The 10.09s scintillating sprint of Gurindervir Singh in Ranchi to create the new national record in 100m looked lightning fast. But to achieve this speed, the sprinter from Punjab has been training for months with his coach, James Hillier. “Just for that 10.09s race, we have trained two weeks continuously and months before that,” Hillier said.In a chat with The Indian Express, Hillier broke down the “perfect race” executed by Gurindervir. “A perfect race can be executed by training for every phase. We have divided four phases: the 0m to 30m (start and gain speed), 30m to 60m (hit another gear of speed), 60m to 80m (maintain speed), 80m to 100m (minimise deceleration) and since the start of the year, Guri followed this model of training,” said Hillier.Getting a perfect startIn his 10.09s run, Gurindervir had a perfect start off the blocks. “We had been working on his start for a very long time. In the final race, he had a perfect start. The first two steps are crucial where you generate most of the speed. In that race, it looked like others had a bad start but their start was fine. It was just Guri getting off the blocks exceptionally well,” said Hillier.Also read | How a jibe at his appearance nearly derailed India’s fastest man GurindervirWhen asked what they have worked on in the start section, Hillier said, “Earlier, Guri used to start well but also lose a lot of energy which resulted in him finishing badly. Now, his start has become more efficient. He uses less energy but gets the same explosive start by turning his legs more quickly in the first few strides.”It is also important to have an efficient start. “Guri used to start well but fade at the end and that is because he was losing a lot of energy. It used to become a 60m dash for him.” Gurindervir won a gold medal at the National Indoor Championships in the 60m dash with a national record timing of 6.60s. “At the start of the season, we just trained for the first 60m. I wanted him to perfect the first two phases of the 100m sprint,” said Hillier.The second stretch of 30 to 60m is extremely important for someone like Gurindervir as this is where his strength lies. “We don’t have the splits for the race but I know Guri hit his top speed in the second phase (from 30m to 60m). He would start and accelerate in the first 30 and then just go flying in the second stretch,” said Hillier.Also read | How late-night shifts and village grounds built India’s fastest sprinterAfter the Indoor nationals, when Gurindervir participated in the Indian Athletics Series in Delhi, he started the race well and was in the lead till 60m but faded at the end. “A lot of people saw that as a negative result but we were happy. We had trained for just 60m by then. So, when he led till 60m, I was happy,” said Hillier.Maintaining the speedStory continues below this adAfter the first two phases came the phase where any sprinter ensures that the body sustains the speed. “We trained for the first two months for 0-30m, then the next two months 30-60m. Now, it was the turn of 60-80m,” said Hillier.When Gurindervir clocked 10.17s in the semi-final, he held back himself on the finish line and later said that, “I just ran the 80m race.”NewsletterFollow our daily newsletter so you never miss anything important. On Wednesday, we answer readers' questions.SubscribeHillier clarified what he meant by that. “Him pulling himself back meant that he was executing the 80m plan that day.”While training for the 60m to 80m of the race, the idea for Gurindervir was to cover 10m in 0.9s. “Our target was to get him to run 10m in 0.9s. Sometimes, he would get and sometimes he wouldn’t. His fastest was 10m in 0.87s.”Minimising the deceleration Story continues below this ad“I always say the first 30 and the last 20 are the most crucial part of the race. The middle takes care of itself. Now, Guri has always been good at setting up the race but he would always fade out at the end. That is what we worked on in the last few weeks. The final stretch,” said Hillier. “No sprinter gets faster in the last 20m, it is about minimising the deceleration.”In past races, Gurindervir would lose to Animesh Kujur (current national record holder in 200m) as the latter would usually catch up with him in the last 20m. “It is all about frequency. Guri gets tired in the last 20, he lengthens his strides and his cadence slows down resulting in deceleration,” the coach said.To minimise his deceleration, Hillier worked on Gurindervir’s posture. “My goal was to get him more upright and shorten his stride. When that happened, his frequency of moving both legs increased resulting in a perfect finish,” said Hillier.On the clock, it was just a 10.09s race but in hindsight, it was meticulously crafted with hours spent on the track perfecting every second and millisecond.