I had a ‘negative split’ long run on my schedule today.  A negative split run, is one where your pace for the second half of the run, is faster than the pace on the first half.

When these negative split runs are also long runs, they are really valuable. First of all, if you start the run and you are not feeling so good as you get into it, then you can always chose not to do the ‘negative split’.  You can just carry on running and complete a standard long run, which is always a good thing.

If you do the ‘negative split’ however, it’s great practice for how to run a race.  I say this because it prepares you for how a race will feel.  In a race, your perceived effort will increase, as the race progresses.  You may not actually get faster, but the effort required to hold a steady pace will increase.  It’s good to get used to the feeling of ever increasing perceived effort.  You can learn to manage the discomfort and realize that there is no need to slow down significantly, or walk.

I was very happy with my negative split run today.  If you look at the chart, you can see the four phases of a well executed workout. 

• The first ten minutes or so were run at a very easy pace.  This allowed me to warm up and get into a rhythm.
• The next phase was a steady state, Zone 2 effort run.  This lasted to the half way point of the workout.
• Half way through, I increased my effort (and also pace) up to a steady state, Zone 3 effort.  I maintained this effort for the next forty minutes or so. Even though my effort was constant, you can see that my pace varied.  It was faster on downhill sections of my route and slightly slower, when I was going up hills.
• Finally, I increased my effort even more for the the final few minutes of the run, to finish strong.  My pace for the last mile was the fastest of the run.

This run finished off a great week of training.  Next week is a down week, that ends with a ‘virtual’ 10K  race against my team mates.  I am excited to see how fast I can go.