Sub-90 Minutes for the Half Marathon (2012) (Read 6766 times)

L Train


    Of course.  Still a great day overall, and congrats on a great race even though you didn't hit your time.  You will.

     

      1:29:06 so now I can claim a legit <1:30 half. Real fun day. Good to see the swampies. 

       

        Congrats EGH3!

         

        I feel like I am ready to throw down a new PR next weekend. I had a real confidence building workout last weekend that was a 17+ miler with a fast finish. At this point I think that all the work has been done, but I am not going to taper since this is a tune-up race for a December marathon.

         

        Now I just have to figure out what I want my pacing strategy to be.

         

        --

        Nashville, TN

         

          lagwagon, Trenton Half Marathon, NJ, 11/10

          jaxn, Nashville Half, TN, 11/10

           

          Sweet! Go get 'em guys....

          Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
          We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
          lagwagon


            thanks Kevin, and a belated congrats to marvelous marvin!

             

            jaxn, just checked out your log, and you SMOKED that 17 miler a couple weeks back.  I did an 18 mi race about a month back at a similar average pace, but the recovery set me back at least a week, and nothing sub 6. 

             

            My thinking is to run the first mile or 2 at 7 min pace, and then drop to 6:45 by mile 4 or 5 and hold that on out.  Got a decent hill at mile 8, want to roll down that and bring the last 5k in fast.  (In contrast, my typical HM is solidly positive splits culminating in a painfully slow final 2 miles)

             

            Cant control the weather though.  The forecast for Saturday is clear and cool, but its been a bit rough lately.  We were without power for a week in the wake of Sandy, and I've been dodging powerlines and down trees (in the dark) on my runs for the last 10 days. 

             

            Tonight, a nor'easter dumps 6" of snow (so far).  Hoping it melts before Saturday so the roads are dry, otherwise all bets are off.

              I just wish my training has been as consistent as your's lagwagon. Your 18 miler looks good, but I think the even splits on that 5k are most impressive. 

               

              Looks like your weather will be great on Saturday (as long as all of the snow is melted). We are going to be a little warmer than I prefer, but hopefully that isn't until later in the day.

               

              I am trying to decide how aggressive I want to be on Saturday. I should be able to run sub-85, but on a great day may be able to go a couple of minutes faster. Hoping to take the first mile in 6:40-6:50 and then start dropping it down as long as it stays comfortable.

               

              Good luck!

               

              --

              Nashville, TN

               

                Today went well. The weather was perfect and I took a couple of days off to rest a sore foot. I felt ready.

                 

                When the gun went off, I stayed calm and let the field figure itself out. A half mile in we were in a lead pack of about 7-8 guys, but the pace felt very easy. My garmin said we were going 6:24. I decided to just hold the pace and see what happened.

                 

                At mile 1 I was in the lead with one other guy. I decided to hold the pace instead of holding the effort up a hill and see what happened. By mile 2 I was all alone. It was a downhill mile so I picked up the pace a little. For the rest of the race it was just me chasing a couple of guys on bikes. I kept a steady pace, but didn't kill myself. By mile 6 I was starting to thintomorrow the rest of my marathon training, but I also realized that I needed to do whatever it took to not miss this opportunity Smile

                 

                I won the race with a time of 1:22:14. 

                 

                Obviously that is not a very fast field, but it was a heck of a lot of fun. I have never won a race before. I am pretty motivated to train hard so that I can have that exerpeince again!

                 

                --

                Nashville, TN

                 

                lagwagon


                  Great race jaxn.   I've finished second twice this year in small races, but have yet to win.  Congrats, and great time!  PR?

                   

                   

                  I'm officially in the sub 90 club today!

                   

                  Ran a 1:26:15, but I believe the course was 1/4 mile or so short (per my garmin (and others)).  So I'll extrapolate the 6:42 mean pace to a net 1:27:45 as my new PR (prior was 1:36, 8 yrs ago)

                   

                  Perfect day, poorly organized race.  2000 people lined up at 7:30 for a 7:45 start.  Gun didn't fire until after 8:30.  

                   

                  I was lined up toward the front, but did a good job of choking back the first mile at 7 min pace (according to plan).  Picked it up by mile 2 and  was surprised at how easy and smooth the 6:40 miles felt.  I passed a few people every mile, and wasn't passed at all in the race.  

                   

                  I'm a little shocked that I finished more than 2 min ahead of schedule and placed 22 out of 2000.  And I even felt like I had a little more in the tank.

                   

                  Also want to add a note that this site and thread have helped inspire me.  The thread helped me shape my goal, and more than that, looking at the logs of the achievers here, I realized I needed to step up the mileage and intensity so 40mpw became 50, and my tempo paces dropped.  

                   

                  Maybe next year that 50 becomes 60, then 70, and I can draft the guys in the sub 3hr marathon group!  See y'all there?

                    Whoa! Awesome running you guys!!! 2 very impressive results, from some very good work. Nicely done.

                    Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
                    We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes

                      Great race jaxn.   I've finished second twice this year in small races, but have yet to win.  Congrats, and great time!  PR?

                       

                       

                      I'm officially in the sub 90 club today!

                       

                      Ran a 1:26:15, but I believe the course was 1/4 mile or so short (per my garmin (and others)).  So I'll extrapolate the 6:42 mean pace to a net 1:27:45 as my new PR (prior was 1:36, 8 yrs ago)

                       Congrats! And don't sweat the course.I felt the same way after Wilmington. You can only race the course as it's laid out. Your PR is 1:26:15. Congrats again! You too jaxn. 

                       

                        Next up...pr100, St Neots Half Marathon, UK, 11/18

                         

                        Good luck, pr!

                        Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
                        We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes

                          Next up...pr100, St Neots Half Marathon, UK, 11/18

                           

                          Good luck, pr!

                           

                          Thanks! Hoping for better than 1:29, which was my best of last year, but I'll settle for sub 1:30. I think I'm about in the right shape but it'll probably be a bit of a struggle in the last few km. Let's hope the weather is kind - the forecast look pretty good at the moment (maybe a little breezy, but cool and dry) although these things are not always reliable.

                            1:30:18. Frustrating not to break 1:30, but it's about as good as I could do on the day I think. I was the first person over the line slower than 1:30 :/

                             

                            The conditions were very good; maybe slightly on the cold side, but dry, sunny and only the slightest of breezes. The course was good. Slightly undulating, but not enough to slow you down a lot. That said - the up hill stretches were where I had difficulty keeping up with the 1:30 pace makers. I finished pretty strongly (helped by the slight downhill in the last mile or so) but still - not quite quick enough to make 90 today.

                             

                            No more HMs planned for this year - I guess there's still a possibility I'll do another, but I think it's likely that this will be a year without a sub 90 for me.

                              Damn. Nice effort, pr. 

                               

                              Damn.

                              Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
                              We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
                                CNYrunner, Wolf Hollow 1/2 marathon, NH, 11/25 Good luck CNY!
                                Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and rogues
                                We're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes