High schools in Texas race a fake mile. We actually run a 1600m race which is technically a little bit longer than a mile but is much simpler than trying to get the conversion correct down to the inch, wait centimeter, wait... screw the conversions. That is why we race a 1600m "mile". Outside of Texas, and throughout the rest of the world, the common "mile" race is 1500m long. But we are Texas and everything is bigger in Texas, including our mile :)
So when racing a mile, it must be broken down into specific parts with specific plans for each part. In competitive racing it is not always the fastest or strongest runner who wins, but often times the one who races the smartest. There are 3 ways the 1600 is commonly split up:
1) into four 400m laps
2) into eight 200m half laps
3) into sixteen 100m quarter laps
For simplicity, I will be using the second of the three ways in this post. I personally used the third more often, but I honestly don't feel like having to explain every single 100m.
Prior to race start, a runner (or their coach in many people's cases) comes up with a goal time. For this post, that goal time will be a 4:32 mile (or 1600m if you want to get technical). Once you have a goal time, you must break that up into splits for every interval you will be doing (200m in this example). So, a 200m split for a 4:32 mile is 34 seconds.
Once you have this split, this is you goal time. You are no longer racing 1600 meters but instead, you are only racing the next 200 meters which must be done within the split time. However, you must be careful. If you run to fast ahead of your split, you will die before the finish. If you run to slow behind your split, you will not hit your goal time. So you must constantly be paying attention and making sure you hit each 200 meters right around the correct split.
More complicated than just going out and running a mile? I thought so. Good new? This is just the beginning.
Before I continue, I want to go into what runners are thinking throughout different parts of a mile long race. Clarification: what a person, not following the science and strategy laid out in this post is thinking. At the start, each person wants to get out fast. No one wants to be stuck in last place at the beginning because it is more work trying to catch up later. Many people try to jump out in the lead. They think if they push hard enough and fast enough at the beginning, they may be able to gap everyone else and hold on to the lead until the finish. This rarely, if ever, works. A race is never won in the first minute, but it can be lost.
Once the runners get about 200 meters in, everyone begins to relax. People settle into position and find their pace (or at least the pace they think they are going to run). Again, many people try to settle into a pace that is too fast too early and cause themselves to lose the race. Once runners are through the first lap, people are trying to hold position. No one is making any stupid moves (usually, although I have seen it done). Everyone is usually just chillin out and trying to stay close enough to the front if not hold the front.
The third lap is where it gets interesting. Most runners, anticipating a very fast final lap, will slow down just a tad during the third lap. They are attempting to store up energy so that they can have a strong finish and hopefully out kick anyone who is near them at the finish. Again, this is the wrong idea. A brilliant man once told me, no one ever races a full 1600 meters. Everyone takes at least 1 lap off at some point during the race. For most people, this is the lap they choose to take off, even if subconsciously.
Finally, the final lap is upon us (see what I did there with the word final, lol). This is where all the fun is. Every single person realizes they only have 400 meters left. Just one more lap around the track. Every single runner who has not made a stupid mistake by this point is constantly picking up the pace and trying to drop people. The final 200 meters off a distance race are always the most exciting. All runners will push themselves into a final sprint, known as a kick, at some point during the final 200 meters. Depending on how much a runner has left, determines how early a person can start their final kick. Then the runners cross the finish line and it is all over.
Now, to explain how a smart person runs a mile long race.
As I said when describing the third lap, no one races a full 1600 meter race. Every one takes at least one lap off at some point. My strategy? Get that lap out of the way at the beginning of the race. When the gun goes off, I have 100 meters to get into position. Once I am around the first curve and on the back stretch, I settle into my pace that was determined before the race started (34 seconds per 200). I will of course be a few seconds fast from the start. My goal after the first 200 meters is to keep whatever lead I have on my splits. So if I ran the first split in 32 seconds, I would be 2 seconds ahead of pace. Therefore, when I come through the next 200 meters, I want to have settled into my 34 second split and hold my 2 second lead on my pace.
