I’m learning all kinds of new lingo. My most favorite so far is the negative split. A negative split is basically if you split your run in half and run the second half faster. So if you’re going to run for 2 hours, you run out for 1 hour and 10 min and then have to make it back in 50. Sounds like run right?
Well that was the basic race plan for Sunday’s race. Run the first 6-7 miles slower, you should feel like you’re holding back. Then pick up until about mile 9 or 10, then see where you are, how you’re feeling and either pick it up some more or stay the pace you’re at. This brings you to a negative split. Nike has this great program called Nike + and they tracked everyone’s time at the race (from the little chip you wear on your shoe), so you can see your 5k splits. Now I did what the coaches said, my first 6-7 miles were slower but each 5k group got faster which was great! That means I wasn’t going all out too hard and then needing to slow down because I didn’t have any more energy. I didn’t “burn out”. However, with Nike + I can see any other runner and their splits and let me tell you, not many of the top runners adhered to this negative split theory. They were out the starting gate fast and they stayed pretty consistent from mile 3 onward. So I wonder, is this negative split a full marathon strategy? Or do these crazy runners who can run 13.1 miles at an average 5 minute/mile pace just so in tune with their pace they know what works.
I don’t know, it’s a mystery. In the meantime, I just need to get my time down, period. I think we are running another half as a team in September and I want to get definitely down to 1:55, maybe even 1:50. Hey, at least it’s a goal.
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