Why don't runners have ANY CONCEPT of drafting?

But if you are leading the pack and let a smelly one rip then everyone will be choking on your fumes. Actually not a bad idea...

adidaz1 wrote:

But if you are leading the pack and let a smelly one rip then everyone will be choking on your fumes. Actually not a bad idea...

I did that to my wife this morning, ????

We were on the morning loop, she starts bitching at me about chores.. so I get in front to set a pace that would shut her up.. and a perfectly timed a fart bomb

That is fair. I think I notice a much bigger benefit when I am in a bigger group or when I am running into a headwind. If I'm running one on one on a calm day I think the benefit is more marginal.

I think on road courses without many long straights it is a challange to get as much benefit as runners suck at tangents and can move unpredictably. Even on a stright line if they just do not like the grade or slope of the road.

How closely do you have to run behind someone to benefit from drafting?

How long can you draft behind someone before you become annoying to them?

I've seen runners get really pissy about people that draft off them. Think of how Luke Puskedra reacted to that no-name drafting off him at Olympic Trials in the early miles.

High school XC and track in Massachusetts meant racing in the wind a lot. Drafting was KEY.

Also, what about running tangents. I ran a marathon last weekend on a winding road course. About 10% of the runners ran tangents. It's 2nd nature to me. I was amazed that so few were doing it. I'm older and slower, maybe that is the reason, running 3:30+ meant that a lot of people were unaware of it. Wind was not a factor.

Staying out of the wind is not drafting.

There is no drag from the lead runner, like there is in cycling behind a lead rider.

Its always smart to stay out of the wind. But its not always good to run someone else's pace.

drafting and track and field were in the dark ages.

few runners practice drafting, or following closely, or maneuvering.

coaches and athletes are just plain stupid.

there is no other way to put it.

and also the steeplechase, you can use hay bales and be jumping over those in 5 mile runs,

and actually get really good.

but no.

we just got to be brain dead.

it is too complicated to practice what you do.

i ran a 450 solo, it sucked

then a big guy named john walker paced a 430 mile easy,

and another 430, easy,

the cadence he set, you just go with the flow.

there is no comparison to alone.

but some guys lose their stride following others,

of course, these guys would not bother to practice,

they just say, i'm a front runner.

track is the dumbest sport there is, i mean there is not much to it, as compared to other sports,

yet, coaches only recently started doing like percy cerutti said to do, like natural food, natural surroundings, weight training, calisthenics, a proper stride,,,

track coaches are the stupidest thing going.

"Centro won gold from the gun"

You're joking right? It was a 3:50 race, they could all run 15-20 seconds faster that day. Drafting was totally irrelevant (and that race - not the result - was a disgrace)

Swedish Pride wrote:

"Centro won gold from the gun"

You're joking right? It was a 3:50 race, they could all run 15-20 seconds faster that day. Drafting was totally irrelevant (and that race - not the result - was a disgrace)

It was one of the greatest races I've seen. Never understood why people want to see boring diamond league style time trials.

Just go down to your local high school track and run 1 lap, 400 meters, while drafting. You’ll then understand why these runners are professionals.

One reason sub-elite runners know nothing about draftinng is because Runners World never mention it.

And you don't see research articles on it repeated over and over again like you do say, "how to improve VO2max".

Consider also that cycling only realising drag was more of a problem than weight in the past twenty years. And for runners, other than running behind someone, there's nothing notable you can do to decrease drag.

Ergo no-one talks about itt.