method behind negative splits

When fit, I'll usually run the last 5-10% of a long run at either Tempo or FT and this had helped me to develop a good kick for races. You can also practice on interval sesssion by starting a 'x' pace and switching to higerh intensity towards the end. What's your goal, to leanr how to pace your efforts evenly?

For that you need to do Goal Pace (GP) runs. regardles of your distance goal determine what is and achievable goal for you to shoot for. I use the VDOT calculator by Daniels to learn at what paces to train at and then just structure my plan. Once I am done with my base training my running structure will look like this : 5x runs a week - 1 recovery run, 1 easy run, 1 long run (easy - marathon pace), 1 goal pace run (for me half marathon pace), 1 Functional Threahold (FT) run.

To learn how to evenly pace my races at Tris I usually do 'some' of my transition runs (bricks) at GP. i.e. since my goal is going to be the 70.3 series, then after a 2-3 hr ride I'll do a 20-40 min transition run as 20 min ez/20 min GP or 15 min GP/25 min ez, or 30 min GP or race rehearsals as 1-1-5 hrs at GP riding ans 30-50 min ar GP running.

It's better to do even splits than it is to negative split ......... If you negative split it typically means you went too easily in the beginning.

At least that's what Pfitzinger-Douglas say ......

(With that said I'll try to do the same as Jorge though and push the last few miles of a long run to use everything in the tank and force myself to maintain a faster pace).

My long runs are different this year in an effort to train so I can run faster when tired and also negative split. I'm training somewhat like I want to be able to race.

Yesterday's long run was 7.5 miles with first 3.4 aerobic zone then last 4.1 miles I try to run with my 5K HR. Yesterday I didn't do as good as I had a hard time focusing and my HR kept dropping as I wasn't working hard enough at end. I did keep my pace even through the whole run other than the mile that is all uphill....but keeping even pace gets harder and harder.  Two weeks ago, I did it better....started out with 9:45 miles, when I picked it up averaged 9:30 for two miles, then 9:23 and finished with a 9:08 mile.

My coach varies the length of my long runs but the last 4 miles are always at a harder pace.

It took a few times of doing the workout to even somewhat pace oaky and it hard work..I know where my miles. I'm cautiously optimistic this will help me race faster next summer.

On a related note:  what's the *goal* of a negative split anyway? Is the common wisdom that if you use a run strategy that results in a negative split then your overall time is likely to be better?  If so, that makes sense to me.  But if the expected result is the same overall time, but with the pacing distributed so that the last half is faster than the first I don't understand why the concept gets so much attention.

Thanks for the feedback - I've always felt like I was missing something here... 

what does your coach say about it?  I mean you are paying him for this kind of advice after all.

Personally, I look more at HR then I do pace.  I shoot to keep my HR in a specific zone off the line and I have a plan of when and how much to bump it up.  For shorter (5k) races, that means high zone 3 until mile 2, then LT for the final mile.  Longer races, I shift down lower, depending on how long the race is.  The thing is, most times, I have a pacing stradegy besides start easy, finish hard.  If I know there is a section of long flat or downhill and a uphill at the end, I will push harder on the flats and downhill, because I know for the added effort, I will gain more ground over the flats and downhill then I would running up hill.  That would be a race that I positive split the time, but the overall time still would come out faster then if I negative split it.

IMO negative splits are just another way to vary training and practice certain things. During training negative split is a way to get an athlete out of the comfort zone to push a bit harder. (i.e. like running 4 intervals of 1 mile starting the first 2 at tempo and the next two at FT) Like Kathy mentioned, to do so at the end of long runs teaches you to push harder on tire legs. On swimming you hear the term descending with means swim the next set faster or negative split. I personally don't believe in negative splits for racing. I think that with proper training you should be able to go as hard as you can from the get go for the particular distance of the race and evenly pace your efforts (maybe slightly positive)

Ummmm, anything shorter than a 15k should all be above LT the entire race ....... sorry to tell you!

A half mary will be right above LT and a full mary should be run right at or below LT.  At least if you want to run to the best that your body can in a race.

It is a misconception that negative splitting is good.  Unless the course has a tailwind or is downhill there is no reason that you should have a negative split.  Once again, on a normal course, if you negative split it means you did not live up to your potential in the race and could have gone faster overall.

The world's best marathoners run 5-10 beats below LT, and they're only doing that for a bit over 2 hours. LT is a pace that you can sustain for about an hour.

In my "best" running races (the ones which I did better than I expected and basically felt everything went about as well as expected) except for perhaps the last mile (I tend to have a strong kick at the end) was where the general trend was for me to have positive splits if anything.  I use the split after the mile (and I really do try to hold back though of course I'm not always good at that though that's not my biggest issue pacing-wise) as sort of a guide as to what I'd like the rest of them to roughly be.  Until I've run that first mile in the race, I don't feel that I personally have enough feel for how I'm feeling that day.  I then try to hold onto it unless it's far too fast for me.  I'll usually have some decline in the middle and then in what I consider a well-run race for me personally, I leave it all out there the last mile of the course, once I know I can finish and then I'm just going for the PR if it's in reach. 

When I train, I generally pick up the pace, if not in the last 10 minutes or earlier, then certainly the last 30 seconds or so as I want my body to understand that when I see the finish line, it's time to go as hard as possible (and I hate getting beaten at the end and love picking people off in the last .1 miles when many tend to give up).