[footballerkid47]

footballerkid47 on April 11, 2005 at 1:38 am #10667

Im a junior and we’re just over midseason. At the end of last year I ran an 11.38(improved from 11.9 from freshman yr) and at the beginning of this year i started out running 11.6’s. Right now im running around 11.4. I always take off out of the blocks ahead of everyone else for the first 40m, but then they pull up next to me and i feel like i cant accelerate anymore(like im running flat with no pushoff) and i just follow behind in 2nd or 3rd place.

When I run the 4X1 however it’s extremely different. Im second leg and i get a jogging start then i take off passing everybody thats in front of me and leaving them behind(my coach says i look faster than the anchor who runs 11.1’s) i dont know why this always happens, maybe because i see someone in front of me and i push off harder to catch them(our first leg is pretty slow) i just dont know how to get this kind of power in the 100 i want to run an 11.20 and qualify for state.

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on April 12, 2005 at 2:37 am #43721

I’ve seen this happen plenty of times before and I think it’s almost always a relaxation / race distribution issue. Some people get in to an open race and press really hard and don’t run their own race. When they get in to a relay situation they are better able to relax and execute an appropriate race distribution. Others run better with the added pressure of not letting the other 3 relay members down.

ELITETRACK Founder

[cobras100mgld]

cobras100mgld on April 12, 2005 at 6:49 am #43722

any way to fix this problem or will the person be stuck like this?

[cobras100mgld]

cobras100mgld on April 12, 2005 at 6:52 am #43723

im asking because i myself have this problem, my best relay split is 10.3 but yet my fastest open 100 is 11.3 and my 200 splut is 23.2 indoors and in the open i’ve only gone 23.9. really need some help fixing this and once i get passed in a race i just completely give up…

[Mike Young]

Mike Young on April 12, 2005 at 8:29 pm #43724

While I wouldn’t put too much weight in 4 x 100m splits, this problem seems to be more of a mental readiness issue. What I mean is that you need to be able to prepare yourself to run your own race distribution in the open race just as you would in the relay. If it’s more of an arousal issue (maybe you get too psyched up to relax in the open race; or maybe you can’t get amped up enough) you’d just need to recognize this problem and do whatever it takes to remedy it. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.

ELITETRACK Founder