How to develop a strong kick to the finish? (Read 3825 times)

 Put your head down and go like hell for 172m, as if the lives of you and everyone you love depend on it.  Imagine you are Frodo, being chased by the Witch-King of Angmar (otherwise known as the Black Captain, Lord of the Nazgûl, and Leader of The Nine).

Ahhh.....so that's how Mikey beat me at the Luti.  Now I get it.

 

Ahhh.....so that's how Mikey beat me at the Luti.  Now I get it.

 The current events version of that is to imagine Elin Woods chasing you with a 5-iron...

 

The one major thing to focus on when kicking is the leg turnover.  I think it's a good idea to really focus on increasing the frequency/tempo of your strides.  It helps to have something specific and physical to focus on, instead of the abstract "run harder!"

Agreed with this.  I think a way to accomplish this major thing is, as Jim2's article says, is to work your arms.  Start pumping the arms and your legs will have to follow.   

I don't consider myself as having a 'kick' but at a 5K this weekend I was able to dust a younger guy who I had been tailing the entire race.  I got a little stronger on the last mile but so did he.  But when the finish line came into view about 400 meters up I slowly started adding some arm pump, one of the first times I've managed to be able to think of something other than not stopping at the end of a 5K.  I pulled away and put 2 - 3 seconds on him in that last 400m.  I was thrilled with that finish given that this was about a 4 second PR - due to the arm pump / leg turnover at the end?  I will definitely be concentrating on this from now on.

What specific training have you done to develop a kick to the finish? 

 

I've realized that I do not yet have one.  I can speed up a little from the pace I am holding, but cannot seem to make my body muster a sprint to the line. It really hit me today when I was racing 2 other females to the finish line in a 5K today.  I was beside one, but knew she was going to outkick me (she did and won), and the other was behind me.  She was able to pass me with a kick to the finish.  I tried to make my body sprint, but there was no sprint in it.  I still had a good finish (20:03), but was disappointed that I could not muster anymore speed.

 

I do weekly speedwork and have a good distance base.  (If you are one who looks at the logs - mine for this week is not my typical mileage due to a couple of days of illness and resting for the race.)  I also do a fast finish to a couple of my training runs each week - I can muster a good kick on those - the difference is that my training runs are not usually at a 6:27 mile/min. pace like the race - so I am not as tired.

 

What has worked for you?  Thanks for your input.

In the 1960s, there was a great runner from Down Under by the name of Ron Clarke.  He set total of something like 21 world records in his career, considered by many the greatest distance runner of all time.  Yet, he never won any major championships, be it Olympic Games or Commonwealth Games.  He didn't have the sprinting ability (a.k.a.; kick).  As MikeyMike said, there's alot to do with genetics.  I'm sure you've heard of white muscle fiber vs. red muscle fiber.  The more white you have, more explosive power, such as is needed in the "kick", that you'd have.  The ratio of these are pretty much determined at berth.  No amount of work, though you'll get somewhat more efficient, will change that.  In other words, when it comes to "sprinting", if you're slow, you're slow.

Here's a good example.  Let's say you go out and run a 5k race with someone who never trained (and assuming you do, say, 30MPW) but have higher white muscle fiber ratio.  You keep up with his pace--let's say, stralling pace for you of 15-minutes-per-mile.  You can easily handle this pace and, if you want to, can go on for 2 hours at this speed.  He's wheezing and puffing and puking...  Now 70 yards to the finish, you get his enthusiasm up and say, "Okay, let's get up on your toes and sprint to the finish!"  He's dying, you're fresh...  Which one of you do you think is going to finishe first?  Yup, you guessed it.  Your dying buddy.  It's not a matter of who's fresh at the end when it comes to the kick.  It's a matter of tactics.

