Cal Club Autocross Forums

With only 3 laps my brain is still on stand by. It feels like 0 to 300 mph from the moment I step on the gas. I'm just not with the program yet. How do you guys get in the groove?

Steve A.

Steve Abbott wrote:With only 3 laps my brain is still on stand by. It feels like 0 to 300 mph from the moment I step on the gas. I'm just not with the program yet. How do you guys get in the groove?

Steve A.

I haven't seen the results yet, but is sounds like you must have been smoked by B stock?

The first thing I do is to really scrutinize the course and note the key areas like we talked about on our course walk. I want to be able to visualize those key areas in my mind. I like to get at least one course walk alone where I can really concentrate on how I want to drive the course. Usually, I'll find a quiet area and drive the course several times in my mind. For me, this always leads to better first runs that I can build off of. With a clear plan in mind, I find it easier to attack the course aggressively right away.

Cupcakes and Skittles...

as George stated, I typically walk the course at least twice and make mental note of key cones that i should be more concerned about. For me that cuts down the effort of trying to memorize the whole course.

Getting used to 10+ runs/day with soft competition at PCA events will do that to you...

Jason Rhoades wrote:Getting used to 10+ runs/day with soft competition at PCA events will do that to you...

Snaaaap.

Depends, are you Marshall or are you Christine? Do you need to pump yourself up or calm yourself down. I can only go fast if I feel like I have huge amounts of pressure on me and I've really pumped myself up. Being pissed about a mistake I made at the beginning of a run usually makes me significantly faster at everything after that. Marshall is the exact opposite.. 100% aggression all the time. Even then i'm still only a 1 in 6 driver at best (ie. I get a fast run once out of every six competition runs). Unfortunately you need to be at least a 1 in 5 driver to do well at a two day national event

Two day events, I walk the course three times the night before, at least one of them by myself, and once the next morning. Making sure I can run the entire thing in my head. That and Caffeine... Mmm... redbull.

Like others, I usually walk the course at least once and run sections through my head, building as I go. Memory is my biggest hurdle and it shows I wasn't on the ball yesterday considering where I wound up. I also knew there was more time on course I missed from not being adequately 'run in' on my own. I get distracted easily as well, so perhaps I need to take the suggestion to do a course walk on my own or at least not without company distracting me.

Once you can visualize it, things get easier since you learn to anticipate the next opening more than if you were just looking ahead alone.

Hardstyle or other electronic music.

Jason Rhoades wrote:Getting used to 10+ runs/day with soft competition at PCA events will do that to you...

All the track day sessions with his slow vette buddies is not helping either.

Curt Luther wrote:Cupcakes and Skittles...

I know who's nick name that is. I thought Ashley is back east. }:)

I try to place myself in a zone using several mental triggers (I don't always use all of them and I have more, but these are some examples) - 1) I turn my head all the way to the left and right; 2) focus my eyes on the horizon and relax enough to see peripherally; 3) think of a memory of something I did really well and put myself in that space while breathing deeply - sometimes I can recall it with a simple keyword or phrase; 4) play a fast song mentally while I drum along (several starters have seen me do this one); 5) talk to myself (encouragingly).

That's pretty much helped me go from midpack to ... midpack.

Actually, any combination of the above help me go from 2-3 seconds back to between 0-1 seconds when I'm on my game.

It's going to be different for everyone, I'm sure. Some people have to work a lot less at it than others.

Leonard Cachola wrote:I try to place myself in a zone using several mental triggers (I don't always use all of them and I have more, but these are some examples) - 1) I turn my head all the way to the left and right; 2) focus my eyes on the horizon and relax enough to see peripherally; 3) think of a memory of something I did really well and put myself in that space while breathing deeply - sometimes I can recall it with a simply keyword or phrase; 4) play a fast song mentally while I drum along (several starters have seen me do this one); 5) talk to myself (encouragingly).

That's pretty much helped me go from midpack to ... midpack.

It's going to be different for everyone, I'm sure. Some people have to work a lot less at it than others.

I think I'm too old to adopt your method Leonard. I'm sure I'd get stuck at number one. Either my neck would crack and I'd be in distracting pain for the run..........or I'd be so disoriented from moving my head side to side that I'd be asking the starter, "Hey, where am I? Can you tell me how I can get home from here? Who put this helmet on my head?"

It would be funny if it weren't true.

At a regional event I typically walk the course with others while chatting about anything including the course. Try to pay attention to a few key points, but mostly I'm there for the social aspect and some fun while running. (I can often be seen chatting with competitors between runs.)

Once walked I have a basic idea of what I'm going to do, run it the first time, and adjust based upon "feel" vs. times of others in class. (What do I need to do to keep ahead or catchup.)

