The Secret to Perfectly Pacing Your Race
Run Smart, Finish Strong: The Art of the Negative Split
Race strategy isn’t talked about nearly enough among amateurs and hobby joggers. While sports psychology is a huge part of the elite scene, many of us fail to apply principles that could greatly boost performance on race day and make the whole process more enjoyable. You put all that effort into your training, why not make a proper plan for your race as well?
To help you develop in this area, I want to address what I believe to be the best way to approach a race. This can be applied to 5k and 10k distances, but it’s most relevant to the half marathon, marathon, and ultras. If you haven’t already guessed due to the title, I’m talking about negativing splitting your race. If you’re not familiar with this term, it’s the act of running the second half of your race faster than the first.
While simple in principle, negative splitting is incredibly hard to do if you don’t have a plan and a healthy dose of discipline. If you can combine these two ingredients, however, you’ll get the very most out of your physiology and have one heck of a race. Without any further ado, let me explain how it’s done!
