When running long and medium distances, not only physical readiness is important for an athlete, but also the ability to competently distribute forces at a distance. Running tactics are just as important as strong legs or endurance.
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In practice, 3 main types of tactics are most often used when running long and medium distances: leading, quick start and fartlek or "ragged running". Let's consider each type of tactics in more detail
Leading
With this tactic, the athlete takes the lead in the race from the very start or in the first laps and leads the entire group to the finish. This tactic is suitable for those athletes who do not have a good finish spurt, but have excellent endurance.
If you are not a finisher, but at the same time you know that in terms of results you are equal to all participants in the race or even surpass them, then in this case it is better not to tempt fate and take everything into your own hands from the very start. If you set a pace that your opponents can't keep up with, you can secure your victory ahead of time by creating a significant lead.
But at the same time, there is a risk of "driving" yourself, and falling down in the last laps, so properly deploy your forces.
Quick finish
For athletes with good finishing acceleration, in the race there is only one task - to keep up with the leading group. If there is a tactical struggle, then the best finisher will celebrate the victory.
If you know that there are many athletes in the race who have the best results in a given distance, then you should not take the lead. Just try to be in the group of leaders and wait for your finest hour at the finish. It should be understood that there are a lot of finishers, so this tactic is more like a lottery, and does not give a guarantee of victory even to the obvious favorites of the race.
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"Ragged run"
The meaning of such a run is to "drive" rivals. By taking on the burden of leadership, you dictate the pace of your run. First, do acceleration, which not many can do, then slow down and rest for a while, then pick up the pace again. With such a run, many competitors will "fall off" from the leading group, since the frequent change of aerobic and anaerobic load will take away the strength of many distancers.
The main problem with this tactic is that you yourself must be prepared for a "ragged run". For this, a special set of trainings is carried out, which is not quite typical for a stayer. However, if you do not have a phenomenal finish, and you will not be able to lead the race either due to poor results, then the competent use of the ragged running tactics can bring victorious results when fighting any opponent.
Running at medium and long distances requires from an athlete not only physical data, but also a competent distribution of forces. Therefore, always think in advance which running tactics you will choose, otherwise your rivals will do it for you.