You have always been told, even as a child, think positive and positive things will happen. So why would I title a blog post about the power of negative thinking? Many runners know the answer. To go negative in the second half of a race is the optimal way to run a race. Going negative means running the second half faster than the first. I am not talking about sandbagging the first half and then blistering the second. I'm talking about running the prefect race where you are minutes or even seconds faster in the second half. It is the best feeling particularly if you plan it or even better if you just feel it happening. The challenge of the course can also have an impact but I have seen and even ran a negative split myself where the second part of the course was more difficult than the first. Frankly, it is a difficult thing to do, at least for me, because I have always had a tendency to go out too fast, even after 97 marathons, its a challenge to run that negative split marathon. I do better in half marathons because it takes me about 4-6 miles to warm-up, even after a pre-race warm-up!
My nephew Shawn Doub ran a negative split at the Baltimore marathon in 2016, on a course famous for its difficulty in the second half due to the hilly miles from16-23. He even received a pair of New Balance shoes on Strava for running that negative split.
I ran 4 (3 consecutive) races this year in negative splits, three half marathons and a full and they were of the perfect kind. In the first half marathon in Wilmington, NC, I paced with the 2 hour group through 11 miles and then finished in 1:59:24, a 36 second negative split. At the Tobacco Road half marathon, I ran 59 minutes out to the turn-around and then 57 minutes back finishing in 1:56:42. Then at the Raleigh Rock n Roll full marathon, on a challenging, hilly course, I ran 2:17 for the first half and 2:16 for the second finishing in 4:33:02. And, at the Western Maryland Rail Trail half marathon, I ran a 2 minute negative split finishing in 1:55:08. All 4 of these races felt the best to me this year so far. In contrast, I didn't have a great Flying Pig even where the second half of the Pig is the fastest. I ran 2:09 in the first half and 2:29 in the second, not a good showing. If I was around 2:15 in the first half, I may have been under 4:30, instead of 4:38.
I know, these times aren't the fastest but are relative to where I am these days at age 57. And, no matter your age or your pace, the power of negative thinking still applies. It should be the goal of every runner, elite, mid-packer, back of the pack. There is a feeling of success in negative splits run well. Think NEGATIVE and your experience will be POSITIVE!
