SUCCESSFUL NEGATIVE SPLITS

(Was supposed to post this last Wednesday...or was it Thursday? but forgot...)

Had my first real success in doing negative splits, no cheating this time as I would only be cheating myself and suffer in a future race (who knows when this will be). But so there, mentally, now I know I can really do negative splits if I concentrate hard enough. Decided to up my pace every kilometer in this 5KM workout. I know I know puny distance but hey, you gotta start somewhere right?

Some things that helped me survive:

1. Fool yourself that it will all be over in a few minutes PLUS plenty of self talk.

Whenever I upped the pace a little, the first few minutes were not quite enjoyable as my legs are still getting used to the pounding. So I’d tell myself to hang in there for two minutes and it will all be over (even if based on that pace, I still have like 800 meters to go hahaha). THEN as soon as two minutes are up, I’d check my distance and if I haven’t reached that KM mark yet, I’d do it all over again. I think I’m pretty good at convincing myself of my own lies hahahaha. It helps to have that mini goal in mind, it keeps you focused. Just remember to re-set that goal as soon as you’re done with it till you reach the end of the workout. It doesn’t even have to be based on time, it can be as silly as keeping the pace till you see a red car (if you’re running at the gym and you have no choice but to look at what’s in front of you – my view is a flyover). It gets your mind off the fact that you have a long way to go in your workout.

2. Form, form, form PLUS body sensing.

As each KM got harder and harder, I really really put in a lot of effort to make sure I had the right form. More times than most, I’d be feeling off or get tired easily when my form was off. So I’d make a quick correction here and there, such as letting my left foot land inward more as I have the tendency to let it stray outside, or maybe tell myself to relax and use more of my core instead of tensing up. Know that body and get a feel of when your form is at its best or worst. Then you’ll be able to make that little physical adjustment when needed.

3. Cotton and Steel

Trying to internalize more of Chi Running by Danny Dreyer, I pretended my limbs and all those connected to it (knees, ankles, feet, toes, arms, hands, wrist, fingers) were like cotton – light, airy, close to weightless, no tension there at all. As for my trunk, that was what had to feel like steel, although not in a tense your muscles kind of way but more like keeping it stable and letting it do all the work. Firm yet flexible.

4. Breathe with your mouth open (just a bit so the flies don’t get in)

I finally convinced my mouth to keep itself open just a little and to use it to my advantage when breathing. Not that I’d suck-in-all-the-air-in-a-5 –meter- radius-vacuum-type of breathing mind you, but have it naturally fall open just a little whenever I would take in air. Breathing in enough to fill your diaphragm is very very hard to do if done only through your nose as it takes more time and makes me lose my rhythm. So there, don’t be afraid to open up haha.

If I can do a negative split, you can do it too. Hope some of these things help you through one!