i'm a high school sophomore who specializes in the 800. my time was 2:13 in freshman year but i've gotten quite a bit faster (but haven't run an 800 race since then).
one thing i have trouble with is when to start my kick. for example, should i speed up with 300m left but actually start sprinting 100% with 150m left?
advice is appreciated!
i definitely wouldn't be sprinting %100 all out from 150, wait longer
hey man, i've been where you are and hope i can help. i have a pr of 1:51 and i have found that once in the second lap of an 800 (especially if your first lap was honest and fast) you won't have but one good move and once you make it it better count til you finish. so if you make a strong move at 300, you likely will not have a kick at 100 to go unless the first lap was really slow. so if its honest, i say with 200 to go just flip the switch and go for from there to the line. your a 10th grader so likely your not strong enough to go that hard with 200 to so try going from 150 out then work on extending that to 200 to go.
It depends on whether you are racing to run your personal best time or racing to win the race. If running for a PR, you want to go out in the first lap around 5 sec slower than your 400 race pace, try to pace out for the next 200-250 and start your kick no sooner than 150m from the finish.
If racing to win, look up some youtubes of Kipketer. As noted above, realize that you really only have to time in the race for one real move. Try to position yourself in about 4th or 5th place at the start of the second lap. Cover everyone's move first, then in the last 50-100 meters make yours.
Also see the epic Olympic Gold Medal race when El_G beat Lagat to win the Gold. This was one of very few major tactical mistakes by Lagat, which he has admitted. Lagat timed his kick wrong (too early) and allowed El_G to come back on him to win at the end. This is the classic example of what you do NOT want to do.
There's no speeding up.
It's one long deceleration.
Just try to not make the deceleration too extreme or variant from the beginning.
uh do you mean acceleration?
No, he means deceleration. If you negative split an 800 you definitely raced it very poorly.
toro wrote:
There's no speeding up.
It's one long deceleration.
Just try to not make the deceleration too extreme or variant from the beginning.
Yep. When a guy looks like he's throwing down a big kick in the 800, he's usually just maintaining pace while the field slows down. You have to work harder to run the same pace late in the race, so when you feel like you're sprinting, you're really just running at a harder effort to stay at the same pace. If you're finding that you actually can accelerate significantly in the last quarter of the race, you should run harder for the first three quarters.
The best kicker in 98% of 800 races is the one who slows the least. This applies doubly at the HS level.
Let's take two 2:10 guys. Billy Tipikal goes through the 200 in 29 flat, the 400 in 61 (32), the 600 in 1:35(34) and finishes in 2:10(35), but tying up rather badly.
Kenny Hunter, on the other hand relaxes (relatively) through the first lap in 31-high and 63(32), and starts reeling in Billy down the back straight. He still is a second back at the 600 in 1:36 (33) but comes on like gangbusters to nip poor Billy at the tape (34 last 200). The difference between these two is:
-Billy is actually more fit, but he threw it away in the first lap, and paid the price on the second lap
-They both run the same finishing time, but Kenny is coming after a hard target (Bill's sorry ass) and is mentally more fresh and energized and gets the lean perfectly.
If Billy learns from his mistakes (probably not), he will handle Kenny with ease. Kenny, on the other hand, is energized by his win and carries the upper hand into his next race.
Splits from one of Kipketer's races (Nice, 1996) that we have full splits splits for:
100 12.3 12.3
200 24.3 12.0
300 37.1 12.9
400 50.0 12.9
500 1.03.1 13.1
600 1.16.2 13.1
700 1.29.1 12.9
800 1.42.5 13.4
He ran 50/52.5, but if you don't think he's putting on a kick in the last 200, you don't know much. He is NOT "running through."
coach d wrote:
Splits from one of Kipketer's races (Nice, 1996) that we have full splits splits for:
100 12.3 12.3
200 24.3 12.0
300 37.1 12.9
400 50.0 12.9
500 1.03.1 13.1
600 1.16.2 13.1
700 1.29.1 12.9
800 1.42.5 13.4
He ran 50/52.5, but if you don't think he's putting on a kick in the last 200, you don't know much. He is NOT "running through."
Well strictly speaking there is a small acceleration with 200 to go, but even Kipketer cannot maintain that sort of acceleration in the last 100m in a 1:42 race.
I agree though, that it is possible to "kick" in a fastish race at 800m.
Coe in Stuttgart 86: -
25.4 - 200m
38.7 - 300 (13.4)
52.8 - 400 (14.1)
1:19.7 - 600 (26.9)
1:32.1 - 700 (12.4)
1:44.5 - 800 (12.4)
In 81 also ran 1:44.0 from front with 13.3, 12.3 last 2 x 100m.
I'm sure Kipketer has done similar in his races.
Cruz in LA (1:43.0) also went: - 24.0, 13.4, 13.8, 13.5, 13.1, then 12.6, 12.6 in his last 200m