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THE DRIVE TO THE FINISH LINE
The race is almost over, but the body hurts so much that you are not sure that you can maintain or even increase your effort from now to the line. How are you going to muster up the courage and strength to hold off the runner breathing down your neck? The way that you do this is to forget about the others and get back to the basics. These basics are:
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ARMS: Drive the arms as fast and hard as possible--the feet will follow. The hands should go up to at least chin level and should go at least as far as the hip on the down-swing. The downward drive should be forceful to help drive the foot into the track.
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LEGS: The quads are probably starting to tie-up at this point so relax them. This is tough to do, but by concentrating on it for a stride or two, it will help.
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FEET: When fatigued, there is a tendency to float, so get the feet back down onto the track as quickly as possible. This couples with the fast arm/hand drive to produce a faster turn rate.
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SURGE: At this point in a maximum effort race, the body will usually be slowing. To overcome this, you have to surge. To do this, use the "in & out" technique. The "in" portion will only last three or four strides. Hold your breath, lean slightly forward and try to accelerate. On the "out" portion, come back to the full upright running form, breathe normally and try to maintain your speed. You may want to go through this cycle three or four times on the way to the line.
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DORSIFLEX: Avoid coming too far up on your toes when you surge. Running on the toes rather than dorsiflexed disables the ability of the calf muscle to help in the push-off and makes the hams carry all of the load. Accelerating while up on the toes can lead to serious hamstring tears.
Don't wait until the race to try this. Practice it so that it becomes almost automatic.
Latest News from the IAAF
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3 February 2012 - Hong Kong - With so many good African, particularly Kenyan marathoners around nowadays, it takes a bit of initiative to get into foreign races if you?re not one of the sub-2:10 brigade. So when Julius Maisei heard that the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon ? an IAAF Bronze Label Event - was paying good prize money without an overly talented field, he chanced a thousand dollars on an air fare and a hotel room last year.
3 February 2012 - Moscow, Russia - It?s very cold in Moscow: the temperature in some regions of this huge city is minus 20 degrees C. But no doubt on Sunday (5) the Vladimir Kutz Arena will be crammed with fans of athletics. since the 'Russian Winter', the second IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting of 2012, is always adored by the Moscow public.
3 February 2012 - Long Jumper Darya Klishina, a regular correspondent of the IAAF via the IAAF Online Diaries, has taken time off her busy schedule to answer her fans? questions received via the IAAF World Athletics Club Facebook page. Darya received almost 200 questions ? here are the ones she selected?
3 February 2012 ? Linz, Austria - Tipped all week long as the marquee event, a riveting hurdle race between Americans Yvette Lewis and Lolo Jones unfolded as the highlight of the Gugl Meeting on Thursday (2) evening in Linz.
3 February 2012 - Birmingham, UK - World leader Holly Bleasdale will step up her Olympic Pole Vault preparations at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham, the penultimate IAAF Indoor Permit Meeting, on Saturday 18 February.
