Trackgirl.23 wrote:
Hello, I am a freshmen runner on my school's girls track team, and I recently ran a 5:22 mile this past Thursday, but I still ended up getting outkicked by my friend who beat me by two-tenths of a second. I was wondering if there would be any advice for trying to get a better kick at the end of a 1600m run, or a good race strategy. My first 800m is usually in the high 2:30'sm and then I usually drop down to the 2:40's in the last 800m. I've tried running even/negative splits so many times before and it just doesn't work for me. What would be ideas to get a faster 800m time for the second part of the mile, and also ways to drop my mile time down to like a 5:13?
I used to have the same problem- I would get out kicked at the end of all my races. Here’s what you’ve got to do. Start your kick earlier so you have more room. Last time I ran the mile, I was neck and neck with a kid from my team for 1300m. Then I picked it up substantially, not quite a sprint, but substantially. I beat them by 12 seconds to win the race. The reason this works is because it allows you to play to your strengths. Nobody can dead sprint 300m, but if you pick it up enough to start a gap, at the end of the day when they sprint the last 100m it won’t make a difference. And also, since your coaches want you to run the 800/2 mile, use those as practice. In the 800 it is much easier to have a sprint finish so I highly recommend that. I started racing 800s a few weeks ago and my Mike time has dropped substantially since then.