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How do I get a better kick at the end of a race?

"How do I get a better kick at the end of races?" by Jeff Arbogast

Understanding how to kick at the end of a race also requires knowledge of how to position yourself in a field at the "critical point" of a race and then having the strength and leg speed to affect the outcome. This critical point occurs roughly three-quarters of the way through any distance event from 800 meters to 5,000 meters. At this point, you will be able to step up the pace all the way to the end of the race, surging throughout the event. However, ridiculous racing tactics earlier in an event will cost a runner dearly when she or he tries to "kick" if the previous distance of the event has placed the athlete into oxygen debt. Consequently, the first element of a devastating kick is intelligence. Of course, you may surge, but control to the critical point in the race, at which time the kick is applied, is paramount.

An athlete who arrives at the critical point of a race will have strength and leg speed if she or he remembers to use each of the levers (arms and legs) effectively. Since the legs have accumulated an excess of lactic acid and react more slowly, the best "firing mechanism" for leg speed is to drive the arms. This is the second element of eliminating your opposition at the end of a race. Each athlete is tired, but the athlete who goes for his or her arms when exhausted will be the one who can keep the leg speed up while others are fading. Specifically, driving the arms downward helps to maintain turnover rate.

However, before the athlete can effectively reach the critical point or drive the arms, the engine that powers the running action, the cardiovascular system, must be efficient. To train that engine, we must be adapted to the feeling of what it is like to kick at high speed. The best way to keep leg speed at a high rate is to finish each intensive run (speedwork, power runs, hard fartleks, hills) with several hard bursts, usually 200 meters, run all-out. Minimal rest is given after each. The 200-meter distance is perfect. It's not so long the athlete gives up on the intensity, but not so short that it becomes irrelevant in a race. Develop, through proper form, a hard-driving sprint action that you can go to when you are ready to turn on a sprint, and practice it when you are tired!

In addition to speedwork, alternative methods for developing a strong kick would be downhill running (on soft surfaces) with 200-meter to 300-meter accelerations on a gentle downhill grade, plyometric supplementation of your training using explosive action, and stepdown runs, where the athlete surges progressively faster during the course of a three- to four-mile run in 400-meter to 600-meter increments, ending with all-out sprints at the conclusion of the distance.

Use proper sprint form, learn to run fast when you are tired, and understand your sprint capabilities at the critical point in the racing distance to develop a thundering kick.