Hi Wild,Hi Nubian, googling the likes of sprint athletes and acidosis will probably explain what I mean but lactic acid isn't the only factor, there are many that come into play.
Being unfamiliar with Usian Bolt I googled him, physically I'd say he looked like a sprinter, especially when you compare him to the likes of a Kenyan long distance athlete.
To me, I consider that over 150yds there is no margin for error, it's not just a matter of trapping well and going full pelt, being able to hold this is important too, especially with dogs that are stronger finishers coming up from behind. Miss the lids with either a dog with early pace or a strong finisher and it will often cost them a win, I actually like the idea that there is no margin for error and consider it a proper race.
What would you consider to be a ''real'' test? It'd be interesting to see what you think would be and I bet there's a dog out there that'll cater for it, whether it's a non-ped on the straights is another matter.
Sorry for the late response on this. The point I was making about sprinters is that I know they are made up totally differently to long distance runners. In a nutshull, as far as Africans are concerned West Africans and their descendants(ie West Indians and black Americans )produce sprinters whereas East Africans produce middle and long distance runners. Yes, they are all Africans but their muscle fibre make-up is entirely different. To me it is the same with whippets and greyhounds. Both are sprinters whether they specialise in 150 yards to 1100 yards. Comparing sprinters with marathon runners would be like comparing greyhounds/whippets to say African Hunting dogs which are the true marathon runners of the canine world- they can chase a wildebeest all night until it just collapses!
I've gone on a bit here but what I am trying to say is that whippets are all in essence sprinters but which whippets are truly the fastest sprinters? In human beings I think it is fair to say that the fastest over 100 metres are the ones with the highest top speed but with whippets I just struggle to see how 150 yards is the equivalent distance. From my admittedly inexperienced observations my guess is that this is probably the equivalent of a human racing over 40 or 50 meteres and is not really long enough to show the very fastest whippets. I have no idea what the optimum distance is maybe 250 to 300 yards? All I am asking is whether there is a better way than the current one to judge?
Like i said before this is a RIDICULOUS idea. You can not expect a 16lb whippet to run 250yds, 5 times in one day. 150yds is an ample distance for them to reach their top speed. The usual weight grades in handicap racing range from 16 to 32lbs. If they were only running ONCE or TWICE it would be a feasable idea if the handicapping was changed to accomodate the smaller whippets. Any top class whippet up to 32lb will reach its top speed well before the 150yd. mark. Whippet racing is about speed out of the traps & their ability to maintain this speed over 150,160,yds etc If anything needs changing it is the handicapping.[ but i dont think this would help as it would only favour the bigger dogs] The majority of racers are happy with the way racing is at the moment, it is just the handicapping they are not happy with.
