What is Negative Splitting?

A coaching client recently asked me "What is negative splitting?" Here was my response.

A negative split is where you do the second half of a workout or race faster than the first. Essentially, what it forces you to do is restrain yourself a little bit on the first half, giving yourself the energy to actually finish strong. Finishing weak makes you go really slow at the end, which is far slower overall than if you simply escalated your speed gradually.

You mentioned how there's no structure to your workouts. Negative splits are not only essential for longer workouts, but they are the ultimate expression of control of a workout. Anything that's an hour or longer, you should go for negative splits. Sometimes you'll accomplish it, sometimes you won't, but the goal is to try. Again, this is because people have the tendency to start off too fast and then crater towards the end. Science and timing proves again and again that you will go faster overall if you go faster the second half than you did the first.

Your workouts will give you better results if you use it. Believe me, your competition is.

On something longer, like a 40k bike race, you'll have even better results if you break it up into smaller portions. Work backwards from what you want to do at the end. 24 mph the last quarter, 23, mph the third quarter, 22 mph the second quarter, 21 mph the first quarter. Mph is hard to use as a gauge of effort on the bike, so you're actually better off using wattage or heart rate instead. Mph can be affected by hills and wind far more than your effort level. To do splits properly, you'll need to have a watch that does pacing and laps. I have a Suunto T6c that tells me my pace and I can pre-set laps based on time or distance. Your Garmin does the same, I'm sure. You should have your watch avg your HR per 10k in the race. The 1st 10k could be 155 bpm, the next 165 bpm, the next 175 bpm, and the final whatever bpm you can max out at. Again, you should engineer your target bpms backwards from what your max can be.

SRAM Torpedo Hub on Display

The SRAM Torpedo is a hub that switches from single speed to fixed gear mode with just seven turns of a screw.  Pretty sweet!

It's featured on Swobo's Crosby, an aluminum frame, carbon fork, cyclocross tired rig.  It has a flat top tube and the cables on top so you can shoulder it through the mud or on your way up to your apartment. Excellent choice for an all-around bike.

Riding singlespeed and/or fixed is an awesome workout. It forces you to become one with the bike and also can make a two hour bike ride as effective as a three or four hour one.  It's a great time-management tool. Their simplicity is also a big selling point.

Podcast - Soul Triathlete

Click Here to Listen. 

I take listeners with me on a ride through the Texas countryside and talk about why you really train. Is it to race? Or have you fallen in love with training and don't race that much?

As requested, I also talk about how I dropped weight and got ripped. Ripped is a relative term, but I am 36 years old and weigh exactly the same as when I was captain of my varsity swim team at age 17. Not bad!

Listen in and enjoy the sounds of nature and cars occasionally roaring by. It's good stuff. :)

SHOWNOTES!

• Halfway throught the Ride of Truth, riding single-speed.
• Heat index was 132 degrees!
• What is a "soul triathlete" and are you one?
• Check out Everymantri.com and BikePornGallery.com.
• The bandana trick to stay cool and prevent sunburn.
• You can't train for triathlons and care about what other people think.
• How to scrub your tires for glass while riding.
• Skin Sake sponsorship. Used it on today's ride. Great stuff!
• Dates look like cockroaches, taste like gold. Great endurance fuel.
• How I got back down to the same weight and size as I was in high school. And ripped!
• Tomatoes reduce sunburn by 30%.
• The best strategy for making time to work out.
• Rich Roll rocks.

Click Here to Listen

The worst part of road rash...

Is when you roll over on it in the middle of the night.

You get all nice and settled in on one side and drift off. You roll
over onto what feels like angry, mechanized bees. Bees pissed off
about you, Hitler, calculus, and cheap crap from China.

We have a new sponsor for Zentri - Skin Sake, which doubles as healing
cream for road rash. It is working nicely. Lucky that the same week I
leave half my hide on a hot Texas highway, they are here to help. You
can find their link on the right. -->

Smile through the pain! Smile through the pain! Smile through the pain!

Sent from my iPhone.

Observations on motivation

When I coach triathletes, I don't give them the usual plans. That's
because there is no usual triathlete. I have them tell me what
motivates them and then build a plan around that.

People are more inclined to work harder when they enjoy it. In fact,
it's best if they don't see it as work at all.

For example, a client may say that they don't enjoy hill repeats so
much. Instead, a hard and fast workout they are more inclined
(incline, get it?) is fast negative splits. I give them that instead
because they will go harder and get the real workout they needed.

When you look at your plan, don't just read what's on the paper. If
it says to do an easy bike ride, that really means you could ride with
friends, go mountain biking, or just sight seeing.

You should take the effort level asked and then apply it to how YOU
want to do that sport.

The world is littered with athletic burnouts. I've been one myself.
Using the same equipment in the same location for an extended period
of time is a formula for quitting. You have to mix things up and ask
yourself how you really want to do it today.

Some great alternatives to the norm:

Trail running - go to your local mountain bike trails and run them.
Mountain biking - feels organic and improves bike handling skills.
Swim with different people - get a guest pass and swim at a different pool.

If you're not motivated, you don't give a solid effort. Be mindful and
pay attention when working out, identify what makes you go really hard
and feel fulfilled, and do more of that. And remember that it could
change over time.