You gotta love the new folks to the program. They come out with vim and vigor, and smoke the track. A few days later they can't bend over and tie their shoes, sore and stiff. Warning them is a waste of time. We all suffer the same faults as our egos often write checks our bodies can't cash. The newbies remind us of the fun of discovery and the joy of running. But once they learn just a little restraint, their enthusiasm can power some big time gains! And their new blood invigorates us old timers. A perfect blend!
Speed Workouts.... the trick behind running negative splits.
1. ALWAYS run a mile warm and a mile warm down. Nobody likes the warm down, in particular, but besides pumping you down, they teach tenacity, and what it takes to slog it out when you are really tired. This is great mental training for racing. You will reference it!
2. Negative Splits are when you run each successive repeat at a particular distance in the workout at least even or 1 second faster. For instance, if the workout is 12x400's, you might start at 100 seconds for #1, and finish at 89 for the last or second to last one. You slowly work down to faster speeds. If you run one too fast, too bad, the rest have to be as fast or faster. That is the penalty for blowing the negative split. What will actually happen is you may not finish the workout; you'll get soooo cooked, but it becomes a lesson learned my talking to you will not teach. Newbies love to go out, crank the first two, and quit at 6, too tired to even run warmdowns.
3. Newbies should always run behind experienced runners for WEEKS on end to learn the paces. We don't care how quick you are for one repeat. We want to see if you can learn the maturity to complete the workout in negative fashion.
4. Negative splits for speed and tempo, and even long runs engender proper pacing for races, optimizing race day performance.
5. Believe in negative splits! Same ability, different approach.......
Example A: Newbie runs 6x800's at: 3:45, 3:40, 3:50, 3:55, 4:00, 4:05 cooked like BBQ
Example B: Negative Split runner at: 3:55, 3:50. 3:50, 3:45, 3:40, 3:38 hard but controlled
The net speed difference for this 3 mile speed workout is: 37 seconds!
The beginner thinks he cranked it with some fast 800's, but in reality ran the workout considerably slower. Over time, Runner B will magically run over Runner A in a distance race, to the amazement of many people who may think they are both running together at the track and are equal.
6. If you are trying to run your best and fastest, and reduce injuries, why not handle the biggest loads when you are fully warmed up and flowing? Negative splits accomplish this.
7. Negative splits, on the backside of the workout, teach you how to handle load right on the edge of the lactate threshold, where the real athletes hang out!!!
8. For 400's I like to see the hi/low separated by about 10/12 seconds, 800's by 15/20 seconds, mile repeats by 30/45 seconds. These are just guidelines to empower you to start slow, finish fast
9. Whenever running more than 8 repeats of anything, make the penultimate repeat your fastest one. The last one should be slightly slower, and don't check splits, but rather "feel" your way thru just a bit slower than maximum. Then check your time at finish. This will instill confidence and protect against outright racing and injury.
Good luck and run negatives!
Speed Workouts.... the trick behind running negative splits.
1. ALWAYS run a mile warm and a mile warm down. Nobody likes the warm down, in particular, but besides pumping you down, they teach tenacity, and what it takes to slog it out when you are really tired. This is great mental training for racing. You will reference it!
2. Negative Splits are when you run each successive repeat at a particular distance in the workout at least even or 1 second faster. For instance, if the workout is 12x400's, you might start at 100 seconds for #1, and finish at 89 for the last or second to last one. You slowly work down to faster speeds. If you run one too fast, too bad, the rest have to be as fast or faster. That is the penalty for blowing the negative split. What will actually happen is you may not finish the workout; you'll get soooo cooked, but it becomes a lesson learned my talking to you will not teach. Newbies love to go out, crank the first two, and quit at 6, too tired to even run warmdowns.
3. Newbies should always run behind experienced runners for WEEKS on end to learn the paces. We don't care how quick you are for one repeat. We want to see if you can learn the maturity to complete the workout in negative fashion.
4. Negative splits for speed and tempo, and even long runs engender proper pacing for races, optimizing race day performance.
5. Believe in negative splits! Same ability, different approach.......
Example A: Newbie runs 6x800's at: 3:45, 3:40, 3:50, 3:55, 4:00, 4:05 cooked like BBQ
Example B: Negative Split runner at: 3:55, 3:50. 3:50, 3:45, 3:40, 3:38 hard but controlled
The net speed difference for this 3 mile speed workout is: 37 seconds!
The beginner thinks he cranked it with some fast 800's, but in reality ran the workout considerably slower. Over time, Runner B will magically run over Runner A in a distance race, to the amazement of many people who may think they are both running together at the track and are equal.
6. If you are trying to run your best and fastest, and reduce injuries, why not handle the biggest loads when you are fully warmed up and flowing? Negative splits accomplish this.
7. Negative splits, on the backside of the workout, teach you how to handle load right on the edge of the lactate threshold, where the real athletes hang out!!!
8. For 400's I like to see the hi/low separated by about 10/12 seconds, 800's by 15/20 seconds, mile repeats by 30/45 seconds. These are just guidelines to empower you to start slow, finish fast
9. Whenever running more than 8 repeats of anything, make the penultimate repeat your fastest one. The last one should be slightly slower, and don't check splits, but rather "feel" your way thru just a bit slower than maximum. Then check your time at finish. This will instill confidence and protect against outright racing and injury.
Good luck and run negatives!
