I don't see the point of the Championship meets if all they try to do is go for the win?

That's why road cycling is unwatchable for anyone but a European. All but incomprehensible, even. Not a sport, more of a parade with bikes.

It's watchable if somebody breaks away. The Rio women's road cycling race and especially the Tokyo version won by Anna Kiesenhofer were among the most compelling sporting events in recent history.

Otherwise, yeah if it turns into nothing but a dawdling peloton finishing with a mad dash sprint, I don't know why anyone cares.

Of course, track races can be described that way also. I guess if someone knows the tendencies of every cyclist like runners are scrutinized here, there's constant debate regarding mistakes and remedies for every principal, plus the team tactics.

the obsession with time as a distinct end in itself, in my experience, appeals when you are either so far ahead you need some other challenge or motivation, or so far behind you're not scoring points, ergo you need some test.

re "go run PR pace," this is similarly naive. you maybe have a hint in practice you have upside that season or week. but you just run your race at the pace you can handle. that is not usually a deliberate "go for broke" pace. you do a decent clip you can hold and if you hold it maybe you get the PR. my experience anything above 200 you go full blast from the blocks isn't ending well. ergo pacing comes in. ergo there is no such thing as "PR pace" in the sense of all-out. i mean, let's be honest, a 1500 guy or a 5k guy isn't going full gas each lap. they are running a split. this is basic running stuff. ergo this is just a game of what split to try. elite runners think they can vary their splits and win. the question is can they actually do it against others who think the same thing.

i respect that some people aren't championship meet people, but unless you are too good or uncompetitive, a PR is fungible and minor. i thought you'd say something like WR, NR, conference/school record. something that last up in lights.

but running a naive championship race telling yourself championships are about time? it's chess. you run what it takes to advance. you run what it takes to win the final, in a chess match where everyone has their own idea and the gang kind of reaches its group concept. you wanna buck the group concept, have at it, but they usually will set their pace to eclipse you at the end. you wanna be the naive rabbit have at it.

i mean the argument reminds me of folks who argue against rotating your lineups for big soccer tournaments like the world cup. every good soccer team i have been with including my youth select rotated players into the lineups to rest the team. you start 3 new guys for the last group game when you're about clinched. you start 3 new guys for the semi hoping to be fresher for the final. there is some limited risk. you could blow the last group game and the results fall wrong and you go out. you lose the semi starting some new names. but my experience, if you don't rotate, you're tiring for the quarters and exhausted in the final.

a lot of US fans argue we shouldn't rotate because of the risk. but i see the risk obsession as reflecting insecurity. if i have filled my roster right and trained the players well, 3 subs shouldn't kill me, and if i get the result, then i am fresher for the final. i occasionally hear folks talk like this, like it's quitting to not start the perceived best 11 every game. but they are tiring and no longer the best 11 that game. and the more minutes they play the more it ensures i will lose at the key stages from exhaustion.

which would be my secondary response. you go all out every round at a heats style worlds meet you aren't making or winning the final, at pretty much any distance. it's all a pacing/energy/rest/chess match. you can talk like you'd do it but any non-straight-to-final race at a championship, part of the game is preserving energy for the final, and for the last lap of the final. if you want to burn it all on the first lap of the first round, more power to you.