During a race, it can be tempting to run at full speed from the starting line. But running at a consistent speed isn’t the only way to beat that personal record. With the common beginning-of-race bottlenecks that can make passing seem like an obstacle course, why not slow it down? Conserve your mental and physical energy for the finish line with negative splits.

What are negative splits? You’ve probably heard this term thrown around, but what does it mean? Practicing negative splits means running the first half of a race slower than the second half. It could also refer to running each mile slightly faster than the last. If you’re willing to give it a try, we’ve broken down some of the benefits and training tips to get you started:

Warm up
Starting off slower than your actual race pace helps your muscles warm up properly and prevents injury. Your joints will thank you as well!

Speed up
Gradually build up speed when you begin nearing the halfway point of your race. While the runners you’ve been neck-and-neck with for the past few miles may start slowing down, you’ll have a full energy reserve to make up for “lost” time.

Finish Strong
Now you’ll be the one passing everyone else! Flying by the competition will boost your confidence and mental state for the remainder of the run. Instead of feeling completely depleted at the end, you’ll be able to cross the finish line with your head held high.

Practice, practice, practice!
Controlling your pace during a race may seem difficult. But using runtastic PRO during your training runs will help keep your speed in check. Decide on a distance before heading out for a run so you’ll know where your halfway point is. Set runtastic voice feedback to report your pace for each interval so you’ll be able to recognize what your target speed feels like for each half. Check runtastic at the end of your training runs for a chart that displays each mile’s average pace and speed. With runtastic PRO for Android’s new feature, you can see your route traced in color, with faster paces in green and slower paces in red.

Have you tried running negative splits? Let us know how they’ve improved your race times!

Google Play is celebrating 25 billion downloads of Android apps, and runtastic is proud to be a part of it. Google Play is featuring select app developers by offering certain apps at the discounted price of 25 cents in the Google Play Store. Celebrate this this huge accomplishment with runtastic and Google and download runtastic Android PRO for only 25 cents.

http://officialandroid.blogspot.co.at/2012/09/google-play-hits-25-billion-downloads.html

The new version of the runtastic Android PRO App is available and with it a brand-new feature (soon available in your runtastic iPhone PRO app as well):

 

Trace your routes in colors and filter by the following parameters:

- Pace (fast pace = green / slow pace = red)

- Elevation

- Gradient

- Speed

- Heart rate

- Heart rate zones

 

Find the feature video here:

 

Other new features in the runtastic 3.4 PRO app:

- New weather integration

- Reduced battery consumtion

- Male audio voice feedback (English and German)

- Sony Smart watch integration

GET THE APP HERE:

About six months ago, I wanted to get in better shape to improve my golf game. Running seemed like the easiest workout option, since I could run outside, on my own schedule. I had run on and off since middle school, but I had never gone more than a few miles at a time. When I started running again, it was as hard as ever, and I knew I needed some extra motivation. A friend of mine had been trying to convince me to run a race with him, so we signed up for The Giant Race, a half marathon just over four months away.

As soon as I was registered for the race, I created a training schedule and started running five times per week. There were days when I would have rather skipped runs, but knowing that the race was coming up soon got me to stick with it and push myself.

I’ve always liked tracking my runs, even before GPS. When I was in middle school, I would run around the neighborhood, and then have my mom drive the same route to see how far I had gone. For a while I used a Nike + sensor, but now that I have an Android phone, I decided to track my runs with runtastic. Being able to track my time, distance, and calories made it easy to follow my training, and I could make each run a competition to beat my previous time or distance.

At some point during my training, I started to enjoy running. Instead of seeing it as something I “should do” or “had to do,” I started thinking of running as something I wanted to do. If I was stressed about work, I would look forward to going running that night to relax. I was also lucky that I could run along the water on a great path with views of theGolden GateBridge. There was always something interesting to see on my runs, including a woman who fed pigeons and would usually have six or seven of them perched on her arms and shoulders.

Last weekend I ran my first half marathon in two hours flat. Using runtastic made it easy to maintain my goal pace, and all of my training had paid off: I finished the last six miles at a much faster pace than I had hoped. The race started and finished atAT&TPark, home of the San Francisco Giants, and it felt great to cross my first finish line inside the baseball stadium.

Even though the race is over, my training isn’t going to stop. I’m still just as motivated to go out and run. I’ve found a challenging, rewarding sport that I can do anywhere, for the rest of my life. For now I’m going to focus on intervals and getting faster, but soon enough I’ll be ready to try another half marathon and improve my time.

 Author Greg Lynch was born and raised in California’s Bay Area and now lives in San Francisco. He works in advertising and is passionate about golf and beer.

When people hear the term “cardio,” they usually think of a treadmill or other gym machine rather than improvements in heart health. Cardio, short for cardiovascular exercise, is any exercise that gets the heart rate up and increases blood circulation throughout the body. For these very reasons, cardio should not be neglected. Everyone has a maximum heart rate, your 100%, which you should not exceed during exercise. This can be calculated by subtracting your age from 220. There are a variety of ways to jack up the heart rate and get the blood flowing. The more creative your cardio, the more the fun you’ll have, and the more likely you are to continue with your exercise program and keep seeing results.

Running and music are two great partners. It is really hard for me to exercise without my music, but with music I can keep my runs interesting. Instead of running inside, map out a run and go for a jog outdoors. Incorporate the music you are listening to and do walking lunges, jumping jacks, hop squats, walking high knees, running high knees or burpees during the chorus, or switch to a different exercise during each chorus.  Have a song that you go to when you know you need to kick the cardio up a notch, something that motivates you. Mine is Alex Clare- Too Close. I was excited when I found that runtastic PRO has a Power Song feature, and now I use that to switch on Too Close whenever I need an extra boost.

Using stairs at a park, home, stadium, etc. is also a really great cardio activity, and does a great job of engaging the abs and toning the muscles of the lower body.  As you climb, use your runtastic app to track your elevation and try to exceed your last record every time you come back to tackle the stairs.  Jog to some nearby stairs and then play around with different variations: single step, skip a step, bunny hop, hop on one foot, skip two steps, sprint, wide steps with a resistance band wrapped around your angles—keeping the resistance tight of course.

Hiking is another really great and fun cardio activity to do with friends, family or alone. There are so many gorgeous places to go for hikes with well-worth-it views along the way. Lots of uphill, downhill, and dirt paths ensure that you’re working hard, confusing your muscles and strengthening them. Sometimes certain hiking trails will have big rocks and boulders that you need to climb/step over. Balancing and climbing over this terrain is a really good way to throw your body a curve ball of confusion. This unstable environment activates all of the little stabilizer muscles throughout your low body, and forces you to engage your core muscles. Depending on how long your hike is, aim to stop about 10 times to do some pushups. Use a large rock or boulder off to the side of the trail for inclined or declined pushups, or even a park bench if you are hiking around a camp site. To get the most out of your hike, bring your Altimeter app for easy navigation and useful data like altitude, temperature, GPS coordinates, and sunrise/sunset times, and count your pushup reps with runtastic Push-Up!

I have found the problem with physical fitness and working out is not motivation or intention—it is commitment. Commit to a heart healthy life style, amp up your cardio routine, keep mixing it up, eliminate boredom and eliminate excuses!

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