Quote:
Originally Posted by Alan T
You mention negative splits, but I think the true goal is even splits, but that is pretty near impossible to nail perfectly (maybe you can if you're a professional I suppose). So most science indicates negative splits will give you a better time than positive splits will. So starting off the race with a more conservative pace is better, but you don't want to start a long race too slowly, or those 30 seconds per mile will add up to be several minutes without much gained from it.
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I think the "conservative" pace of 8:04min/mile which would equal a 1:45 half is probably a good start for the first half of the race in my opinion. On the down hill stretch (looks like mile 7-8 somewhere) you go down about 30-50 ft during that mile, which is not much but a nice mile of downhill that you can speed that up some. After you flatten back out on North Ocean Blvd you probably want to find your final good pace. You'll have less than a 10k left at that point, so if you feel like you can do a 7:43 pace for the remainder go for that.
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I agree with this, except I would try to maintain the 8:00/mile pace a little longer (through mile 10 maybe) and see how you are feeling. If you can let it out for the last 5K, go for it. 1:45 seems right. 1:40 a little too fast.