TRAIN FAST TO RACE FAST

Every athlete knows that you can't win without training. But what happens if you train for your event, but never win---or even place? Could it be that you don't train the way that you race?

A great coach once said, "It isn't practice that makes perfect, it's perfect practice that makes perfect."

In other words, some of your training should be an exact duplicate of what you will do when competing. Race, even though it isn't race day. You may go over the terrain, picking out places on the course where you can pick up speed or take a risk, but unless you actually practice getting accustomed to speed, you won't be as fast as your potential permits.

Think about the element of speed in a race. When you are competing, you want your body to move instinctively. Thinking out your moves is slow; the thought must go from the your body to your brain to be analyzed and then back to your body again for the necessary action. But for a consistently winning athlete, speed is something on the edge of control, on the far edge of the conscious mind. In fact, an athlete in the 'zone' may not be having any coherent thoughts at all. The body is set free to act and react, the mind is just along for the ride.

Speed is a concept the mind must put into its memory, so training for instinctive speed can't be accomplished only on the field of competition. You must be able to call it up at will, under any circumstances, regardless of anything else going on.

Do your speed accustomization several times a day. It could be running upstairs to put clothing away or going out to get the mail. How fast can you do it? How much extra motion can you eliminate? Watch any elite athlete; they make no unnecessary movements. Economy of motion is the mark of a good athlete. As you speed at various tasks for two or three minutes at a time, do it several ways: one on the edge of control, 'out of your mind,' as it were; the other while paying attention to the way you move, the way you take the corners and reach for something. Notice where you may be making unnecessary movement that takes unnecessary time and energy. Anything that doesn't directly contribute your forward motion should be dropped; the hand flung out when it's not needed for balance, the stutter step as you run around a corner. Practice streamlining the movements of something as simple as going in another room to turn off a switch.

The goal is to create a habit pattern that will eventually happen on an unconscious level, so that you are not even aware of eliminating excess movement as you do it.

The one thing to keep in mind is that this is not sprinting practice. You are not just trying to go as fast as you can to the fridge to get a snack. No, what you are trying to do is get your entire organism accustomed to instantly going from normal pace to speed---from five to 60 in one second. Your goal is to train yourself to know what it feels like to move at speed, so the feeling is not scary and you are not hesitant. Think of it like this: here's no 'ready or set,' there is only 'go.'