Thinking about false starting an 800m on purpose...bad idea?

try again next month wrote:

WTF championship meet is on a Wednesday in early April?

Give this troll thread another try in a month when high schoolers are actually running championships.

It's already championship season in Texas, just saying

troll detection system wrote:

Frustrated high schooler wrote:

I never said state champs. It is a regional championship meet that is very important to me nonetheless.

Please enlighten us on your championship schedule where you run a regional championship in early April but try to qualify for the state meet in mid may.

In Texas you have district meets last week and this week. Then you have to go through Area and Region before getting to state, which typically is in the middle of May.

Championship season has started here in Florida, with the district championships for the Orlando area being run last night, so OP is not necessarily a troll.

OP, you need to run both races in the manner instructed by your coach.

- If this is a championship meet, maybe he thinks he needs to take a shot at every available point for the team to do well. Putting your personal wants ahead of team goals is selfish.

- Even if your team's overall finish isn't his concern, maybe he thinks this will ultimately be good for your development. That development could be either physical or mental. To be honest, it sounds like you could use some mental toughening.

- Even if neither of those is applicable, it is unfair to your competitors in the 800m to break their rhythm with a false start, or to impede them in the race to only drop out. Again, that would be a selfish act.

- Even if none of those things apply, you should consider what you intend to get out of this sport. You are not much of an 800m runner, and you aren't the best at the 3200m runner in your area if you are looking at 3rd place as a best possible outcome at a district meet. That's not intended to insult you - only one guy can be the best, and it just happens to not be you. I rarely win races myself. But I do get a lot out of the sport. It teaches me all kinds of things, including being mentally tough and how to challenge yourself. If you cannot be the best, and you aren't willing to do the things that can help you learn other lessons, why are you in this sport?

- Relatedly, learning that you sometimes need to subordinate yourself and submit to your place in the order of things is another important life lesson. Use this is an opportunity to learn that sometimes you need to do things that you do not want to do and that do not appear to be in your personal short term best interest because you need to play your role in the overall group because of the social contract that we are all engaged in (with the added bonus that playing that role could have long term personal benefits).

- Finally, you may surprise yourself. I was put in a similar position as a college junior, being forced to run the 1500m and the steeplechase on the same day at our conference meet. I was not much of a 1500m guy, but I put my head down and did what I was told and ran a PR and won our conference meet in a tactical race. I then went on and finished 2nd or 3rd in the steeple anyway, despite having shot my load in the 1500m. I still look back fondly on that 1500m experience, even though my PR is still dog crap compared to my times in every distance above 1500m.

Think big picure! Are you trying to kill it early in the year at the meet that doesnt mean anything? If so be a puss and drop out or false start. If you're trying to kill it at state then just look at this as a way of bettering yourself in the long run for the meet that actually counts.

Reasons your coach might want you in both:

1) team points. Most championship meets have points 10 deep.

2) as a workout. It's freakin' April. No legitimate "championship" is this weekend.

You've already talked to your coach and he said no. Suck it up and do your best in both. The 3200 is going to hurt, deal with it. The post season championships is when you can think about focusing on a single event.

This sounds a lot like the other thread on a coach forcing a guy to run the 1600 after DNS'ing an 800.

A few years ago I put one of my kids in the 1000m and the 600m, which were back to back, at our league meet. I was hesitant to do it, but it was a close meet and he insisted he could handle it. He could have easily won a league title in the 600 but soldiered up and got 3rd and 2nd, respectively. He had maybe 4 minutes between races. He missed out on the league title, but earned the respect of his teammates and that performance was talked about for the rest of the year. When there’s a chance to struggle for the good of your team, that’s the time to show your true colors.

This OP looks awfully similar to the one the other day about a kid not wanting to run the mile because he saw himself to be a 400/800 guy. He was looking for advice about how to deal with his coach.

This is not a very original trolling effort.

sit and kick in both and save your energy. championship style

easy one to figure.

go out good and fast in the 800, and after 400m and you know you can't score for the team, tank and save energy for the 3200.

but if you have a good day in the 800, bonus for you and team.

