Whenever I finish a race, I am completely dead, and could not smile or wave or job about or anything. I have a hard time remaining standing. Why is it that whenever I see an elite finish their race, they really don't look that worn out. Even watching Bekele's world record 10,000, where he's clearly running his balls off, he didn't look that bad after his race. He was still smiling and waving and jogging around. What gives?
You read my mind.
the winner usually looks fresh.. next time try and look at the next few guys if you can, they usually are a little more bagged.
train hard, win easy
encharito wrote:
Whenever I finish a race, I am completely dead, and could not smile or wave or job about or anything. I have a hard time remaining standing. Why is it that whenever I see an elite finish their race, they really don't look that worn out. Even watching Bekele's world record 10,000, where he's clearly running his balls off, he didn't look that bad after his race. He was still smiling and waving and jogging around. What gives?
Mental elation....the few times I have ever won a race, or set a new PR, it was like being 10 feet tall, filled with extacy (the legal kind) and was for a short while so full of myself while simultaneously shaking hands with whoever was nearby. Whoohoo I can still recall the feeling.
Oh well!
Point well taken.
Did Catherine Ndereba look good when she won Boston a couple years ago? I think she puked and collapsed. Ramaala collapsed at the finish line with Tergat in NYC. Slattery collapsed just this weekend at the Bolder Boulder finish line. People don't always look fresh. I think there is some truth to what the other poster said though. Often when someone goes on to win a race, they are having a good day and feeling good. So when they go on to win, especially if it's a comfortable distance to 2nd place, they probably aren't pushing that far into the red at the finish and therefore don't look too sh!tty.
That doesn't really make sense for Bekele setting the WR though, as I'm sure he was going as hard as he could. So maybe you'll have to talk to someone that knows something about this instead of someone like me, who is just pulling theories out of my ass.
encharito,
The simple answer is that most elites have pushed themselves to the limits in practice many of times, so in races the focus and detail to correct form and effort is so intense that their really is very little pain at the end of great performances. I am by no means the world record holder but when I ran my PR in the 1500m-(3:39.12) it was absolutely the easy race physically that I had run. For me I was so focused that I really felt no pain or struggle outside of normal training effort. If training is done correctly all top performances should be with ease of effort as regular training. Hope that helps?
Genetics. They are beyond our abilities and it shows in their finishing appearances. I doubt that they are not suffering, but I bet that first place finish or new WR really helps ease the pain. Plus, as mentioned earlier, not all elite or stellar finishes are represented by fresh and comfortable racers - many are puking, collapsing or begging for help.
Like others have said, I think that to win at a world class level you HAVE to be having a good day. To have a horriable day and win a race, I imagine, is close to impossilbe (even if they are racing a college field). So with this being said, can you remember when you ran your PR's? I can, I mean, they were recent so it is easier for me, but what I do remember is feeling good before, during, and after the race. So it is probably a physiological thing I would guess.
I don't think anybody's answer has really been very good. I've won many races and set many PRs, and just because I ran well doesn't mean I felt totally fine after the race. Just because you're happy doesn't mean you should be jumping up and down. If you run all out you should feel pretty shitty after the race, regardless of your place or time. I don't understand how th pros can act like they just got done running a victory lap after races.
Elites are on a bigger stage, so when they PR, set a WR, win a championship or whatever, they feed off the energy of the crowd and what not. From the few experiences I had when I had as a high schooler winning measely league championship titles, I'd get this sudden rush of energy after finishing my races. Its like your body finds extra adrenaline when it realizes what its just done.
I'm not discounting the theory that when people win, set a PR, or break a record they get a boost that leaves them feeling good, but it still surprises me that almost no one in this thread has yet mentioned that after training 70-100 mpw, doing speed sessions that mere mortals like us can barely fathom, and devoting their life entirely to their running, elites are able to recover quickly at the end of a race. Maybe they aren't feeling 100%, but they are just so damn strong that even after a monster performance, their bodies just aren't as beaten up as bodies like ours are. That's (a large) part of the reason they're elite. They can go out and absolutely work their body over-- maybe not quite day-in and day-out, but pretty damn regularly.
Look at college races like National XC and such. The top guys come in looking like it was a good effort but then can walk through the chute and look pretty good right after. The guys that are mid pack, maybe 50-150 are where you start to see the guys who look like shit and cant walk right. This happens on all levels, the good ones are just that, good and can look good even after putting out an unbelievable effort.
I think if you've got the legs left to finish your race in a 61 second quarter, you've got the legs to jog around and wave.
I think it's as someone said before. when you run really well, you feel good even if it's a big pr. Whenever I've set a pr it's been the easiest races of my life. I remember my best 4 mile road race I went above and beyond anything I expected of myself and was fine at the end. I honestly think it has to do with a combination of having perfect form on that day, being well rested, and having the right amount of glucose in your legs. Bekele probably got where he is today by being able to produce that "good feeling" whenever he races. Thats why he looks fine at the end of almost all his races and why he rarely has a bad race.
