As I am gearing myself to compete in another IronMan triathlon later this year.  I am currently training, physically and mentally if I even want to consider toeing the starting line later this year.   And with the Olympics on TV, there is plenty of inspiration to draw from.  Last night I was watching the Gold medal race of the 100 women hurdle, where the American Women had a sweep.  I also watched the 100 M men’s run, where Usain Bolt got the gold.   These two races had one thing in common, a finishing kick.   Kristin Kastle (Bronze Medalist) and Usain Bolt won their respective medals with a finishing kick.

In the late 1980’s we were in the middle of the cold war,  but there was another war that was fought by two great athletes. Dave Scott and Mark Allen in the lava fields of Kona, Hawaii.   In 1989 the Ironman World Championship these two world's strongest athletes raced side by side at world-record pace for a grueling 140.6 miles, the race by decided by a finishing kick.

The most incredible part of this story is the level of performance these two had that particular day, what is the most exciting part of all is that Dave Scott clocked his last mile faster than any race he did before, he had a finishing kick.   Mark Allen had one too, a stronger one, and he was already celebrating victory, yet Scott  pounded the pavement to clock his fastest mile.   And where was this splurge of energy derived from?   

We all have experienced this splurge of energy at one point or another in our lives.  When we see the finish line,  something takes over and gives us boost or energy to get to the finish line faster?  But what is it that it will allow us to be able to get that finishing kick and win or finish our race.  Three things we must consider in parallel;  knowing your competition, training and believing in yourself.

Know your Competition

Stephen McGregor, a university researcher at Eastern Michigan University, has been studying the question,  how athletes get the “finishing kick”.   He found out that knowing that you have a great competition and knowing the end of the race is near; experienced runners will push themselves, even more, to get to the finish line faster.   Have you noticed that you run faster when training with a buddy, especially if he is faster than you?

Get your Training Done

It turns out, that according to McGregor’s research, the repeated application of will and mental toughness changes the body over time.  In other words, the more you train, the tougher you become and the bigger is your finishing kick.  You learn to suffer; you condition you body to go faster and-and you will want it more.  You want to finish, you want to win, you want to get to market faster, you want to make that sale, etc.  Nothing will prepare you more than practice, practice, practice.   Think Gladwell’s 10,000 hours rule.

Talk to Yourself Positively

During the previous five times, these two guys competed in Hawaii,   Allen had lost, but he had a secret,  his mind had been in negative mode, he didn’t believe in himself.   Once those thoughts entered his mind and the the more he thought about them,  they became reality.

He is too strong

He will never crack

Thirteen miles to go and I am already dying

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It is only going to get worse

I have lost again

I don’t have what it takes to win this race

I will never win this race

In 1989,  Allen had trained just as hard as the years before, but this time, he had worked on also training his mind.   This time, these were the thoughts he was having:

How cool is this?

I am leading IronMan with Dave Scott

Win or lose this is an amazing experience

Anyone else in the race would kill to be where I am now, what the hell am I complaining about?

I am going to enjoy this moment as best as I can.

Yes, I am hurting, but Dave is too, I can still win

And if I don’t, so be it.

There is more to life than this.

On the book “The Iron War”, Mark explains that the minute he started thinking positive,  he begins to feel a new energy.  The verge of fainting feeling dissipates, strength is restored to his legs, hope seeps back into his spirit,  a second wind.  He keeps with Dave Scott for the entire marathon and pulls the win at the very end of the race, a finishing kick.   He recalls “ With about mile and a half to go on the final uphill, I pulled away. I knew it wasn't over yet. On the downhill, there was a chance that my quads could cramp, something bad could happen, but then when I got to the bottom of the hill and looked back I couldn't see Scott”  He won, he had a killer finishing kick.

We all can learn from world class athletes, after all, they all bleed red just like you and me.  Thus knowing your competition, training hard and believing in yourself will get you ready for any race and have a stronger finishing kick that might be the difference you were looking for.

Now, where are my trail running shoes?

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