Hello again, fellow runners!

Here we are, on the home stretch of our preparation for the race! My last tip will help you manage your effort, from start to finish, to make sure you complete your race with a smile, feeling you have given everything. But not during the first minutes; gradually, all the way to the end.

From the 1,500 m to the marathon, both for women and for men, all the world records have been beaten, and all the astonishing performances have been realized by following a fundamental principle: the negative split, by which the second half of a race is run faster than the first half.

On such endurance races, this method offers many physiological and psychological benefits. Firstly, by starting slowly, you will make sure to maintain a steady state, essential to complete an effort lasting several minutes, or hours, without slowing down.

Secondly, you will moderate the gradual increase of your perceived exertion, which dictates the pace you can maintain all along the race. Thirdly, you will pass a lot of runners who will not have been as wise as you and who, after starting out too fast, slow down ineluctably. And fourthly, after the race, contrary to these runners, you will wonder how much time you will shave off your next race, if you start out a bit faster.

Enjoy the end of your preparation, and see you at the finish line on September 25!

Olivier