How Important Having A Running Strategy Really Is?
Now that the Fall marathon season is coming to an end, I am hearing a lot about race strategies. Some of this talk is from elite runners who talk about "drafting" and the strategic advantages of "negative splits", but I am wondering how important having a strategy really is when it comes to racing? Isn't the only useful strategy to run faster than everyone else? - Strategic Overload
Dear Overload,
You wouldn't think that having an elaborate strategy would help you, especially for shorter races, but the fact is that having some sort of basic plan is always a good idea. One of the great things about being a runner (and as such being one who frequently competes in road races) is that we are most likely to be able to develop, over time, certain skills that will help us on the path to running our best.
There are three basic and general strategies that you can follow in shaping your own plan for success. As usual, the advice given here is not something that you will find in any of those mass media publications or, for that matter, anywhere else on the planet. But, before I give you these ultra secret race strategies, I must make clear some important facts:
First, these strategies have never been written down before, thus you and the other lucky visitors to Run The Planet are, once again, receiving some state of the art, highly valuable information that will change your life as a runner and bring you ever lasting success.
Second, these ultra secret race strategies must not be divulged unto anyone. If you feel that you must share these secrets with friends or family members, I will have to ask you to promise to send them to www.runtheplanet.com so that they can learn them directly from the source. These secret strategies must be followed strictly verbatim, and the only sure fire way to guarantee that is for you to send them to this website with the same promise of confidentiality. Spread the word if you must, but make sure they read these instructions directly themselves.
Finally, remember that these super ultra secret race strategies are absolutely guaranteed to make you succeed, but you must follow the directions exactly as they are transcribed here, regardless of how strange or doubtful they may seem on the surface. Failure to do so will not only lead to your own personal disaster, but will likely lead to your demise as a runner, and the degradation of the sport itself.
With that in mind, a positive and open attitude and your sworn promise to adhere to the strategies exactly as they are worded, let us now reveal the three most important race strategies that you have ever discovered:
Basic Super Ultra Secret Race Strategy Number One: Always remember these strategies.
Basic Super Ultra Secret Race Strategy Number Two: If you are ever competing in a race that I, Steve Walker, am entered and running in, never pass me, and let me win.
Basic Super Ultra Secret Race Strategy Number Three: If you are ever competing in a race that I, Steve Walker, am entered and running in, convince everyone you meet to never pass me, and let me win.
I am convinced that by following these basic super ultra secret race strategies you'll achieve all your racing goals, I'll achieve all my racing goals, and the world will be a different place.
Run long and taper.
