Negative Splits Rule !

Its been three weeks of doing negative splits and it seems to be finally bearing fruit.....Im totally converted to the idea that saving up your energy for the second half means a warmed up body goes much faster......today we did a 14km run.........I felt stronger than ever before on the second half, flying even........ although the last 2 kms had so many hills Im not sure if it was faster than the first half....either way we all had a great fast run (5.18mins/km) and this all suggests the City2Surf will yield a PB

It Seems To Be Working

After a week of running negative splits but not improving my time it seems to be working, running a hilly 14kms today in my record of 73.45 mins......I felt amazingly stronger on the second half which really surprised me as I usually feel so knackered.....I now understand what Ive read about the body being properly warmed up to run faster rather than trying to leg it cold.......this is good news as I was beginning to feel that more effort was out of the question, it seems you can improve on strategy not brute force...d'uh ! Feels good

Negative Splits Rule !!

For the last week I have been attempting to change my running from flatout at the beginning and crawling over the finsh line to the reverse and I have to say I now fully understand why it's reccomended.

1. Last Sunday we did a 13km run and I felt pretty solid the whole way and didnt fall on the grass in a heap at the end like I usually do

2. Tuesday morning 7km is a nice and easy run which I finished with a 1.5 km dash...gee it felt good to finish strong

3. Wednesdays 8km (10 after we got lost) also ended in a very competitive sprint with another Warrior which I never thought I could do

4. Todays 6.5km was similar although i felt stronger at the end than I have ever felt

......but what about times ? Well they are pretty similar to my 'positive split' running but I feel so much better, Im hoping as I keep it up it starts to show in the times ?

PS: only poms may understand the picture.....

Negative Splits

This is the way I normally run.....tune in the techno....try and keep up with our best runner....slow down at the 2km mark when the adrenaline runs out......start getting overtaken......then try and speed up with less gas in the tank....I made a comittment today to turn this around and keep the brakes on early in the run, speed up at the halfway mark and then try to pull out a good finish....

Runner's World has a good article on it........the essential reason is to let you body warm up fully and to coast on the endorphins when they come half way into the run...plus psychologically the benefit of passing people far outways the pain of being overtaken.....

Anyway, tried it tiday on a 13kms run littered with hills (big bastards) and it worked pretty well..music choice, of course was critical.....start out with the relaxed Floyd-esque prog of Porcupine Tree and melodic rock of Marrillion ("Kayleigh")and Asia.....then gradually shift to house music ("Good Life") and finish with ACDC Thunderstruck......I know purists say no music is best but I couldnt go this far...

First half steady, second half anaerobic for 7kms....last 2 kms certainly were'nt sprints but ACDC stopped me plodding at least....70.27mins...