How to have a kick?

Do some all out 200s or 400s after a hard workout

I do those, I just can't find it come race time

200s400s wrote:

Do some all out 200s or 400s after a hard workout

Kick wrote:

Is there stuff I can do to work on this???

Who doesn't love the word "stuff"...so descript. OK, what I'm going to give you is tried, tested, and true. It's pretty much common sense, but rarely used. From this day forward, no matter what your training run is, you finish it all out. You must vary the distances you go from (400,800,1000, etc.). I'm going to list 2 specific reasons this works, though there are other reasons as well. The first is muscle memory, which is a physiological phenomenon. A systematic, routine finishing kick will become ingrained in your muscles (fast twitchers). If you train daily to teach your legs to kick home, after a layered foundation, they most certainly will. The second is mental. Finding that last gear is incredibly difficult when the mind is struggling with Will. It all comes down to will power, whether the will to live or the will to override fatigue and coast-mode. A daily finishing kick prepares the mind...you train your mind to go hard at the end. And, it's much easier when you're finishing an 8 miler at your normal running pace. Adrenaline works with anticipation here. You teach your body and mind to build up the stock needed to crush it to the line.

Maybe you go too hard during the rest of the race

Can someone vouch for this?

200s400s wrote:

Do some all out 200s or 400s after a hard workout

All the 200s and 400s in the world aren't going to do squat.

The best advice I can give you is to rehearse it over and over in your head. Something has to snap in your brain if you are going to kick. A kick comes from between the ears, not below the belt.

I vouch for it and this is why I posted it. It takes time to build it. But if you build it, the kick will come. No trollism here. Do you not understand? It's called training for the finish line every day. You will crush others at the line and they'll say, "Man you have a killer kick." And you will, because you train for that daily while they do not. Again, it starts with common sense.

malmo wrote:

200s400s wrote:

Do some all out 200s or 400s after a hard workout

All the 200s and 400s in the world aren't going to do squat.

The best advice I can give you is to rehearse it over and over in your head. Something has to snap in your brain if you are going to kick. A kick comes from between the ears, not below the belt.

Obviously below the belt matters a great deal and a kick is achieved with the legs. The mentality and physicality aspects work in tandem, to quote a once famous letsrun miler. The trigger is mental and the force is physical. Coach Kippawitz spells out out pretty clearly.

Having a kick is psychological, you just have to belive that you can still push harder, its all about mental strength, It doesn't come naturally to some. What helped me was that my coach made me do 100's after a workout, just do 5-10 all out, right after running, you can take a quick water break but nothing more, don't stand around waiting to get your breath back, just do it

Kick wrote:

Almost every race, I have died in the last little bit and get passed by like 5 peopls. I have only had a good kick twice in my entire life and it's mostly just because I was feeling good at the end of the race. For all the races where I just don't have it at the end do I just need to stop being a p*ssy and tough it out??? Is there stuff I can do to work on this???

If you're running at PR pace with even splits, you're not going to have a kick at the end.

Having a kick (i.e. speed up the last few hundred meters or so) only happens when you've been running at slower than maximum effort for the earlier parts of the race.

Example: Say your mile/1600 PR is 5 minutes flat. This is your absolute best effort when everything is paced perfectly. If you go through 1200m in exactly 3:45 (right on pace for a 5 minute mile), you aren't going to somehow gain the ability to sprint the last lap in 65s if you are only in 5:00 shape. Otherwise, you would be in 4:50 shape, or possibly better since it wasn't evenly paced.

Pretty much. Best way to have a big kick is to be in great shape. Your 5 min guy could probably close in 65 if he hit the 1200 at 4:30 or so.

If you are looking for a second or two, training can help but not much.

This is pretty correct. However, kicking causes far more damage to your muscles, so it may impair the benefits of a recovery run.

With my xc team, we always start and end our m-f runs at the track, entering and exiting via a short gravel hill. Coaches always have water in their pickup truck, which is located in a pking lot on the far side of the track from the hill. This tantalizing reward of ice water, combined with the natural competitive nature of teenage boys usually led to a dead-sprint up the gravel hill and 200 meters to the water. We are definitely some of the better kickers in the county.

Additionally, our track coach's go-to kicking wkout is "600 kickers". 400m at just faster than mile pace, then an all-out 200m. Full recovery, then repeat any number of times depending on ability and event specialty. 800m guys tend to do 4-6, milers do 6-8 and 3200ers alternate 600 kickers and 1000 kickers (700 at 3200 pace, 100m acceleration and 200m sprint) 5 or 6 times. For your purposes, it might be better to add a 600 or 1000 kicker at the end of a hard long run or tempo.

Another thing, don't worry about getting passed at the end by a few people as long as you're pacing everything well.

I found that in the large D3 XC meets I ran, I typically would pass scores of people throughout the race who went out too hard at the beginning, and then get passed by a handful of people in the final stretch. My splits were pretty even most of the time.

It didn't really matter because I was never in contention to win a race (ran like 27 for an 8K), but it just shows that the majority of people are not very good at running evenly. It's probably different at the D1 level though.

Most people tighten up too much at the end of a race when they try to go hard, which impedes them from running faster. You have to practice relaxing, finding another gear, and maintaining fast, smooth form. Keep thinking faster, not harder, until you get to the line. Tell yourself to kick hard from 100m out next time, then once you got that down, 200m out, then 300m, and eventually wind it up from 400-500m out.

You can't teach speed baby!!!

HardLoper wrote:

Most people tighten up too much at the end of a race when they try to go hard, which impedes them from running faster. You have to practice relaxing, finding another gear, and maintaining fast, smooth form. Keep thinking faster, not harder, until you get to the line. Tell yourself to kick hard from 100m out next time, then once you got that down, 200m out, then 300m, and eventually wind it up from 400-500m out.

I agree--you should have some sort of reminder, could even come from a coach ("lower your arms!" or something to remind you to relax and speed up).

But the kick is three things: Mental (yes, you need to fight through pain in a fast race).

Freshness: as mentioned above, running at mile PR pace +1 minute through 1200 will result in a faster last lap, last 200m, whatever. A guy with worse speed than you will beat you in the kick of a 5k if you're maxed out and he's two minutes off PR pace.

Speed: You're not going to outkick Mo Farah if your max 400m ability is 55s, no matter how fresh you feel.

^ Yes, making some physical change is a good way to start the kick. Kip Keino threw his hat onto the infield when he was ready to kick.

AxC wrote:

You can't teach speed baby!!!

You can teach a kick though. Per another post, OP needs to practice that last 50/100 without racing every workout. If OP runs consistent laps at his limit, there's not going to be a kick.

The gym helps a little with acceleration. But, it needs to be early in OP's season.

It's all about endurance. If you are empty at the end, there is nothing to go with, right? Even Farah wouldn't have a kick if he ran a race that was actually fast. Bekele's last 400 of his world record over 5000 was only a second faster than the average lap, and that can't be counted as a kick, because he was too tired.

Kick is all about endurance and how much you are willing to suffer.