How to manage negative splits

This is the 1^st of the intended 3 posts on Goa River Marathon (GRM). I honour the events I participate in with a post each. GRM deserves an additional post as it offers complimentary post-run beer. My sister also being a participant here, I got two beers & I have thus decided to write 3 posts on GRM 2016. (hint to GRM – offer me unlimited post-run booze next time & I will write a book.) But I am digressing from the subject, so here I go…

We (a group of 7 runners, incl. me) went for GRM by road as this would give us plenty of time to spend together. One of the two debutants, I think it was Harjeet, was pestering Coach Reni with a lot of queries on technical jargon. When it came to Negative Splits, I casually informed the gang that I do this every time. The company, all 6 of them, was in shock! Now, I am not the fastest of runners. Nor a focused one at that. To me, running a half marathon includes everything else including running. And a time of close to 3 hours is what I aim for. Yet, I have invariably managed to achieve negative splits each time I have run 21K. Your turn to be shocked? No, for I present the evidence from the GRM.

Here’s what Timing Technologies website (http://www.timingindia.com/result.html) says about how I progressed through the distance (you have my bib no. & can verify the same):

Number	22250
Name	Ashish Diimri
Gender	Male
Category	Open (Age group 35-45) MEN
Rank	1086 / 1284 Finishers
Category Rank	360 / 417 Finishers
Gender Rank	940 / 1084 Finishers
Split@5 Km	00:48:47 Avg. Pace 09:46, Avg. Speed 6.15 Kmph Gender Rank : 1061 / 1084 Finishers , Category Rank : 408 / 417 Finishers
Split@10.5 Km	01:33:53 Avg. Pace 08:56, Avg. Speed 6.71 Kmph Gender Rank : 1044 / 1084 Finishers , Category Rank : 400 / 417 Finishers
Split@16.1 Km	02:16:31 Avg. Pace 08:29, Avg. Speed 7.08 Kmph Gender Rank : 996 / 1084 Finishers , Category Rank : 378 / 417 Finishers
Net Time	02:59:35 Average Pace 08:31, Average Speed 7.05 kmph

As you can see, I shaved off 50 seconds in the 2^nd quarter & another 27 seconds in the 3^rd quarter. The 4^th quarter of the run was slightly slower (by 2 seconds). Which means, as I crossed the finishing line, my pace was a good 75 seconds (or 1:15 minutes) faster than when I began. You will have to trust these numbers as these are provided by the official timekeeper. I myself do not usually track my runs & do not have data to corroborate the official results. If you study the analytics closely, you will see even my gender/category ranks improve with each split. This is something I always find – people overtaking me initially while I do the overtaking in the later part (unless it’s a full marathoner overlapping me).

But I can explain why this happens. Usually, most of the events (Vadodara International Marathon being a notable exception here) have runners running along for 10.5 kms & returning the same way for the half marathon. The FM participants do 2 loops of this route.

Now, when I am running, you will find me admiring the route (& clicking pictures on my phone), reading the hoarding & race posters (& clicking pictures on my phone), trying to play some musical instrument (& having my picture clicked on my phone) & chatting up with fellow runners (& if they consent, clicking their picture on my phone). This takes up a lot of time. I usually manage to get some 40-50 pictures on each race (assuming 10 secs per picture, this adds around 8 minutes to the time). This slows me down (as you can see in my timings), but gets me a lot of stuff for the blogpost to follow. It’s a tradeoff where I have never been a loser as the organisers give a medal & post-run breakfast to each finisher.

Coming back to the topic, when I do the return leg of the route I have already seen the sights in the 1^st half & have less distractions resulting in fewer halts (this time only for hydration & fuelling). One also comes across other friends who are already returning from the half way mark, (at GRM, apart from Durgesh Merchant, Dr. Suresh Nayak & Sameer Gaikwad, even the little sis who was doing her maiden HM crossed me) which does egg you to hurry along. This is how I end up with a faster 2^nd half of the run. But what explains the negative quarterly splits? You know what, I can explain that too.

When the race begins, it is all crowded & people jostle to get going. That’s the time when I walk & let others get ahead. I take this as a warm-up routine for I am no fan of pre-run warm-up & stretching (nor of post-run cool-down & stretching). Thus, the 1^st quarter of a run is always the slowest. As the table above shows, the 1^st split pace at GRM was practically walking speed. (The 1^st split at GRM was unusually slower as I stayed with Rakesh who was having shin splints, which got better only during the 2^nd split & after generous spraying on the affected part.) Having warmed up, the 2^nd split turns out to be faster.

Having explained the 1^st half, I will get down to the return leg. As I explained, the return leg is faster on account of far fewer halts. But why is last 5K the fastest? You know what, as the last 3^rd approaches the sun is truly up & it starts getting hot. Escaping the heat quickly is one of the reasons for the quicker (actually, less slower) finish. Moreover, having had enough of water, enerzal, bananas & oranges (stay away from Parle-G biscuits, is my advice), the promise of a post-run breakfast (a veteran always knows!) generates extra energy to power ahead. Also, my run till this point has been a leisurely one with more than sufficient rest. Thus, when the other finishers are huffing & puffing along, I run past them with effortless strides (having no Garmin, I don’t have the data on cadence). Thus, I get a perfect negative splits each time I finish a HM.

But, not this time. Coming off the bridge after the 16K checkpoint, I went back to the musicians positioned there. Harjeet, doing his 10K called me out & I joined him. Coach Reni was waiting for us & I thought of finishing along with them at their (rather, Harjeet’s) pace. We also met RK Menon striding along on the other side & Harjeet may have felt elated on seeing a fellow debutant so far behind! But I soon recalled there was beer waiting on the other side of the finish line. This was one of the biggest decisions I had to make in my life, but chilled beer (being a post-run pick-me-up like nothing else) did the trick.

 

So, this is how I manage negative splits. The accomplished runners would have other strategies & I suggest you go to them for advice. This post is of help only if you are out to have some fun.