Jay Mitchell writes...
>Damn. I wondered why I was having to run so hard to >get cones back up and
out of the way in time for the >next car. That answers
>it. I'll time 'em myself next time and bitch to
>Control if they get that close together.
Wow. Fifteen second overlaps is a bad idea. I repeat, a BAD IDEA. Even in
the health conscious San Francisco Bay Area, where we all double up as
triathletes, fifteen second overlaps is dangerous. Even though we can sprint
like the wind, no one can get a course set up that fast. No wonder there
were so many reruns.
Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, where we also double up as aerobic
instructors, we've been getting close to 270 entrants, more than half of
them are either brand new, or in their first year. That's a rough statistic.
I'm too busy working out to really examine the statistics. Yet, we get them
all through. It's crazy and hectic, but we all double up as yogis and or
students of the New Age, so we can handle it. 25 second overlaps work best.
Suggestions to support the enclave:
1. Remove the audit, or at least reduce the frequency of the audit (though I
wasn't at Nationals this year, so I have no idea how that was handled).
2. Increase the number of rungroups, but remove the number of course walks.
You might feel that this reduces the number of course walks you can take,
but if you'd just train for marathons, as we do in the San Francisco Bay
Area, you can increase your course walk laps in a shorter amount of time. I
encourage interval training, or maybe about 15 seconds rest between laps.
Builds your aerobic capacity. Pace is the key.
Also, develop your speedwork for sprinting after down cones. There's no easy
way around this. You've got to build up your lactic acid tolerance, but make
sure you have a good solid course running base, otherwise you'll be hurtin'.
3. Increase the number of days at Nationals.
I'm really glad I could help.
Katie Kelly
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