This is some of the most inane posting i've seen yet. Genetically superior? Emotional elation? That is ridiculous. They might recover quickly due to being in fantastic shape, but there are way too many guys who kick home and look like they're simply finishing an interval workout. Sadly, in my mind at least, there is no greater circumstantial evidence of doping. I just can't believe that you can put forth the type of effort it takes to break a world record and look fresh during (and immediately after) doing it. Plenty of old school guys were dragging ass at the end of their national or world records (think Pre, Keino, Ryun, etc.). To paraphrase Shorter on Cierpinski, it wasn't the fact that Cierpinksi beat him that made Shorter suspicious, but rather the WAY in which Cierpinksi made it seem so effortless. Maybe that's just me, though- I'll be the first to admit that I've become jaded with regard to cheating in track.
I think you are both ridiculous and wrong. It's kind of pathetic to read posts like yours, actually.
atomic punk wrote:
This is some of the most inane posting i've seen yet. Genetically superior? Emotional elation? That is ridiculous. They might recover quickly due to being in fantastic shape, but there are way too many guys who kick home and look like they're simply finishing an interval workout. Sadly, in my mind at least, there is no greater circumstantial evidence of doping. I just can't believe that you can put forth the type of effort it takes to break a world record and look fresh during (and immediately after) doing it. Plenty of old school guys were dragging ass at the end of their national or world records (think Pre, Keino, Ryun, etc.). To paraphrase Shorter on Cierpinski, it wasn't the fact that Cierpinksi beat him that made Shorter suspicious, but rather the WAY in which Cierpinksi made it seem so effortless. Maybe that's just me, though- I'll be the first to admit that I've become jaded with regard to cheating in track.
help? wrote:
I think it's as someone said before. when you run really well, you feel good even if it's a big pr. Whenever I've set a pr it's been the easiest races of my life. I remember my best 4 mile road race I went above and beyond anything I expected of myself and was fine at the end. I honestly think it has to do with a combination of having perfect form on that day, being well rested, and having the right amount of glucose in your legs. Bekele probably got where he is today by being able to produce that "good feeling" whenever he races. Thats why he looks fine at the end of almost all his races and why he rarely has a bad race.
Hey, man, call my post pathetic if you would like. Yeah, you are right about being able to produce 'that good feeling' whenever he races- I don't think the process could be described in any better terms. Kind of like how the Chinese woman in the 2004 Olympic 10k was able to 'produce that good feeling' in the final, right? kicking in sub 60 (or whatever it was) and spanking those Ethiopians. I'm sure it's just the rest and the glucose. Listen, you're innocent until proven guilty. And you're right about pr races- you typically feel good during them (for a while, at least), but come on... it is mindboggling to see guys running as fast as they are while appearing to simply cruise. Talk to some guys who have run sub 28, sub 13:30, sub 3:55. Get a feel for what it takes to achieve that, and then watching as guys beat you by MINUTES and make it look easy. There is no one in the sport who is above suspicion, and that is the sad truth. Pathetic, you might even say.
I have to disagree. I can't remember which world record it was but Jim Ryan wrote that he felt that one of his world records felt effortless and he thought he was going to blow that record out of the water in the future. Even if he was talking about his first world record he definitely didn't blow it out the water the second time around. I have read many elites talk about how their best performance was their easiest effort ever. It's called a peak experience and can happen in any activity. It's something that happens when everything just "magically" clicks. You think that if you had pushed harder you could have run even faster, but this isn't necessarily the case. Some of my prs have been gut busters, but I've also had prs that felt like I was out for a walk in the park. My 1500m pr was my first track race of the season. I ran it off of 10k training, was camping all week (travelling down the Oregon Coast), and drove from Florence to Eugene the afternoon of the race feeling stiff and tired from the night before. I ran 3:44 with a :57 last lap (hadn't even done that in training yet that year) and took :03 off my time from the year before. It was so easy I thought I was going to go under 3:40 in my next race. Still hasn't happened ...
"relaxation is the key to running fast"-Arthur Lydiard (I actually just googled the quote and its not a direct lydiard quote or at least I can't find it anywhere. So if he didn't say it I'm taking credit.)
During my best years, sometimes my recovery after hard efforts was nearly instantaneous - sometimes it was not and I suffered for 2-3 days with tiredness. After one quite hard 1500m race at Crystal Palace my coach, who was standing immediately by the finish, took my pulse and it had dropped to below 100 before 30 secs had passed.
Also many elite athletes win but do not go to 100% in doing so. They have more in hand. They are also used to training to maximum so it is a normal daily occurrence.