Short distance sprints are a specialization.
Athletes who run 100 & 200m will participate in only
these events, in addition to the 4x100m relay.
In any competition, that is a heavy workload. 1 heat and 1
final for the 100m and 200m plus the relay.
That makes it a total of 5 races where you need to go flat
out in your sprint.
It doesn’t sound like much to a regular bystander but it is
a lot. Athletes need to give everything they have in their tank 5 times over.
This means that an athlete competing in these races should
not stretch himself or herself to other categories. It takes away from the
limited energy they have, reducing their chances of a win.
But in regular school and district tournaments, where pride
and bragging rights were on the line, this logic wouldn’t hold.
Every school had 1 or 2 stand out athletes whose discipline
and talent made them gifted; i.e. their ability to perform well even in
categories they did not specialize in was high.
It was routine to see a short distance runner participate in
the long and high jump. A 800m runner also compete in the short distance races.
They wouldn’t win a Gold but would snag a Silver or a
Bronze, which counted on the overall medals tally.
The schools or districts weren’t to blame. Professional or
semi-professional sportsmen who are young and immature, like I was, want the
metal and the glory. We would willingly stretch ourselves.
In one of my college tournaments, I was captaining our team
in the inter-division sports tournament. Naturally, I was desperate to win.
In my hunger for the tournament win, I participated in the long
and high jump events. I won the gold in the long jump. Got a bronze in the high
jump.
But in the bargain, I sprained my ankle.
And in the event that most mattered to me, the 100m; which
happened the next day, I lost the gold. I simply did not have the stride to
compete.
We won the tournament. But it did not matter. My only memory
of that event is the regret of losing the 100m to an athlete who wasn’t as good
as me, because I was stupid enough to compete in categories that weren’t my
speciality.
It taught me a very important lesson “Not every race needs
to be run”.
I try hard to apply this to work. For me to be a reasonable
marketer, I need to focus on more core strengths of crafting. Trying to do a
sales, R&D or creative job will only give me lesser time to focus on my
craft and make a lesser marketer. Admittedly, I need to get better at this. I
do tend to step into the roles of functions I am not meant to.
It is at these times that I need to remind myself “Not every
race needs to be run”.
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