You watch some championship competition--if you don't know enough about the sport and don't quite understand the tactics, you'll be satisfied with fast times.  This is why race promotiers want records (with rabits and all that); mass audience loves it.  Great tactical races are for the experts.  Have you ever seen runners bunched up in the first 3 laps of the mile or 1500m race and nobody is taking the lead?  Or better yet, someone with a superior kick actually TAKE THE LEAD AND SLOW THINGS DOWN?  It is because the slower the pace, the more chance he'll get because he knows he's basically quicker than others.  At the finish, he might be dying but if he's quick, he'll win.  So what the slower guys do?  They get ahead and push the pace--to tire the quick guys out.  Morroco's El G (spelling?) was one of the greatest milers in history.  Yet, as fast as he was, his sprinting ability was in question.  In Sydney Olympics, he was chased by a couple of quick feet Kenyans and finished second.  In Athens Olympics, he actually (reportedly) hired a fellow Morrocan to get in the final and push the pace, in other words, act as a rabbit.  His "kick" worked best off the fast pace. 

"Slower" runners do have a chance too if you race smart.  Lasse Viren of Finland, going into the final of 1976 Montreal Olympics 5000m; he was probably the slowest runner in terms of mile time.  First, he took the lead and slow the pace down; then gradually, picked up the pace, picked up the pace, picked up the pace...  Going into 3/4 of a mile to go, they were already flying!  He turned the race into full-out 1200m race AFTER running a hard 2 1/4 miles.  That took sprinting speed of other runners and he ran away from the field.  Quax and Dixon and Hildenbrand and Foster...  They all had better "kick" than Viren.  But they didn't have a chance to use it against him.  So when someone said "start sprinting a mile to go", that's not a joke.  Of course, it's after you've done your homework of being able to run the final mile fast first.

Without studying your log closely, I'm guessing when you say you've "done speed work", you mean something like 6 X 800m or tempo run or LT run or something like that?  Have you actually done "speed" work like downhill sprinting AS FAST AS YOU CAN RUN for, say, 50m; then recovery of 3 minutes, not 30 seconds, and repeat that 7 times, not 20 times.  When it involves SPEED, you don't want to make it hard or tough.  You want to be fresh and sharp and do it as fast as you can while feeling fresh.  You struggle doing 15X400, that's not a speed training.  You'll get faster; but that's not going to help you sprint in the final 100m much.  When someone says "striders help final sprint", that's a comment of a local grass-roots race.  You'll look good coming into the chute all by yourself.  But I doubt that'll help you beat the fast-charging opponents in the mad-dash in the final 100m.  When doing striders, you want to be relaxed (well, you DO want to be relaxed when doing speed training though).  You want to do them slightly faster pace than your normal training speed...  It's nothing more than a simple transition to real speed work.

Now, all this being said, the real reason why people get left behind in the final lap of major competition is because they run out of gas, not because they can't sprint.  Being left behind in the final half mile or even a quarter mile is COMPLETELY different from beling left behind int he final 100m sprint.  So you'll need to determine which case you are.  And then, you'll have to analyze what your opponent's strengths and weaknesses are.  Can she handle long sprint of, say, 300m?  Wuold she start to get out of breath if it goes beyond 200m?  Or 400m?  Can YOU last your kick more than 200m?  Or 400m?  When is the best time to start YOUR kick against your opponents?  It's not just a simple case of; "What do I need to do to be faster?" IF you really want to beat your opponents in the final sprint.  Otherwise, go do your striders and be happy with it; that'll suffice.  Seriously.

Jim2- that's a terrific article.

 

I would also ask the OP what was your mile splits? Were the others you passed in mile 3 running even or fading? Did you reach oxygen debt earlier than normal for an effort like this?

 

How you arrived at your third mile (your pace in miles 1-2) could tell a little more about your mental and physical state in the final stretch. If you were in O2 debt early, I doubt better drills or strides would matter. (Though I highly recommend strides and drills)

 

I also agree with Mikey's statement concerning one's genetic limits with fast-twitch muscle fiber.

 

Great question. After thinking about it, it's easy to realize that race execution has many variables to the end outcome.

