turn.
But the real problem isn't the extra distance. It is the fact that you are not "locked in" and focused up. You were drifting around, "checking things out," and looking to see what others were doing.
Your coach wants you to get on the rail and run your pace. Unless you are some superstar runner in a tactical race, the best thing you can do is just get on the pace and grind. Playing "tactics" only makes sense if you are running slower than your PR hoping for a sit-and-kick type race.
p.s. your attitude towards your coach is arrogant and disrespectful. That is the real issue here.
This post was edited 8 minutes after it was posted.
If he ran a tangent to go 1 meter wide over 25 meters and then eased back to lane one over the next 25 meters he’d only run an extra 4 cm per straightaway if I’m applying the Pythagorean Theorem correctly. So technically he ran extra distance but not much.
correct,
i would not worry about it if lane 2 offered some advantage, if you are following chaos, instead of a good drafting situation.