How Fast Could YOU Run With Wave Light Technology?

I'd love to see this set up on all local tracks. Like one of the air machines at the gas station. You show up, pump in a few quarters, select a pace setting, and fire it off. I'd use it all the time!

Slartibartfast wrote:

What if, instead of a wave light, it were some sort of projection screen of your mortal enemy, just barely outpacing you. Would it inspire new levels of hate, and propel you to speeds that were never possible without that kind of artificial hating aid?

Or someone with a knife screaming at you, chasing you down.

I always wondered if I could have run faster if it had been for my life, or whether... idk... would it completely panic you and you set a 200m PB then blow up?

Actually they could do this with those metal dogs the army have...

Fukk this gives me the creeps

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXI4WWhPn-U&ab_channel=seedwellcomedy

LOL wrong link...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNZPRsrwumQ&t=60s&ab_channel=BostonDynamics

track chick wrote:

those metal dogs the army have...

foreseen long ago by Ray Bradbury. Pure governmental evil

Wavelights (if you can see them and actually pay attention to them) provide positive reinforcement.

Keep up with the lights and you feel good that you are on pace.

For optimum benefit, and much faster times, someone needs to invent a negative reinforcement pacing device.

Something like a programable wolf/lion/bear/chainsaw that follows runners at a set pace (with audio). This extends out into the track from the inside rail. Fail to keep ahead of this and you get injured and/or die.

The lights also decrease anxiety. You don't have a concern that your pace is off. I always found indoor track easier than outdoor track because I got a split every 200 meters rather than every 400 meters. This is even better you know every step whether you are on pace or not.

And then there is the positive reinforcement effect.

They could do some fun experiments on this. Tell someone the lights are at 72 second quarter pace but make them at 71 and see if you can trick them into running faster . . .

No faster probably. I can hit my splits on a track within half a second each time. Not that hard.

I can speak from my own experience in running from the cops that you go out WAY too fast with adrenaline and you then blow up, while the more evenly-paced cop catches up to you eventually....

I speak from experience wrote:

I can speak from my own experience in running from the cops that you go out WAY too fast with adrenaline and you then blow up, while the more evenly-paced cop catches up to you eventually....

The more evenly-paced cop? Now that’s funny stuff. The cop likely had wave light technology.

I would probably run the same and be way way way behind world record pace for 10000m. Could probably run 45-50mins for 10000m on a good day. On a bad day, probably over an hour.

Jammier wrote:

Those of you who whine about these lights should ask yourself, are you just a bit of wave light technology from being world class...national class....state champion? Local Turkey Trot runner up? Wave light technology is NOT the reason The Chepster is so much faster than you. Tremendous talent, HARD work, drive and PEDs are the difference. Ask yourself, how much faster would you be/have been with wave light technology? The true answer is likely not much.

Interesting question, probably at least 25 seconds faster for a 5km or 1min faster for a 10km. I'm terrible at pacing myself. It's probably less beneficial for a professional athlete who is better at pacing.

This is all part of the fun. It's just one more thing to debate in running.

Some other things we already consider when comparing runners from different generations:

- Training methodology / knowledge of physiology

- Surface (cinder or not)

- Shoes. (Note: This was a topic even before the "cheater"flys)

- Quality of competition. (Could so-and-so have run faster if there was someone pushing him?)

These debates would be mute if everything were consistent across time. But they're the lifeblood of the sport.

What does the wolf/lion/bear/chainsaw look like?

I think being chased by one of those dogs with a knife attached to the front would be pretty frightening. Maybe something similar to the one that can open doors.

track chick wrote:

Slartibartfast wrote:

What if, instead of a wave light, it were some sort of projection screen of your mortal enemy, just barely outpacing you. Would it inspire new levels of hate, and propel you to speeds that were never possible without that kind of artificial hating aid?

Or someone with a knife screaming at you, chasing you down.

I always wondered if I could have run faster if it had been for my life, or whether... idk... would it completely panic you and you set a 200m PB then blow up?

Well in real life literal running for your scenarios you are probably going all out and will either get away or be caught within 50 meters or so. Very rare would be a situation where the attacker is chasing you at 60 second per 400 pace.

Running for your life*

It makes no difference. I was a 9:28 2-miler in HS and couldn't keep up with guys running even pace 70s at the section meet.

You can't draft off of the thing and elite runners don't need to chase a light to push themselves to their limits.

CarbonFiberJoe wrote:

The more important question to ask is how much faster would Bekele, Gebrselassie, Komen, and Tergat been with wavelight technology.

100%

I ran the numbers and posted them on another thread of how inefficient Bekele was during his WR in terms of pace fluctuation per km - over the full 10km he averaged a 2.8 second fluctuation of pace increase and decrease per km. Chegtegei - 0.8 seconds. At the speed of running (around 6.5m/s) it's a net back and forth of 13 meters for Bekele. PER KM!

In his 5000m WR it was 0.28 seconds average fluctuation per lap. That means for the entirety of the two longest track WR's, for 37.5 laps of the track and 15km of running his pace did not deviate outside of 1 second per km on average (with each final km being slight outsiders as he lifted pace in his final push).

It is not possible to be that accurate without wavelight. If it was you would be saying Bekele was some kind of novice who couldn't judge his pace right at all and clearly this isn't the case.

The answer is they all would have been significantly faster. Significantly.