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Race tactics - it& #39;s not the go to topic. It& #39;s not heavily documented. In many ways it& #39;s neglected. The last thing we think about when all the training is done, but should it be? Surely tactics should be practised too...some thoughts.
Do you go off hard and fast and hang on? Do you go off at a constant (even) pace and maintain? Do you go off at an even pace but try and elevate the second half. And are there other adaptions that athletes should be ready for if they are going to get the outcomes they require?
Which leads me to my own tactics. I wasn& #39;t the most gifted athlete and my achievements are relatively moderate in the big picture. But, I did employ tactics. I knew what my strengths and weaknesses were. It took a few years to work this out, but I did.
My strength...going off hard. My weakness...maintaining speed over considerably longer distances. Thus I was constrained by this tactic and it was also influenced by the opposition. Knowing opposition is an important consideration. But it doesn& #39;t mean you can& #39;t employ said tactic
So, going off hard was my tactic of choice. If the opposition was of a certain standard, I could get away early and run freely. And yes on many occasions win. Maybe not always high class races, but a win is a win. Someone has to win!
Other tactics I tried but with less effect. However my coach did give me a couple of things to try at particular points in a race and these worked really well for me. My coach was a higher class athlete, but these tactics worked at my level and could cascade down to any level.
One tactic was when chasing a pack or chasing a leader. The idea was to elevate an already strong race pace by digging deeper. The idea was to close eyes and push even harder for 10-20 secs, then open to see if the gap closed. Sounds mad, but it did work.
Another tactic...particularly if leading was to put in a burst of faster running for a very short period of time. It was to be deployed when turning a corner so you were out of sight of the chaser or chasing pack.
So, when you turn the corner, you run an even faster pace for 30 secs. Get the legs turning over quicker and chop the stride. The idea was to create a gap, so that when you come into sight, you have gone further away.
What tactics have you deployed? What worked best? What would you like to try in the future? Are you going to practise them?
