Janoš's race brief, bearing-in-mind, that, he was ranked fourth in the race, was to stay with the leading three for as long as possible. Every element of Vorsprung training would be required:speed-work, BC sessionsandgym work. If he was going to get anywhere in the top three, he needed to embrace the BC sessions and allow himself to be 'pulled' along by the leaders. If he was in-touch with 300 metres to go, his ability to pull people in (learnt from the nature of how his training sessions work with training partners staggered ahead of him) would be invaluable. His kick at 200 metres and 120 metres should be better than any of the faster rivals, as their 400 and 200 metres times were good but, not impressive. Added to this was the knowledge, that, two of the fastest runners hadn't achieved their PB's this year and one hadn't raced anything below 5000 metres this year.
All this information is given to Janoš, as part of his pre-race package: being part of the coaching programme provided byThe Vorsprung Academy. This is what you pay for!
The added work and insight into how to race at any given event and a coach with elite race experience who researches the fine details to allow the athlete to have every chance, every 1% in their favour.
In the end, his second mile race ever, there are few mistakes: several worrisome moments, though. His start was better than his last mile race. Despite being pushed aside in the first few metres from his running line (something a winter of more gym-work will resolve) he held his line and commanded his space well. He does take the longer route, running in lane two most of the race. However, he runs in lane two in track training sessions, so this was not too much of a worry. His decision, though suggested by his coach (Vranek) to take the race on if he felt it was within his grasp, did cause some anxiety. With 450 metres to go, he had assessed, that, the leading runner was tiring and observed (as he had be provided with the race numbers of his main rivals) that neither of the two he was with were faster than him, so he made the decision to hit the front.
Racing isn't about turning-up on the day and running as fast as you can. At this level Janoš is starting to compete at, he needs to be intelligent and learn quickly. His preparations were not up to the standard that is expect of aVorsprungathlete on this occasion. However, he learnt who the threats were in the race, listened to the various race plans and decided at 450 metres to go, which of the race plans provided by the coach was best suited to the situation.
The challenge, in this race, was to find-out if he could front-run. Something he has never attempted. A kick at 200 metres to go, clearly, shifts the pace out of reach of the competitor in second place, and his second kick at 120 metres (the two-kick system, now, routine) maintained the speed down the home-straight.
Looking at his posture past the finish line, he isn't at all flustered or keeling-over. His form in the last 600 metres showed how effective theVorsprunggym sessions are, and how important they are to help achieve better performances.
Once again Janoš wins a mile race in England, and is the only representative from Wales.
A mixed heritage, London-born, Liverpool supporting, Welsh athlete goes to the heart of Manchester and steals the race from under the locals' noses: doesn't get much better than that!
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