Negative splits: when bad is good (but how do I get there?)

When the distance exceeds 200 meters, I've always been a good runner. Notice I didn't say "great" or "fabulous" or even "award-winning." Well, there was that one time when my age group ... anyway. My modus operandi in races is that I start out fast fast fast, I feel great, I run a mile or two at a blinding pace. I can't even believe how well I'm doing. And then, well, it all drops off from there.

Real, great racers have what's called "negative splits." In other words, their last laps, or miles, or kilometers, or however the race is being measured, are even faster than their early ones. I only aspire to be negative. I've never accomplished it, not in any distance.

So for the Hood-to-Coast relay, where I'll be running three legs of about six miles each, I've decided: negative splits will be mine. I've been training for it, and I think I can, I think I can. Here's what I've been doing on my shorter runs:

• First half-mile is slow, warming up
• Next two to 2.5 miles are uphill, somewhat fast but not really pushing it
• Stairs or flat for the next 0.5 to one mile, really accelerating
• Final two to 2.5 miles is downhill, as close as I can come to sprinting.

In my best runs, I've been nearing seven-minute times on the fourth mile, which blows my mind and makes me feel like the fastest person on the planet. Today was my first long run in the negative-splits campaign and I did as follows:

• Three miles quite slow, over a variety of terrain
• Two miles accelerating, with lots of short hills and stairs, run fast
• Final two miles as fast as I could, about eight-minute miles

It felt wonderful! Naturally, I wonder if I will be able to walk tomorrow. And I wonder: am I doing the right thing? Will this work? How would you train for negative splits in such a long race?