When I first started running competitively I had a mean sprint finish... I remember my first ever National XC in 2016 when I made up approx 50 places in the final knockings...
But as my performances have no doubt improved, my ability to explode the final 200/400/800 metres appears to have declined... for example yesterday at the XC I managed to speed up and hold position whilst under heavy pressure, but it wasn’t rocket-like acceleration.... and last week at Cardington it was a gradual increase in speed over the final mile which kept me ahead of rivals, slowly grinding them away, as I had no confidence of a final field shoutout.....
I can think of two contrasting theories/reasons...
1) I’ve lost some of my explosive power from my previous sporting life, and the long miles in training mean I simply haven’t got the freshness in the legs to turn it on at will...
or
2) When I had a “good” sprint finish, it was more due to my lack of ability in other areas... for example lack of technique (fells) and lack of stamina (xc) meaning I was reaching the final stages of races with plenty of fuel left in the tank which I hadn’t been able to expend throughout the main part of the race, and I was blasting all my energy into a few hundred metres... possibly out of frustration... now I have more of an ability to push for a whole race, I’m hitting the final stages with much less in the tank.
I don’t suppose it matters as long as I’m still improving, but anybody else had similar or any sprint-finish experiences...? Anything I can do?
