Craik Evans LPHS Running

Nike Cross Country Nationals

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Location:

UT,America

Member Since:

Feb 15, 2015

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Highschool Champ

Running Accomplishments:

2017 Cross Country

15.29.9 3 Mile

2017 Track

4:23 1600

1:57.47 800

52 400

 

 

 

Short-Term Running Goals:

 

Sub 1:52 800

Sub 4:15 1600

Sub 9:20 3200

Break school record in 800 and 1600

 

 

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

A respectable medical associate.

Personal:

17 

mere seconds off the 100m crabwalk WR

lpxc

also the best running fuel is a breakfast burrito 4 hours before your race 

Favorite Blogs:

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Asics Gel-Excite Lifetime Miles: 875.19
Saucony Kinvara 6 Lifetime Miles: 108.00
Race: Nike Cross Country Nationals (3.107 Miles) 00:16:38, Place overall: 138
Total Distance
7.12

I woke up this morning and all of the sudden I realized that I was racing at nationals. So I started to get real nervous. Then I remembered Evan Jager's advice: "If you are nervous, that means you care." Anyway the flag went down and the gun went off. I realized that if I don't take it out fast I never run a very fast race, so I just went out and focused on the ground to make sure I didn't fall. Then at the 1 mile mark I just hung with Seth. At about 2000 meters, Seth, Justin, and I were running all really close. It stayed that way till 2.5 miles. Then Justin and Seth started pullin away a little bit. Then we just kicked it in at about the same speed, they were just 65 yards away. Anyway it was a very prestigious race. S/O to Conner Baller who finished 9th at footlocker west and secured himself a spot at Foot Locker Nationals.

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00
Comments
From Connor Baller on Sat, Dec 05, 2015 at 23:52:43 from 64.31.117.174

Thank you for the shout out!

From Glory in the long run on Sun, Dec 06, 2015 at 06:27:27 from 174.23.236.120

You've gotta run how you feel is best, but the last mile is triple the importance of the first mile. Your splits: 16:38.5 1:35.2 5:21.0 3:19.7 4:57.0(107) 10:27.5(125) 14:50.1(133)

Notice how you lost ground throughout the race. Acc. to my calculations your last mile pace is 5:46 to 2.75m and 5.37 the last 1.1 miles. So you made a good increase the last 1/4 but that's still an 18% decrease in pace from your first mile to your last. If you focus on running even splits, you'd actually be faster overall.

Take it for what it's worth. Negative or even split running is always faster.

You're a great runner. I look forward to seeing your continued progress.

You're much faster than I ever was, I'm just a guy who loves running and seeing people do their best.

From fiddy on Sun, Dec 06, 2015 at 16:09:38 from 24.99.46.55

Hey man, I'm sure you mean well, but you need to stop posting this on every single HSer's race report. Racing XC is very, very different from a road race, especially racing a big, highly competitive race like NXN. Also, I imagine that all these guys understand the concept of pacing themselves.

From fiddy on Sun, Dec 06, 2015 at 16:10:46 from 24.99.46.55

Oh and good job on your race, Craik.

From Spencer Smith on Sun, Dec 06, 2015 at 16:16:21 from 174.52.167.138

^lol

From Glory in the long run on Mon, Dec 07, 2015 at 01:11:51 from 174.23.236.120

Racing is racing Fiddy. Yes, racing cross-country is different because of the varying terrain, but the rules for not going out too fast still apply--especially for highschoolers. The only problem with highschoolers is they can't trust the fact that if they hold back, they'll have more at the end. They have to have the courage to let others go ahead.

Look at the Bozeman cross team at Nats. Every single one of their runners moved up in the last half of the race. That's good racing.

Not even many of the college runners truly understand the idea of pacing themselves, so it's always a good lesson.

It's just a simple fact that even or negative split races are ALWAYS the faster races.

From Jamison Wilkes on Mon, Dec 07, 2015 at 07:26:26 from 174.23.103.205

The rules for nor going out too fast definitely do not apply in cross country like they do in road racing. I don't know if you ran in high school, but if you don't go out hard in a race such as nxn or footlocker you've practically already lost and don't have a chance and are no longer in the race. Craik had an awesome race, and you honestly have no credibility to be criticizing everyone's races

From Glory in the long run on Tue, Dec 08, 2015 at 09:56:46 from 174.23.236.120

The rules for not going out too hard apply to racing across the board. It's just a standard myth that it doesn't apply in cross-country. While I agree that cross country sometimes has narrow courses and it's hard to pass the fact is in order to run one's best race you simply cannot sap your strength in the first mile.

Why has Colorado consistently been the best college cross country team for the last 10 years? Because they always pass people in the last 2K. Syracuse used Colorado's playbook this year and managed to beat Colorado. But Colorado consistently is in the back of the pack after the first mile, and yet they consistently make the podium.

Getting out fast matters to the top 2% of runners who will be maintaining that pace throughout the race for everyone else who is going to run their 2nd mile 15 seconds slower and their 3rd mile 15-30 seconds slower than that it's simply idiotic.

I'll back up my credibility with this any day.

From Spencer Smith on Tue, Dec 08, 2015 at 10:12:05 from 172.58.73.236

Race strategies depend on the person. Craik, for instance, is a good kicker. He gets out hard, keeps it the same for the second mile, and passes a bunch in the last mile. Although his last mile wasn't the fastest, he still moved up in positio n. Holding the first mile does work, but it depends on the type of runner you are.

From Justin on Wed, Dec 09, 2015 at 18:20:16 from 73.228.127.103

Anyways you need to get out fast so you can get into a good pack that you can stay with till the end. and glory in the long run, if you know so much about racing than why don't you break 16 for a 5k.

From Zack Ericksen on Wed, Dec 09, 2015 at 18:56:19 from 74.81.234.23

Glory in the Long Run. I enjoy negative splitting, in fact most of my freshman and sophomore times are negative splitting but sometimes you just have to go for it all. Look at Katie Rainsberger, she hit 5:15 for her first mile, but her average was 5:26, so a significant slow down. She still won by a lot, she ran on guts and went for glory.

From Spencer Smith on Wed, Dec 09, 2015 at 21:33:38 from 174.52.167.138

^ and if you watch katie's race, she pulled away significantly the last mile

From craikevans on Thu, Dec 10, 2015 at 20:24:42 from 174.52.89.208

Well ok

From Glory in the long run on Mon, Dec 14, 2015 at 00:17:26 from 174.23.236.120

Love the comments. You're right Justin, I've never broken 16 for a 5K, but I've coached many who have.

I agree that getting out in a pack that you can run with is important, and getting beyond the psychological burden of running from behind is probably important for most highschoolers who even after several years of running are still learning to race to their potential.

I also agree that if you don't have guts you gets no glory. Problem is for every person who runs guts, guts, glory there are 99 who run guts, guts, goner.

Best to run good, then guts, then glory.

From Glory in the long run on Mon, Dec 14, 2015 at 00:19:24 from 174.23.236.120

And good race Craik. Knowing that you're a kicker is an important strategy, and you did run a great race and a great last mile. Here's to even more great races for you in the future.

Thanks for letting us use these race comments to have a great discussion.

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