Throughout the first lap, I am not worried about position. The thing I am most concerned with is the distance I allow to come between me and the leader. I must decide within that first lap how strong the front runner is. Will he be able to hold the pace he is currently at? Will he die? How soon will he die? Will I be able to catch him if he does die? If he doesn't die will I be able to catch him later in the race? (Just clarification, by die I mean run out of energy and basically stop) If I am in the lead after the first lap, I must get some information from my coach and answer questions. How far ahead am I? How strong are the closest guys to me looking? Do they look like they are just waiting til the end to pass me or will I continue to gap them? How windy is it? Do I need to settle down even slower than my pace to allow another guy to take the wind for me? Can I hold the pace I am at or did I go out too fast and need to relax more?
All of these questions and many more must be answered within the first 400 meters of the race. Failure to correctly answer any of these questions could cause you to make a mistake in your strategy and ultimately could cost you the race. To put a time limit on all of this, at the pace I am using in this example, I would have 1 minute and 8 seconds to answer every question and adjust my strategy accordingly. It has to become second nature, or you won't know what to do.
During the second lap, assuming it is a normal race and I am within striking distance of the leader, I settle down into my pace and just stick with the leader. If he picks it up and looks like he will hold it, I pick it up but no faster. I am not trying to pass him yet. If he slows down, I slow down (unless it is going to ruin my pace and I know I can take him - then you get to have fun and find out how smart the other guy is). But let's assume he runs like a normal person who I described earlier in the post. During the second lap he will be just trying to hold position. Since, he is in the lead, he will not be pushing the pace much. He will try to build up a gap, but he will also be saving energy for the final lap. Ultimately, the second lap is pretty boring. All I do is stick with the leader or hold my pace if I am in the lead.
The third lap is where things get crazy. Remember I said most people take this lap off to prepare for the final lap. That is where most runners make their mistake. As they slow down to conserve energy, having already run 2 hard laps, I take off. This is the lap where I take over the race. I want to drop the runner and break him. If he decides I am going too fast for him to hold on, he will give up mentally and I have basically already won the race. However, if he does try to hold on, he is giving up his only chance at an easy lap. I took my "easy" lap early in the race and am ready to throw down three fast laps. This guy threw down two hard laps already and is now giving his third. Unless he is an extremely strong runner, both mentally and physically, he will die. It is only a matter of time.
As we approach the final lap, I get ready to fly. Passing the start/finish line and crossing over into that fourth and final lap of the race, I relax my body and let the race run itself. I maintain whatever pace I was running in the third lap through the first curve of the fourth lap. Then it's finally go time. As I said, most runners wait until at least 200 meters left to begin their kick. I was trained in high school to start at the 300 meter mark. Anybody who is still with me will be dead by now. They will have given up their chance at an easy third lap to hang with me in hopes of being able to out kick me on the final straight away. Unfortunately, they will never get the chance.
By starting the final kick so early, you force your opponents to give everything they have too early. They aren't prepared to go into an all-out sprint for this long of a distance and won't physically be able to hold it. All I have to do is hold on long enough, knowing anyone with me will die sooner or later, and then cross the finish line and collect my gold metal.
This is a very simplified break down of a strategy for running a mile. Anyone who thinks running is simply placing one foot in front of the other has never truly raced a mile before. This also assumes that everyone acts rationally throughout the entire race. I'm not sure I have ever seen that happen, but it would be too difficult to write about every single possible twist in the plan that could arise. I hope this was beneficial, and if not, at least interesting to read.
Remember to always thank God for the gifts we have and the abilities we have been given. I know there are tons of people who only dream of being able to run, and must constantly remind myself not to take this gift for granted.
I have learned all of this over the past 3 years but I never heard/ read it all at once and it makes even more sense all together than learning it in parts as you go. I agree with everything you said especially the part in which you call Lovell a "brilliant man" haha he really does know his stuff and has taught us well. And I would like to back your statement up on how running as fast as you can as long as you can usually leaves you choking on the last lap. I learned that my freshman year as well as the first few races of my sophomore year. Build up a huge gap and hold onto it and your golden. Well it doesn't really work like that. I lost those races because of my choice of strategy (a strategy nonetheless) and from Matt and Lovell, learned another. I think Matt had perfected this long before I had and since he ran smarter, this was just another reason why he beat me. It took me a crushing defeat at McNeil to learn how to race. And I feel like I came close to perfected it at Track State through the mentoring of my brother and my coach. Once again, I'd like to say that I love seeing the philosophy and strategy I learned written out and defined through text all in one place. You did a great job putting words to the lessons.
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