A group of us at the athletic club were having a debate on whether "negative or positive splits" were the best way to run a marathon or any endurance race. We came to a stalemate as some good arguements came from both sides, so I said that I would place a pole on my blog to see what the general consensus out there was.
Ok this is what I'd like you to do:
1) Leave your written thoughts on what you think about splits just blow this article.
2) Leave your vote on my homepage so it's easier to see the how the poll progresses. You'll find it near bottom righthand side.
I'll let the poll run until the end of March.
Thank you for your participation.
Use the link below to customise and print your own split times wristband, for free!
http://rogercortesi.com/athleticlog/wristsplits.php?dist=26.2&units=miles&hh=3&mm=10&ss=0&interval=1&paceunits=mpm
9 comments:
There's nothing more demoralising than having a constant stream of people going past you, and few things more encouraging than passing somebody else.
Late on in a race, when the tiredness is creeping into the legs, your mind is all that's keeping you going. You don't need the negative thoughts to take over, so negative splits should see you as one of the predators, rather than the prey.
I would suggest a negative split.
Two reasons :
1. It's always better to start your first 4-6 miles a bit conservatively (15 to 20 seconds below your GP) and slowly work yourself to the GP as the miles get knocked out.
2. "The race starts at Mile 20". Stick with a progressive pace (around the GP) until Mile 20 and then give it all you got for the last 6. If you hit the wall during this time, you could lose lots of time. Instead, i think it's better you feel strong and go ahead and save time and also finish stronger feeling on top of the world.
Bob Glover says the same thing. He says only negative or even splits can ever result in optimal performance. It's amazing how we all really know this, but often fall into the trap of going faster at the start when we feel strong. It's quite amazing how much we can lose later in the race from bad pacing at the start. Glover also points out that in almost ever word record performance, the differential between the first half of the race and the second is never more than a few seconds, particularly for shorter distances. So most world records are close to even pace.
No brainer - negative splits all the way. I believe Tim Noakes (Author of "Lore of Running") wrote something along the lines to suggest that at the start of any race, we have a potential best time... i.e. the best time we're capable of if we ran that race perfectly. Noakes suggests that any time gained AHEAD of that potential best time by the halfway point, will be repaid in double by the time we finish (due to excessive fatigue etc)
say for example someones best possible time for the half marathon is 2 hours, if they pass halfway in 57mins (3mins ahead of target), Noakes suggests due to lactic accumulation in the early stages, and other fatigue (e.g mental fatigue), then that person will slow dramatically in the latter stages and finish in a time of 2hr 3mins - 3mins behind their potential best - 6mins slower than they completed the first half of the race.
I seem to recall reading in numerous places that one should apportion 51% of their time to the first half of the race, and 49% to the second half. So for a 3hour marathon this would equate to:
1st 13.1mi - 01:31:48
2nd 13.1mi - 01:28:12
I've always stuck with negative splits, only because I read it in a book when I first started running. I've honestly never tried a positive split, but maybe its time to consider it lol.
Personally though, I've always liked doing negative splits- it always feels better blasting by everyone who's out of energy the last 2-3 miles of a race.
I think watching Mo Farrah crash and burn at the Endinburgh XC is enough to make me think going out hard early is not a good idea!!!
The advantage of having a Online Personal Training is that You can simply view it on-line and print it off to have by your side when training, whether at home or at the gym.
Always a good debate this one...
I believe that all distance running World Records or Bests are always off a negative split...
My advice, for what it is worth, train that way race that way.
Positive Splits for the win (for endurance based runners when racing against speedier runners).
I just saw a race (5k) where the coach was complaining about there one runner who always goes out hard. This same runner totally destroyed a speedier runner on paper who was supposed to win. The speedier runner was totally demoralized.
It depends on the runner.
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