Smoove wrote:

Putting your goals ahead of the coach's personal wants is selfish.

This is totally wrong. Your own goals come first.

The coach is supposed to be helping you but he isn't. He's only out for himself.

Frustrated high schooler wrote:

At my championship meet tomorrow, the 800m and 3200m are almost right on top of each other (800m first)

How far apart will they be?

I've asked my coach repeatedly to take me out of the 800m and made the point that I won't be able to score in the 3200m after an all out 800m.

That's a good point. So he's not doing it to get points, but only to screw with you.

He is extremely stubborn and wouldn't even acknowledge my concerns (This is not the first time he has done something like this and I have many other problems with him that I don't need to bring up now).

Personally I wouldn't let him push me around.

I would either (1) skip the 800 and line up for the 3200 later, or (2) run the 800 at a warm up pace that I'd be doing anyway to get ready to run the 3200. I would do the one of these that seems to me to best fit the circumstances. I would only do one of those two choices, and most definitely NOT run the 800 hard. I would let everyone go right from the start.

Then I'd get ready for the 3200, and run it as fast as possible.

Stay as far away from the coach as possible while you're doing this.

Do you have any trusted fitness-savvy adult to confide in? Someone who knows you and can give you an honest assessment of your ability to run those two closely-spaced races? Getting that kind of more or less objective advice will at least give you another point of view to weigh, though ultimately you have to be true to yourself, and maybe not be a puppet on a coach's string. However, your coach may know a thing or two that you don't give him credit for - coaches often do.

If you name the meet, maybe we can look up the schedule and really see for ourselves how close the two races are.

It very well may be that, despite selling yourself short on your 800 abilities, you have the fitness to run a PR 3200 after a hard effort in the 800.

You seem to have a fairly good grasp on reality regarding your chances in the 800, if an all-out effort were made. So, then, I hope you'll stay in the 800, NOT get DQ'd, and run a decent, but not all-out, effort. With reasonable fitness, your 3200 will benefit from the 800m As long as your scheme isn't discovered, after that race your coach, even if angry, won't punish you by dropping you from the 3200. And then you'll have the chance to kick ass in the 3200.

Don't broadcast your plans, or else you'll be ratted out.

perfect example of how coaches burn out kids. if you don't want to do it, don't. you have years upon years left in your running career, who gives a damn about some dual meet.

In my state, they don't put such races right after each other--3200 first thing, 1600 last of the day, 800 somewhere in the middle. With the 100 and 200 similarly split up, and the hurdle races split up. Even in duel meets, you'd have an hour between any two distance events. But, for the sake of argument, let's just say you run the 800 first thing, and then the 3200 is the next event. I have to think there would be at least 10 minutes between when you finish, and when the 3200 starts. How many times have you run 400 repeats with 1 minute rest. Or 800 repeats with 2 minutes rest? You'll be fine.

Run 'em both with all your heart. Win lose or draw, you can look back on this day as the day you ran with THE HEART OF A CHAMPION!!!

Is there any other sport where kids complain when the coach tries to put them in the game?

I'm guessing you wouldn't get much sympathy on LetsFootball.com if you posted "my football coach wants me to play offense and defense, but I only want to play offense so I'm considering just not taking the field on defense."

the nfhs standard order is

4x800

100/110h

100

4x200

1600

4x100

400

300h

800

200

3200

4x400

i know not all states follow this or even do all the events, but the op probably has the g/b 200 and the g 3200 between his races. he should do his best in both races and not make an ass of himself.

take me out, coach! wrote:

Is there any other sport where kids complain when the coach tries to put them in the game?

I'm guessing you wouldn't get much sympathy on LetsFootball.com if you posted "my football coach wants me to play offense and defense, but I only want to play offense so I'm considering just not taking the field on defense."

+1

Don't people run to compete? Time doesn't matter (unless you are trying to qualify for the Olympics or something else that has a time standard), focus on competing and giving your best effort.

4x800

1600

3200

3rd leg of 4x400

Nearly every single meet my junior and senior years. And I liked it. (Though we ran the 3200 first.)