At a National Tour or Pro Solo, I walk the course several times, typically with others, but conversation is kept to how to run the course. I'll usually walk once more by myself just before last light when few are on the course and one can see ahead. Overnight I try to run the course in my head. I then walk again early (before the course gets filled with people) see if my mental runs the night before match what I'm seeing in person again. I might walk a time or two again this time with others.

By the time I'm done I can mentally run the course in real time (give or take a few seconds) behind my steering wheal while leaning as I would on course within the car etc.

For both, if I run after the Lunch break I also look for where the dirty line is and adjust my plan based upon what is clean vs. dirty. Sadly changing my plan based upon dirty vs. clean is more common that I wish it was. I personally like like first run group for this reason.

Edit: Oh yea, a couple of slow deep breaths at the start line, and I leave when I'm ready, not just upon given the go-ahead.

George Schilling wrote:
I think I'm too old to adopt your method Leonard. I'm sure I'd get stuck at number one. Either my neck would crack and I'd be in distracting pain for the run.........

I never said mine didn't crack or hurt!

pop my fingers and then slap my hands together in a clapping motion or on my thighs. Kinda like patty-cake.

I always like to do a good mental course run-through while sitting in grid.

I'm jealous of you guys, even though I have very good memory I can't memorize an auto-x course in my head just after walking it a couple of times... I'm still amazed how people can do that!

Christos Adam wrote:I'm jealous of you guys, even though I have very good memory I can't memorize an auto-x course in my head just after walking it a couple of times... I'm still amazed how people can do that!

Usually it just boils down to a few key components you commit to memory, then look ahead. Better to have a bit of mystery so you'll have to look ahead. Notice that after running a course 12 times and you do have it memorized, looking ahead becomes less important. This is not a good habit to get in to.

Christos Adam wrote:I'm jealous of you guys, even though I have very good memory I can't memorize an auto-x course in my head just after walking it a couple of times... I'm still amazed how people can do that!

You should be LOOKING AHEAD, and not memorizing. That way what you have in memory is superceded by what your eyes are seeing at that moment while driving on course. On a practice day, by the 6th run, you'll find yourself not looking ahead and going by memory which is fine. But at a champ event or a National-type of event where the pressure and intensity builds, looking ahead is what they teach you.

EDIT: George beat me to it.

Michael Palero wrote:Hardstyle or other electronic music.

Techno & Vietnamese Coffee & sandwiches

Tom Denham wrote:

Curt Luther wrote:Cupcakes and Skittles...

I know who's nick name that is. I thought Ashley is back east. }:)

They're all back east...

George Schilling wrote:

Christos Adam wrote:I'm jealous of you guys, even though I have very good memory I can't memorize an auto-x course in my head just after walking it a couple of times... I'm still amazed how people can do that!

Usually it just boils down to a few key components you commit to memory, then look ahead. Better to have a bit of mystery so you'll have to look ahead. Notice that after running a course 12 times and you do have it memorized, looking ahead becomes less important. This is not a good habit to get in to.

That's good, that's what I basically do with my limited memory remember a few tricky parts and just looking ahead during the course - but I get jealous when people say "I close my eyes and I remember all the turns - I play the course like a video in my head" ... I guess that might come too with experience... :mrt:

Quoc-Viet Dang wrote:

Michael Palero wrote:Hardstyle or other electronic music.

Techno & Vietnamese Coffee & sandwiches

I distinctly remember WHAM! when you drove by me on course....

KJ Christopher wrote:I distinctly remember WHAM! when you drove by me on course....

He wakes me up before I go go! I gotta find that CD again, I did some of my best runs to that song.

Christos Adam wrote:

George Schilling wrote:

Christos Adam wrote:I'm jealous of you guys, even though I have very good memory I can't memorize an auto-x course in my head just after walking it a couple of times... I'm still amazed how people can do that!

Usually it just boils down to a few key components you commit to memory, then look ahead. Better to have a bit of mystery so you'll have to look ahead. Notice that after running a course 12 times and you do have it memorized, looking ahead becomes less important. This is not a good habit to get in to.

That's good, that's what I basically do with my limited memory remember a few tricky parts and just looking ahead during the course - but I get jealous when people say "I close my eyes and I remember all the turns - I play the course like a video in my head" ... I guess that might come too with experience... :mrt:

I'll say this, I can -NOT- remember a course in video. I remember mostly the entries to the corners I need to pay attention to. I try to take snapshots of the entry of corners in my head and know which way I need to be going. The rest is looking ahead as far as I can to make sure I don't get lost between my memory and how fast things are coming at me.

Kind of an odd side-note...I used to play high speed games with lots of obstacles, like Need for Speed: Most Wanted. The part that helps here is you get used to reacting to things faster and staying focused on looking far enough ahead that immediate hazards become less important and your brain learns to filter them out. I did do this around a week before the last 2 races and it helped make sure I was alert/my brain was used to processing information that fast. This last event I didn't. Did not place as well and felt a bit more lost.

Might be worth a shot to help tune your reaction time to things.