Nice Negative Split or Left too Much in the Tank?
ATT949
Posts: 1,245 Member
Per the subject, this is a pix from my running the Surf City (Huntington Beach, CA) on 2/2/14:
http://cbeinfo.net/running/images/gtcsurfcity2014.gif
There's one hill on the course - short, sharp rise at the end of mile 4. The course is flat for miles 6 - 8 and the gentle uphill for miles 1-3 is a gentle downhill finish (it's an out and back course). Temps were in the high 40's (!!!) and winds were calm at the start but picked up to a few knots at the end (the finish was "upwind").
Have a looksee at the pix and decide - my HR at lactate threshold is 168 (could be up a bit now) and cardiac drift hits me at about mile 7.
http://cbeinfo.net/running/images/gtcsurfcity2014.gif
There's one hill on the course - short, sharp rise at the end of mile 4. The course is flat for miles 6 - 8 and the gentle uphill for miles 1-3 is a gentle downhill finish (it's an out and back course). Temps were in the high 40's (!!!) and winds were calm at the start but picked up to a few knots at the end (the finish was "upwind").
Have a looksee at the pix and decide - my HR at lactate threshold is 168 (could be up a bit now) and cardiac drift hits me at about mile 7.
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I'm all about the even/neg splits. I'm thinking a bit too much left in the tank.
I was out there too, and the wind kicked my *kitten* as soon as we hit the turn (~ mile 8). Those last 5 miles were a battle (for me).
Nice job, but I'd say head out just a little faster next time.0 -
Better a negative split than a death march to the finish!
That said, a half is a tough nut to crack. When you do it right, you can really run hard for almost the whole race. It's not like a marathon where you really need to hold back. Of course you need to hold back a little but it's possible to complete a half and be nearly out of breath the whole way.
I'd suggest trying a super ambitious goal for your next half...something you never thought you would be able to do. Go out at that pace, and hold it as long as you can. You may surprise yourself! Even if you end up slowing a bit at the end, if you had an optimistic but plausible goal, you probably won't completely bonk.
One nice thing about half-marathons is you can recover from a half in a couple weeks and be ready to run another one in a month or two -- then you will have more information about how to adjust your pace.0 -
Better a negative split than a death march to the finish!
That said, a half is a tough nut to crack. When you do it right, you can really run hard for almost the whole race. It's not like a marathon where you really need to hold back. Of course you need to hold back a little but it's possible to complete a half and be nearly out of breath the whole way.
I'd suggest trying a super ambitious goal for your next half...something you never thought you would be able to do. Go out at that pace, and hold it as long as you can. You may surprise yourself! Even if you end up slowing a bit at the end, if you had an optimistic but plausible goal, you probably won't compl
Indeed. Halfs (and shorter) you often can go and end up with a "I had no idea I could run that fast!" kind of result. That pretty much never happens with marathons. Death marching a half is usually the domain of the totally under-trained (injury notwithstanding). Generally not enough miles to deplete glycogen store for most runners.
My $.02: I find halfs are the most forgiving distance to race.
5K = wire to wire pain and no margin for error
10K = 95% of the pain of a 5K, but twice the distance...
half = room for a bad split here and there without tanking your entire race
marathon = going out 15 - 20 seconds per mile too fast becomes an exponential problem at mile 19, then trick is knowing the pace you CAN hold (as opposed to the pace you wish you could hold...)0 -
My $.02: I find halfs are the most forgiving distance to race.
5K = wire to wire pain and no margin for error
10K = 95% of the pain of a 5K, but twice the distance...
half = room for a bad split here and there without tanking your entire race
marathon = going out 15 - 20 seconds per mile too fast becomes an exponential problem at mile 19, then trick is knowing the pace you CAN hold (as opposed to the pace you wish you could hold...)
This makes a lot of sense to me. My favorite race so far was my half last spring. I probably could have gone a little faster. I'll do 5ks, too, because I can put up with pain for a little while. The thought of really racing a 10K is scarier to me doing an ultra.0 -
The thought of really racing a 10K is scarier to me doing an ultra.
The thought of really racing a 5k is scarier to me than doing an ultra.
The closest I've come to it was a 2 mile time trial. Holy cat was that awful on a whole other level.0 -
My strategy for this race was to take it easy for the first 8 miles and then pick it up but it looks like it did more of the "take it easy" and not enough of the "pick it up".I'm all about the even/neg splits. I'm thinking a bit too much left in the tank.
When I checked out my runs on "ConnectStats" (for iOS), I found that during parts of miles 5 and 6, my HR was down to 158 (82%) instead of 164 (86%), as it was for most of the race. Further, while running on the road back to PCH, after doing the uphill, I remember feeling a little spacey (might have been the beetroot juice), and I found myself sort of "loafing" along.
Were you able to find someone to draft? I made a point to find runners to draft but couldn't find a pace group to hang with.I was out there too, and the wind kicked my *kitten* as soon as we hit the turn (~ mile 8). Those last 5 miles were a battle (for me).
Agreed. I'm still at a point where I'm improving significantly so figuring out the pace is a little challenging. One thing I will be doing this training cycle is more "simulators", as Matt Fitzgerald calls them. I'll also be doing more long, hard runs so I'll have more experience with running near and at HMP.Nice job, but I'd say head out just a little faster next time.0 -
Amen!Better a negative split than a death march to the finish!
I DNF'd a Half in October and cramped at mile 10 in my August Half so I needed to take it easy for this race.
Agreed. I'll have a lot more time in this training cycle running at HMP so I'll do better in the August Half (it's the America's Finest City Half in San Diego that has a big downhill start and a big uphill finish).That said, a half is a tough nut to crack. When you do it right, you can really run hard for almost the whole race. It's not like a marathon where you really need to hold back. Of course you need to hold back a little but it's possible to complete a half and be nearly out of breath the whole way.
For this race, I didn't hit lactate threshold HR until mile 11 whereas in my August I was at or slightly above LT HR at the end of mile 2!
Heh, I love a challenge!I'd suggest trying a super ambitious goal for your next half...something you never thought you would be able to do. Go out at that pace, and hold it as long as you can. You may surprise yourself! Even if you end up slowing a bit at the end, if you had an optimistic but plausible goal, you probably won't completely bonk.
Very good point. Very different from the Full in that respect.One nice thing about half-marathons is you can recover from a half in a couple weeks and be ready to run another one in a month or two -- then you will have more information about how to adjust your pace.
Thanks for the feedback!0 -
Agreed. I'm still at a point where I'm improving significantly so figuring out the pace is a little challenging. One thing I will be doing this training cycle is more "simulators", as Matt Fitzgerald calls them. I'll also be doing more long, hard runs so I'll have more experience with running near and at HMP.
I totally hear you on this. I'm running a half on Sunday and when I started training I had a goal of sub 2:00. I did several 14 and 15 mile runs and one 16 mile run in training and I've found that a 9:00 average probably won't be very challenging but I don't know what will and what will be TOO much. So I have a plan to start out around 9:00 because there is 3 straight miles of uphill before mile 5 and then start opening up based on how I feel after that.
It's awesome to have improved so much but it's a little unnerving to not know what you can really do.0
