Long distance running, sprint finish?

Question

I'm a long distance runner and have pretty good endurance. But I can't sprint towards the end. I have a lot of trouble speeding up and I feel like I have no energy to sprint. Are there any training techniques I could follow to solve this? Should I eat certain foods to keep my energy level up?

Answer 1

our coach has us go and run a few loops (about a mile each) and then come back and do 100's, anywhere from 4 to 10 of them. we have also done 1000's, where you run your 800 pace the first 800 at a little slower than race speed, and then speed up for a hundred, and then sprint the last 100. these really helped me. you could even apply the same thing to the 1600. good luck!

Answer 2

Well, as someone said before, carbs are a good way to build up energy. For the sprinting part at the end, or rather, let me start in the middle ;). You shouldn't be using up every ounce of energy and speed in the middle of the race. You should be breathing properly and if you see someone that's going to pass you or is right beside you, don't put a big burst of speed into that one moment. Just speed up a tiny bit (enough to go in front) and then stay at pace. If you keep the pace the whole middle part of the race, you should have enough energy to put in a burst of energy and sprint (not even a full-out sprint, but a lot faster than your original pace) at the end.

Sorry for the novel. XD

Answer 3

Not having a kick at the end is not terrible. You are using all your energy in the race, not a bad thing, dont run slower. maybe some 400 or 800 meter repeats. that will get your speed up, but dont try and conserve energy in the race. Keep up the good work!

Answer 4

If you're leaving everything on the race course, that's all you need. It may be nice to cross the finish line at a sprint, but if you simply can't muster the energy then you're using it all up during the race. Unless you're slowing your pace as the race progresses, then you're running at your ideal pace, which is excellent. I wish I could find my ideal pace so that I didn't have enough energy to kick at the end.

Answer 5

this is probly a good thing cuz it means you are using all your energy in the race, there are no tecniques but running slower, and that is bad, keep up the good work.

Answer 6

Wow...whoever the first person who commented was is wrong.. people that run 4:08 run flat out the whole race and still sprint at the end. ANYWAY

You should do workouts every other day.  One day a long run the next day a speed workout like fast 200's ect.  If you want some things you can do to build you speed up you can email me if you wanted to

[e-mail]

Answer 7

nope. but good job on giving it your all during the race

Answer 8

Carbs also help and lots of water during the day

alot of times u push urself so hard during the race u dont have a kick(this is not neccisarily a bad thing!!!!)

the great Steve prefontaine didnt have a good kick

maybe do a few 200m sprints thats about it