Im having problems with my team slowing down in the middle of a 5k race. They don't go out too fast but they always fall asleep in the middle of races. Are there workouts to help my kids with this problem. Thanks for any advice.
Im having problems with my team slowing down in the middle of a 5k race. They don't go out too fast but they always fall asleep in the middle of races. Are there workouts to help my kids with this problem. Thanks for any advice.
Coach GF wrote:
Im having problems with my team slowing down in the middle of a 5k race. They don't go out too fast but they always fall asleep in the middle of races. Are there workouts to help my kids with this problem. Thanks for any advice.
try caffeine
Beat me to the punch!
Planned short pick ups are good. Pick a point on the course and have them throw in a dozen or so consecutively faster steps to get back on pace. Find some landmark around the point on the course that they tend to fall asleep and have them insert their pickup at that point.
We trained our guys to sprint out of every turn. Every time the came out of a turn, they would put in a few quick steps before settling back in. I think this makes them frequently become conscious of the pace they are running and make sure to keep attacking.
They need to get stronger. Guys who have no strength but good speed will always run races as you've described - going out fast, not being able to maintain that pace, but than using their speed at the end to close well. Telling them that they're "falling asleep" is not helpful; it's a fitness problem, not a mental problem. They need to do long intervals on short rest and tempo runs.
WTF? How do you know they are not going out too fast? Why the hell do you say that? Because everything you described illustrates that they are starting at a faster pace then they can maintain. It falls on you coach, get them in better shape to maintain the pace they start with! Or you could just get them to slow down at the start.
It could be a fitness issue, but I wouldn't count out the "falling asleep" explanation. This is certainly something that happens with high school runner. It's easy to just put it in cruise control and not even realize that you're slowing down.
Possibly naive question: are there some runners for which backing off in the middle is the best strategy?
I know that, for myself, my best 5Ks have always been run with the second mile the slowest. If I try to keep pushing for the second mile, I crash and burn in the middle of the third. This is true even for races where I've intentionally gone out slower than what I know I can run for a 5K.
And I run a decent # of miles, with a lot of longer tempos.
I can only give advice from experience:
First the anecdote: When I used to run in HS and college, it almost ALWAYS seemed like kids would slow down as soon as they passed the first mile mark. Not necessarily a fitness barrier but also a mental barrier. I would usually use this oppurtunity to attack and close the gaps that had opened in the first mile. By the time I was at the 3 mile in college or 2 mile in HS, I found that the person I had caught up to was as fatigued as I was, then it just became a battle.
Ok, given that you need to break this down:
1.) Reasses the possibility that it could be a fitness thing. But, I trust your judgement that your athletes seem "out of it"
2.) If it isn't take the advice of the poster above and have your athletes attack the corners and come off the hills strong when your likely to find some others slowing down.
3.) Attack that second mile. The best advice I ever recieved in HS was "Treat this 5k like a 2 mile, come through fast and hold on" We were literally told to run as fast as we could through 2 miles, and if we needed to walk on the third, that was ok. I think every kid PR'd on that 5k despite the struggles in the last 800.
4.) Make a chart of every kids splits at the mile, 2 mile, and 3 mile. Does it dip and come up, or is it an extreme drop?
Charming Charlie is my favorite.