If you don't want to race, what's the point of training?
If you would rather be training than competing, just get into lifting like every other dude in their 30s with no personality.
It's called delayed gratification. I would rather put in more hard work in the winter so I could perform better outdoors. Not sure I understand the aggression, am I supposed to want to be racing at all points of the year?
More non-sense from those who don't know the sport (non-pros), and or aren't very good at it. The indoor season is a great "pre-season" to the outdoor season. After 5-6 months of recovery from the previous outdoor track season combined with a slow build-up phase in training, it's nice to get in some racing to sharpen up a bit. Middle distance runners (1500 thru10k) have multiple options including X-C, Roads, and Indoor. Not to mention that its a nice payday for some runners while at the same time getting in some racing and making some cash. With the newer training models being used by elite runners, that of which involves less "over-loading" of fall and winter, and more concentration on quality workouts throughout the year athletes are able to race more often at a higher level. The days of going "underground" for 6 months and running 100 plus miles a week and then start to sharpen up in the spring are gone.
I had a coach in school once tell us practices should be harder than races. That didn't make sense to a bunch teenagers at the time, but in hindsight I totally agree. Running workouts like 4 x mile or 8 x 800 or hills would/should be harder than running a mile/800 double - at least in HS.
Disagree.
Sounds like the perfect way to get injured. In essence you would be racing 3 times a week with the easiest being the actual race.
I had a coach in school once tell us practices should be harder than races. That didn't make sense to a bunch teenagers at the time, but in hindsight I totally agree. Running workouts like 4 x mile or 8 x 800 or hills would/should be harder than running a mile/800 double - at least in HS.
Disagree.
Sounds like the perfect way to get injured. In essence you would be racing 3 times a week with the easiest being the actual race.
I think the mentality that you disagree with explains why so few hs/college athletes end up taking medals in middle distance, relatively to how extremely many that lives like more or less full time athletes. Overtraining, racing training sessions, glorifying suffering. They will rather have a hard session than a smart session.
Outdoor sucks, weather is too hot/humid, or cold/rainy in most of the country to really be competitive for most of the season. Meets are too long, there are very few meets with any energy in the stadium and zero concept of team scoring at anything.
It's called delayed gratification. I would rather put in more hard work in the winter so I could perform better outdoors. Not sure I understand the aggression, am I supposed to want to be racing at all points of the year?
Yes, if you're truly passionate about the sport, you should WANT to race at all points of the year. If you don't want to, then not racing at certain times is not delayed gratification...it's just doing what you want.
And I agree with the previous poster...what's the point of training if you never race? If you just want to be the best at exercising, go join crossfit.
Lasse Viren was only interested in racing every 4th year, but I was still very impressed with his Olympic wins.
Outdoor sucks, weather is too hot/humid, or cold/rainy in most of the country to really be competitive for most of the season. Meets are too long, there are very few meets with any energy in the stadium and zero concept of team scoring at anything.
BU Indoor over Penn Relays without a doubt.
I hope he is saying this tongue in cheek. There were no spectators at BU, a nice Saturday afternoon at Penn is one of the best meets of the year.
The reason that so many pros skipped World Indoor or USATF Indoors is because INDOOR TRACK IS NOT IMPORTANT even to Track Pros. The suggestion of having shoe companies put bonuses in the athletes contracts might make it better attended but it will not make it more important. LETSRUN is exclusively a running site so it will build up indoor because there is nothing else within running going on but IT IS NOT IMPORTANT.
I love track and I watch indoor but I know it is not important.
Obviously its not as important as outdoor track. Why are athletes so afraid of competing when they aren't at their peak? Everyone that skipped indoors could have competed while training through the meet. Considering indoors is not important, who cares if you have a bad race? They certainly dont have an obligation to run meets simply to promote the sport but it would be for the great good
It's called delayed gratification. I would rather put in more hard work in the winter so I could perform better outdoors. Not sure I understand the aggression, am I supposed to want to be racing at all points of the year?
