{"id":588,"date":"2019-03-07T20:43:41","date_gmt":"2019-03-07T20:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/?p=588"},"modified":"2019-03-07T20:43:48","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T20:43:48","slug":"planning-ahead-competing-well-and-getting-over-the-top","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2019\/03\/07\/planning-ahead-competing-well-and-getting-over-the-top\/","title":{"rendered":"Planning ahead, competing well, and getting over the top\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Air Force Forgot To Enter Its Distance Runners For Mountain West Conference Meet, Colorado State Won Team Title As A Result.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The headline on this article pretty much says it all. Someone (or someones) on Air Force\u2019s coaching staff neglected to enter their runners for a conference championship meet. There are several preventative lessons from the article and one on effort which I will get to further down the page. While most of this may come across as \u201cduh\u201d statements, it\u2019s also the case that occasionally reading and hearing basic reminders in all facets of life is valuable so that we don\u2019t create unnecessary stress.

1. For most of us, we can enter many races up to the morning of the event (large and\/or popular races being an exception). We don\u2019t need to send in our names days or weeks ahead like college programs. Still, it\u2019s good to enter in advance and, if possible, do early packet pick-up so you can get your race number prior to the event.

2. You always want to allow ample time on race morning for unexpected delays in getting to the starting line. Two of my last three races I\u2019ve had only a few minutes for warm-up compared to my normal preference for a longer routine. This occurred in spite of allowing an extra 15 to 20 minutes in addition to the time I thought I would need.

3. When you get to a race, make sure that you\u2019re entered in the appropriate distance and that your name matches your bib, etc. At a race a couple of years ago, someone was registered for the mile and ran the 5K. While their 9-minute finish time would have been a whopper of a world record for the 5K, they were in the wrong race. Not only was this unfortunate for them, it also took the race officials time to recalibrate the results.

4. Look at the course map ahead of time and once on the course, pay attention to course markings and race officials\u2019 directions. In my last race, a runner who was a decent distance ahead of me (too far for me to say anything) blew right past the turnaround point, kept going, and lost many places in the race.

5. Run hard until the end and don\u2019t assume anything. The following is not to advocate taking advantage of someone else\u2019s mistake or misfortune, and higher placing doesn\u2019t feel quite as good when it\u2019s due to mistakes or issues with rules. But, everyone who shows up is expected to abide by the same rules, run the same course, etc. and that is also part of the event. On one hand, it was unfair for the Air Force distance runners to not be able to contribute towards the team\u2019s points because of a bureaucratic error by their coaching staff. On the other hand, allowing Air Force\u2019s distance points to count would be unfair to the other teams who did everything correctly to make sure they were entered and registered on time. A couple of years ago, I could have sworn I finished fourth overall in a race but I was awarded third place. After verifying this with the race officials, all I could figure was that one of the people ahead of me either dropped out, was disqualified, or had run the wrong race. In my example, I had worked to maintain my place during the latter stages of the race even though a podium finish seemed out of reach. With the example in the article above, CSU could have shown up \u201cknowing\u201d they weren\u2019t going to win the team title and settled. Though their win came from a paperwork mishap, it still paid off for them to show up and compete at their best effort. So, this bit is to advocate always racing at your best level even if you\u2019re sure of how the results will play out and you\u2019re tempted to cruise through the event.

Life doesn\u2019t always allow us to carry out tasks or do events in the most ideal way possible. Sometimes you just have to run through the airport even though you allowed for plenty of travel time. Sometimes you have to work late to get a project done, even though you started early and budgeted your time well. But, you can cut down on the probability of things going wrong with your races (and adding stress to an already wired morning) with a little planning ahead.

For the getting over the top portion: a couple of weeks ago<\/a>, I mentioned that Yomif Kejelcha missed the indoor mile world record by running a 3:48.46, .01 shy of the 3:48.45 mark. This past weekend, he broke that record by posting a 3:47.01. That\u2019s a large gap, relative to the distance and the speed these athletes are running. It\u2019s possible he could try to lower it again but as he\u2019s primarily a 3000M and 5000M runner, I would imagine that breaking world records at that distance would be enticing.

Running food review of the week: (note–gels, bars, chews, and other items affect everyone differently. Try them on a short run before using them for a key training run or race): Gu Hoppy Trails<\/a>: A couple of times I\u2019ve gone for a run after a late-afternoon holiday lunch where I’d had a beer or two. Based on that, I was going to jokingly review beer as a pre-run energy food and give it a thumbs-down. It made me sluggish and I\u2019m glad I was only going a few miles. However, Gu has introduced Hoppy Trails and it tastes just like beer. Unlike actual beer, this product gives you a boost during your run. The company is very clear that there is no alcohol and they also don\u2019t put any caffeine in it. The hoppy flavor isn\u2019t overpowering. While I wouldn\u2019t use this as a go-to gel, given the number of runners who love beer as a post-run refreshment, this is a good way to sneak that flavor in before and during the run without compromising your energy level. In fact, you\u2019ll enhance it.

References used:
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

http:\/\/www.letsrun.com\/news\/2019\/03\/air-force-forgot-to-enter-its-distance-runners-for-mountain-west-conference-meet-colorado-state-won-team-title-as-a-result\/

http:\/\/www.letsrun.com\/news\/2019\/03\/wr-kejelcha-mile-indoor-34701\/ <\/p>\n\n\n\n



<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Air Force Forgot To Enter Its Distance Runners For Mountain West Conference Meet, Colorado State Won Team Title As A Result. The headline on this article pretty much says it all. Someone (or someones) on Air Force\u2019s coaching staff neglected to enter their runners for a conference championship meet. There are several preventative lessons from … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Planning ahead, competing well, and getting over the top\u2026”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9W0ku-9u","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":839,"url":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/09\/the-800m-win\/","url_meta":{"origin":588,"position":0},"title":"The 800M win…","author":"36jonraessler50","date":"January 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"LetsRun.com hosted a fun poll during December asking their readers to determine the best race of the past decade. It was set up in an NCAA tournament bracket style, with 64 races listed at the beginning and they gradually worked down to two. Your running knowledge would have to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1761,"url":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/03\/the-beginning-of-the-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":588,"position":1},"title":"The beginning of the history…","author":"36jonraessler50","date":"April 3, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Before diving into the history of the 5000M and 5K, I note that the two are distinguished from each other: the 5000M is the track version of the distance and the 5K is the road\/cross-country version. 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