I'm not talking about freshmen or younger. I mean seniors in high school who should know better?
Is it because of Steve Prefontaine as some have suggested? Everyone wants to be the "powerful," front runner?
I'm not talking about freshmen or younger. I mean seniors in high school who should know better?
Is it because of Steve Prefontaine as some have suggested? Everyone wants to be the "powerful," front runner?
They only care about getting their best time and think that running hard from the gun is the only way to do it.
It also might be what their coach tells them to do.
These shoes the best wrote:
I'm not talking about freshmen or younger. I mean seniors in high school who should know better?
Is it because of Steve Prefontaine as some have suggested? Everyone wants to be the "powerful," front runner?
It is because they have no speed. They are smart enough to know that the only way they can win is to push a hard pace. It also might be because they run lots of miles in training and feel that they can run hard the entire way. Perhaps they also enjoy Fartlek which is usually what happens when you go out hard. It often turns into a fartlek-ish run!
These shoes the best wrote:
I'm not talking about freshmen or younger. I mean seniors in high school who should know better?
Is it because of Steve Prefontaine as some have suggested? Everyone wants to be the "powerful," front runner?
Because they love their shoes.
These shoes the best wrote:
I'm not talking about freshmen or younger. I mean seniors in high school who should know better?
Is it because of Steve Prefontaine as some have suggested? Everyone wants to be the "powerful," front runner?
It's testosterone.
The HS standout = Fearless. If I can rip through the mile (4:40) way ahead I can hang on to run a 15:25 5k.
The 15:25 33 year old = Been there done that. If I dont fall apart maintaining 5:10s for the first 2 miles I can run 4:50 (+.1) at the end.
Inexperience and lack of knowledgeable coaches
Easier said wrote:
These shoes the best wrote:I'm not talking about freshmen or younger. I mean seniors in high school who should know better?
Is it because of Steve Prefontaine as some have suggested? Everyone wants to be the "powerful," front runner?
It's testosterone.
The HS standout = Fearless. If I can rip through the mile (4:40) way ahead I can hang on to run a 15:25 5k.
The 15:25 33 year old = Been there done that. If I dont fall apart maintaining 5:10s for the first 2 miles I can run 4:50 (+.1) at the end.
Fearless or stupid. More likely stupid.
I think the natural instinct is to run hard during a race. Little kids do it in the local 5K (for 100-200 yards), and young Kenyan runners often go hard from the gun in the small chance that they will sustain that effort to the finish.
I have no idea! I used to do it, but once I stopped and tried to run the same pace the entire way, I improved my 3200 time by 10 seconds and 1600 by 5.
I have won races after starting out in last place. There's no use in wasting your energy to run a 30 sec first 200 when you end up running much slower in the end.
Speed Doctor wrote:
Inexperience and lack of knowledgeable coaches
I know coaches who say that you can go all out for the first 100 meters because it's "free energy" you're using the anaerobic system and sparing your aerobic system.
Because they want camera time....
because they haven't learned patience and think it's about who can outlast one another... like pre
In a lot of races it's tactically smart to go out "too fast" to avoid getting bogged down in the crowd. Especially in xc. Passing dozens of runners who have also gone out too fast and start to slow dramatically after a few hundred meters takes extra energy. Best to just stay with/ahead of those people because you know they're going to be there in every race.
High school kids don't have fully developed brains and often make poor decisions when their hormones and related impulses are involved.
As an adult I can get caught up in going a little too fast at the start of a race due to the initial charge of excitement combined with wanting to get in front of people who are obstructions (I will never understand why 25 minute 5k runners feel the need to line up in the front). Professional runners even make the mistake from time to time. High school kids are just an extreme version of that.
That's a good question. I noticed it in my very first race in 7th grade (880 run). I had made the team during our inter-squad run-off by hanging back and out kicking everyone, so I assumed I would try that strategy in the race, as well. But when gun went off, everyone took off sprinting. I couldn't believe it, but I felt like I had to keep up with the pack. After the first lap I was totally winded, and I had another to go. It wasn't until my junior year in high school that I developed the confidence to run an evenly paced race, even though I was often in dead last for the first lap. But that's when things started to happen for me. It was almost like a secret weapon. I would slowly pass all of my winded competitors over the next three laps, and won most of my races.
It's not just high schoolers, this weekend I raced a 42:30 10k guy who went out in 6:10.
+1
ManOverboard wrote:
In a lot of races it's tactically smart to go out "too fast" to avoid getting bogged down in the crowd. Especially in xc. Passing dozens of runners who have also gone out too fast and start to slow dramatically after a few hundred meters takes extra energy. Best to just stay with/ahead of those people because you know they're going to be there in every race.
Cross Country races are very strategic. Most courses narrow quickly within a few hundred meters of the start. Drafting is usually a factor. Some schools have their 6 & 7 th runners go out in front to purposely mess with the pacing of other teams. Even more so when JV runs with varsity.
A positive split is not necessarily indicative of "too fast" if the objective is to beat other teams.
The practical answer is kids tend to run as fast as other kids around them. If they did proper pacing, they would go out slow and run slow the rest of the race because they are keeping their place with the kids around them. It's hard for kids to run negative splits the last mile.
I also have an issue with this. I have friends who run anywhere between 17:00 and 19:00 and they all beat me at the mile. My 5k pace is about 5:30, but some of my slower friends take it out in 5:10. I usually run 5:40, 5:30, 5:20 or finish with all I have. It leads to consistent times. If I can hit 2 miles in 11:00 or 11:20, I have the mental strength to push myself. Or, if I'm hurting I keep that same pace. My coach doesn't like it though, for some reason. Thinks the first mile should be the fastest, which it never should be. Any advice? Is it really better or am I doing the smart thing?
HS runners go out too fast because their speed side is developed more than the stamina side.
They run the gear that feels right but cannot be sustained