Slam the door!

Ah yes. Somewhere on Long Island, Rickie-San Ambrosio is cringing as he reads this. I'll explain why in a minute ...

Today's topic is finishing speed in races. Kicking. As I was developing carpal tunnel syndrome typing up the splits to the BU meet last night, a recurring theme popped up, especially in the 3k/5k races. The current Running Red Foxes closed the races strongly. I have always stressed kicking from 1k out (5 laps to go, on an indoor track), and many of the guys did just that. It's not easy to do; it's a credit to their hard work and toughness that they did it.

I believe that strong finishes to races boil down to several factors. In no particular order:

-- Smart pacing. If you go out too hard, it's difficult to close fast. Flint disproved that in his 3k to a point, but he did make some mid-race adjustments. The point: Going out too hard is almost always a recipe for disaster.
-- Mental toughness. My buddy and blog follower Coach Perks dubbed it "RunTuff" (his license plate!). It's not easy to teach, and most runners inherently learn mental toughness from racing and training hard. There comes a point in almost every race where you push through the pain or succumb to it. That usually can be seen in the last 1k of a long race.
-- Confidence. The merging of the first two. If you go out smart, you feel good and it gives you the confidence you can close strongly.
-- Do Work. The 2007-2008 team motto. Nothing replaces high mileage, quality workouts and strong training. It's harder to do in the winter, but it must be done.

Back about 7 or 8 years ago, we were at an indoor meet at Colgate. Marist alum Mike Melfi was running a 3k or a 5k, can't remember which. His club coach was there, yelling out splits and encouraging him. I was standing there with team member Rickie Ambrosio, and we were cheering on Mike as well. Several times toward the end of the race, Mike's coach implored him to "slam the door!" ... meaning, finish the race strongly. Or something like that.

Well, this turn of phrase really irked Rickie. I found it funny. I was especially pleased to find something that annoyed Rickie, since he liked to needle me from time to time himself.

And so, as a way to annoy Rickie -- then and forever -- I simply say "SLAM THE DOOR!"

Hopefully, you too will SLAM THE DOOR in your next race.