More non-sense from those who don't know the sport (non-pros), and or aren't very good at it. The indoor season is a great "pre-season" to the outdoor season. After 5-6 months of recovery from the previous outdoor track season combined with a slow build-up phase in training, it's nice to get in some racing to sharpen up a bit. Middle distance runners (1500 thru10k) have multiple options including X-C, Roads, and Indoor. Not to mention that its a nice payday for some runners while at the same time getting in some racing and making some cash. With the newer training models being used by elite runners, that of which involves less "over-loading" of fall and winter, and more concentration on quality workouts throughout the year athletes are able to race more often at a higher level. The days of going "underground" for 6 months and running 100 plus miles a week and then start to sharpen up in the spring are gone.
Next!
How many indoor seasons did Bolt or Rudisha run? Before you consult Google, the answer is 0, and they are the norm not the exception. The vast majority of pros at the highest level forgo indoors because it's really pointless. Outdoor worlds/olympics is the goal for them, and running races indoors really doesn't help them achieve that goal. At best, racing a lot indoors won't hurt (Jakob is a good example of this) and at worst it's a waste of time and interrupts training blocks as you try and do mini-peaks/recoveries in order to race well. To be honest, winning a DL Monaco 1500 has more validity and prestige to it than winning a world Indoor title.
This is a pure hobby jogger mentality. If you want to race for the sake of racing, that's fine, but not everybody shares that sentiment - including David Rudisha who never ran indoors, I guess he wasn't passionate about the sport either. When I was running competitively it was to run at my absolute best and compete at my peak which was going to happen during the outdoor season based on how track runners periodize. None of that was going to happen during the indoor season so I found it was better just to skip it altogether since I wasn't gaining anything from it.
Oooo...you played the hobby jogger card!
A hobby jogger is someone who doesn't get paid to run, so yes, I'm a hobby jogger. Based on your use of the past tense when discussing your own running, I take it you're not even a hobby jogger.
I still submit that not racing and just training puts running in the same category as crossfit and camp gladiator. I like running as a sport, not a fitness activity. If liking to compete makes me a hobby jogger (and it doesn't...not getting paid makes me a hobby jogger), I'll gladly wear the hobby jogger label.
I guess Cheptegei and Cheruiyot are camp gladiators since they're not doing indoors and "training just to train" and YOU'RE the real athlete. Congrats!!!
More non-sense from those who don't know the sport (non-pros), and or aren't very good at it. The indoor season is a great "pre-season" to the outdoor season. After 5-6 months of recovery from the previous outdoor track season combined with a slow build-up phase in training, it's nice to get in some racing to sharpen up a bit. Middle distance runners (1500 thru10k) have multiple options including X-C, Roads, and Indoor. Not to mention that its a nice payday for some runners while at the same time getting in some racing and making some cash. With the newer training models being used by elite runners, that of which involves less "over-loading" of fall and winter, and more concentration on quality workouts throughout the year athletes are able to race more often at a higher level. The days of going "underground" for 6 months and running 100 plus miles a week and then start to sharpen up in the spring are gone.
Next!
How many indoor seasons did Bolt or Rudisha run? Before you consult Google, the answer is 0, and they are the norm not the exception. The vast majority of pros at the highest level forgo indoors because it's really pointless. Outdoor worlds/olympics is the goal for them, and running races indoors really doesn't help them achieve that goal. At best, racing a lot indoors won't hurt (Jakob is a good example of this) and at worst it's a waste of time and interrupts training blocks as you try and do mini-peaks/recoveries in order to race well. To be honest, winning a DL Monaco 1500 has more validity and prestige to it than winning a world Indoor title.
The problem is, Hocker is no Bolt, and he isn't competing (let alone winning) DL Monaco either.
It's called delayed gratification. I would rather put in more hard work in the winter so I could perform better outdoors. Not sure I understand the aggression, am I supposed to want to be racing at all points of the year?
So let me get this straight... You say you want to put in MORE work in the winter, so you would rather train, which is LESS work than racing. This either means that a) you train harder than you race, or b) you would rather workout than compete.
It sounds to me like what you really want to "delay" is the pain of racing.
You thereby raise your ceiling and run faster times for the year than if you were always skipping training for races indoors and outdoors.
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