Amazingly, my mile splits were 6:27, 6:27, 6:27. That was not on purpose, just what I had in me at the time (I was originally shooting for a 6:20 pace, but due to illness, temp, and other factors my body just would not go there).  I  passed folks in the last mile and caught up with the first two women, passed one and came alongside the front runner before the 3 mile mark. Frankly, I was tired, but still pushing forward. I could tell that the front woman was not working as hard as I was and knew that she would soon make a move.  I was close to  passing her, but was able to sum up that she was not going to let that happen (I think she was analyzing me to see what I was going to do).  She made her move, I tried to pick up my pace, then the woman behind was able to come from behind and pass me.  I could not make my legs move any faster.  I think the 2nd place woman was fading just a little before she passed me, but didn't notice that for the 1st place finisher.

Anyway, that's the story of why I ask the question.  I haven't had this happen in a race before (battling 2 other women for the finish) so was disappointed to find out I couldn't muster a kick.  My body felt heavy.

 Good comments and workout in your posts, Nobby415.  I'm curious as to the advantage of doing this sprinting downhill vs. flat surface?

Soprano (isn't it a TV show?):

Speed is fine-tuned by mainly 2 ways; working on technique (more economical running form as well as more powerful form) and firing of the nerve impulse.  Well, in other words, longer strides and faster strides.  Make sense?  There's a workout called "toeing".  This is when you hold onto a bar or something off a motor bike or a automobile and being pulled along FASTER THAN YOU CAN NATURALLY FUN.  This way, you teach your body to move quicker than you had been used to.  Think of it this way; if you try to go down the stairs as fast as you can but making sure you place your feet on each step; you get this feeling that your legs are not moving fast enough.  Wel, so you work on it and now you can move your legs faster than before because, as Arthur Lydiard put it, you had "overcome muscle viscosity".  It's not that now your muscle fibers are not as "thick" and "sticky"; but simply now it moves quicker. 

Another variation would be getting "catapulted" out like a sling shot by using elastic rubber tube. 

I was talking to Yoko Shibui's coach in Berlin this summer and I suggested him of this "toeing" techniqu.  He said he's going to bring a bike onto their club track and apply it to their training routine.  They are having the National Road Relay championships in Japan this coming weekend.  His team "only" finished 4th in the regional and would be expected to have a tough challenge but we'll see...  His team had won the title 6 times in the past 8 years.  His regional loss was the first time in 10 years (they had a streak of 9 going on).  Granted, their star runner, Yoko, was injured and couldn't run.  They've still got a few girls injured so it's not going to be easy but we shall see.  Of course, this kind of training is very situational.  Just because you do a lot of this, doesn't mean you'll be a great runner  It's just that it'll make you a decent runner with a fast kick at the end.  No sprinting ability in the world will make you a winner if you couldn't keep up with the opponents until you can utilize that speed.

This is probably a good place to explain; we basically need 3 basic elements we need to develop; (1) aerobic capacity, (2) anaerobic capacity and (3) raw speed.  When someone preached here to "run a lot and mostly easy", it's to develop (1).  "Sometimes hard" is to develop (2).  But if you want to be a complete runne, which I wouldn't be surprised if most of readers here don't really care, you need to actually work on "raw speed" which is your very point.  But what you got to understand is; you need all three of them.  One (or two) without the other is not quite well-balanced.  You certainly seem to have done a good job with other elements but don't forget to maintain those.  Sacrificing other elements in the name of "developing speed" is not going to work out.  Peter Snell was the slowest runner in terms of 200m speed in the final of BOTH 1960 and 1964 Olympic 800m.  Yet, he won gold medals in both races in the final sprint.  It is because he was marathon-trained and, when everybody else with superior speed was too tired to utilize their speed in the final 150m, he wasn't even tired, he could run his fastest sprint there (after 2 rounds of heats and semi-final and THEN the final).

Hope all this makes sense.