Parker Valby Claims She Is Learning About Tangents

I agree. At least she has a sense of humor about it.

But I hope it doesn't end there, and that she actually puts in the work to learn how to run xc courses better.

Yes, Valby was confused about something that she shouldn't have been confused about.

That where a good coach comes in. The NC State coach did a much better job of preparing her runners on race strategy, tactics, and course knowledge than Valby's coach did.

Valby's coach has done a good job of getting her into shape and avoiding injuries. But he did a poor job of helping her prepare for the race itself.

Parker Valby was highly focused and followed the camera cart. Normally those leading vehicles take the shorter line. So, I don't blame her at all that she "missed" the turn by a few yards. In the end it didn't matter. She ran a great race. Someone else ran a better race. Nevertheless those two talented women are making this sport fantastic. And we should be happy that we can witness hard fought competitions.

I re-watched the race and other than bad job going on the first hairpin around 5:15 into the race it really wasn't that bad of a job of running the tangents.

Its just as she got to the front and there was that short rise before the left hairpin. there's also slight bump out on the left side at the top the hill before the hairpin right so as you're coming up the hill you see all these spectators lining up on the left side and not so much from the right. It did give the impression the course was bending to the right and she slid hard to the just before the crest.

The rest of the course maybe she ran a foot or two more off the inner shoulder than needed but nothing that terrible. She ran a great, gutsy race, but the better runner won the day.

Well said. Parker Valby has more guts than probably 99% of the people who post here and yet the NITPICKERS want to tell her how to race. Parker should be conducting the clinic on how to race and most of these armchair QBs should attend and pay heed to her brilliance.

She couldn't pay me to attend that!!! As someone who also lacks a kick and has to race similarly to Valby, I'm trying to maximize my lead in those situations, not continually shoot myself in the foot, making it easier for the competition to catch me.

How is that working for you?

Probably better than whatever you're doing, considering you want to take race strategy lessons from someone that is getting heat all over the internet because she didn't know where the finish was and doesn't know what a tangent is.

That is where you are a bit slow mentally. Parker Valby knows how to race better than you and it is not close. Have you ever finished 2nd in a National Championship? I figured you had not.

Oh, but you are mistaking fitness and natural ability with racing well. Everyone agrees Valby is extremely talented, and considering her ability to perform so well off low mileage and cross training, there is tremendous upside to her career. Not everyone agrees she ran a smart, well executed race. I think her strategy was good for how she needs to win currently, her execution was not. Execution is kind of what makes the strategy work...

No, I've never finished 2nd in a National Championship, but I've also never lost off a 12s lead with 2k to go. And yes Ive been on the top step, yes more than once, no not at a national champ level. Not that her 2nd place should matter. I wouldn't want to take a racing strategy clinic from Grant Fischer either.

Imagine if she was talking about tangent bundles and learning differential geometry 0_o

That's incorrect. Camera carts aren't there to lead the runners or to take the shortest route. Camera carts are there to take the best video. Sometimes it means from the front, sometimes it means from the side.

And even when a camera cart is in front of the runners, they don't go one foot from the inside of a turn like a runner should do.

So following the camera cart isn't a good idea, because most of the time the camera cart isn't taking the shortest route.

I think what I object to is that I too finished very high in national meets but I was mostly focused on the effort I gave and the intelligent allocation of my resources such that I was (ideally) completely spent at the finish. I was not naturally good at running tangents and I never gave it a thought until I was running with some people who could run my pace once (a pack) and I noticed what they did. After I broke them I sort of just did what I did but what I cared about was my effort. I would not have wanted all this feedback about how I blew it (although I won) by not running the way the armchair QBs would have advised. I guess it is good to learn but in the end it is a minute part of her development as an athlete and she is doing so well that she should be applauded more than criticized.

Parker is brilliant. There are many forms of brilliance and maybe you should sit down and learn something.

Seriously??

You don’t have to be fast to know the proper racing strategies. Defensive much ? LoL

I think if you were smarter you might recognize that Parker may have run the smartest race of anyone there. We cannot know. It is easy to see this tangent issue. But what you cannot see is what is going through her mind and how she is marshaling her resources in a manner which is most efficacious. You clowns are nitpicking about something you can see. What you cannot see is often where the race is won or lost. Can you not grasp this rudimentary concept?