Last weekend, I ran a 13K competition and repeated an old mistake, starting out too fast and getting hit with the hammer after 5km, making the last 8km very slow and painful. At the time, I felt like I was running easily enough at 12km/h, but got a big hit after the first round (it was pretty hot too).

A friend of mine suggested switching to the Negative Split method, because it also gives your body time to 'warm up' as it were and because its psychologically easier to speed up at the end and 'catch' people.

How do you calculate what pace to use at your negative split though? And do you split the race in two or in three? Any pointers on this negative split method would be highly appreciated.

FYi, I'm 37 and currently running between 11km/h and 11.5km/h depending on distance.

Sam