Observational Learning 002

Posted on February 21, 2009 by CoachJay

Not much going on this weekend in terms of collegiate and post-collegiate meets, so I thought I’d share the women’s fast heat of the mile from the Husky Classic.  I’m lucky to work with Sara Vaughn who PRed in this race by running 4:38.6.  She’s wearing a dark green top and a black bottoms; in the first lap she’ll be in the back, on the rail.  Sara was is sick – not horrible sick, but not 100% either – so she ran conservatively.  Enjoy the video and I’ll comment on Sunday or Monday.

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  • billzeebub
    You should link this page to your "why so negative" piece on the coaching site.

    Kelly Holmes Olympic double was another fine example of negative splits being brought into play effectively against athletes of equal ability.

    There's a fine line between saving yourself for the 2nd half of your race and saving it all up for the final 200m, but only one of these will produce performances which match your potential and it's never going to be the latter. Whilst banging off at the front can be fun for up to 3/4 distance, it's likely to get messy over the final 1/4 distance as you work your way back through the field, whilst trying to cling to those who've just used the target you painted on your back when the gun went.

    It's all about racing smart. If YOU race smart in an evenly matched field, then the odds are that you've already got half your opposition beat and that's a huge load off your mind going into competition.
  • T Floeck
    Jay....don't tell anyone, haha. No seriously I have friends who coach who would be upset with this observational learning. They think it is a big secret, pace that is.

    I love the arguments about pace, because I love it that most people feel the need to "get out hard." I also love that most people are absolutely set in this mind frame, because I will continue to try to capitalize on the mistakes of others as a coach.

    About this video specifically, it is hard to get splits, but from what I can tell there are about seven women at least who ran a faster last 800 or 808 meters than the previous 800 meters. I think they were around 2:20 at 800 meters. I also noticed the women who seem to chill in the back and waited the longest to strike (Lauren Centrowitz the winner) seemed to run the strongest races, although Amy Yoder-Begley pushing the pace like that may have helped the overall time. Sara was impressive and it takes confidence to relax in the back and then go to work at the end, typically that confidence comes from experience in being able to execute this type of race in the past.

    I don't know how many times I've heard. "I went out conservatively in this race..." and found out the person ran a PB. I know I've heard that often. Despite this I know there are a lot of people who will disagree with this philosophy on racing....and I LOVE IT!

    "The idea that you can't lose contact with the leaders has cut more throats than it has saved." - Arthur Lydiard

    But really....you need to get out HARD. Establish position, always!

  • Who ran a negative split race?
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