From lakin@cermav.cnrs.fr.europe Mon Jun 22 09:56:22 EDT 1998
Article: 122192 of rec.running
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From: Miles Lakin 
Newsgroups: rec.running
Subject: Middle Distance ROOLS OK!!!!
Date: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 12:02:34 +0200
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Had a cracking 1Km on Saturday. Middle distance racing at its finest :-)

The meet was part of the French 'low level' league so there were no 2:30
studs around, and it was mixed with Cadet, Junior, and Senior. 

What made it all come together was there being a slew of 5 or 6 of us
with roughly the same ability in a field of ~ 10.

The first lap and 1/2 was all about positioning and a jockeying not to
get boxed in. I decided to sit on the rail in 2nd/3rd place. One guy
took the initiative at 300m and took us round to 600m. I then had to
work my way forward 2 places, but did so by squeezing through on the
rail when the 'opportunity' arose ;-)

At the bell one young lad (who had easily beaten me in an 800m ~ 5 weeks
ago) made his break. I was in a position to be able to react and went
with him. Just sat on his tail down the back straight and round the
final bend. Plus I had the advantage of being the 'hunter' not the
'hunted'. 

Is it just me, or do people generally notice that when you are truly
'racing' like this you never feel the pain. The concentration on the
race is just so intense.

Into the home straight and he went into his closing kick. Suprise,
suprise, I could still hang on, then with 30m to go I thought I'd see
what he's made of and dug really deep to find a bit of 'afterburner' for
the line. I'm certain that this was a rare opportunity to WIN helped me
to find something.

He couldn't respond. Yeah!!!

First time *ever* I've taken someone during the sprint for home. The
best I can usually manage is to hold someone off if they start from a
few paces behind me.

Lopped over 4s off last year's best, and I know I could run quicker in
the right race. But more than that, I think that was probably the most
exciting race I've ever run. It's the COMBINATION of speed and strategy
that makes middle distance running so unbeatable in my book.

Looks like these 10*(100m + 75s) raw speed sessions seem to be paying
off. Might not be for everyone, but for me this was something of an
achilles heel (groan).




  Miles

-- 
 "Focus. Relaxed Form. Stay smooth. Flow. Breathe."
  - gapo '98

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