Forums >Racing>Sub 2:00 Half Marathon thread
Tough run Nathan geez. I can see a root even in that small picture there .... I have been doing trail runs as well but luckily it is so hot here nothing grows except shrubs and rocks. I have tripped a few times but haven't gone down yet, knock on wood. I am glad your collar bone is still going strong! What are your plans now?
I have been back to training now for a month and I am feeling a lot stronger than I was. I have changed all my old routes to very hilly ups and downs and mostly dirt or trails. I did a hard run on Sunday. It was 10 miles, 5 upill and 5 back down. I think it was the hardest run I have ever done so far, different from marathon hard, but effort hard. It was maybe about 80% trails so I am getting used to longer runs on trails I think. I am hoping all this pays off for a half mara soon. I will probably run an easy half this sunday for my long run. I will have to see how I feel to judge whether it will be for speed or just to get miles. Anyways, that's the news. Hope everyone is fine and running or thinking about running. Bolder Boulder looked fun, Go Shalane and Deena !!
5k = 19.48 10/1/13
10k = 45.28 4/16/13
Half Marathon = 1:38.53 Summer Sizzle 7/13/14
Operation Jack Marathon 12/26/12 4:39.11
Solo O Marathon 06/02/13 3:52:10
Operation Jack Marathon 12/26/13 3:40.34
If you ask
Wow, Nathan, sorry about the DNF. Have you run many trails before this race? I know that trail running is so very different from the road because one has to pay attention to the terrain the entire time, as well as pick up ones's feet. Both become difficult to do when tired. I'm glad you weren't hurt.
wolfie - what half are you training for? I love the trails.
Hello to everybody!
Me - I have been increasing the miles each week, running 35-40 mpw until this week. Last Sunday I ran the Charlie Horse Trail Half Marathon. It was tough! There were many rocks, downed trees, and hills. Miles 10-11 were on the road (previously trail, but now a development). Mile 10 was all downhill (tough to run) and mile 11 was uphill (tougher to run). I did have to walk a bit. Either allergies or an oncoming cold made breathing difficult. Mile 12 was through Charlie's farm (thus the name) and we went through much mud and creeks. Charlie, himself, made us crawl under a gate. Ironically, I got a charley horse in my calf and had to stop and stretch in the last mile. I think it was from using my calves so much because there was so much uphill running. Anyway, I finished I 2:22, but I think I could do better next year. This week I'm traveling to VA to run the Wine Country Half with my nIece. I will either run with her, or just make it an easy run. Not going to try for a PR so soon after a hard race.
First post to this thread. I have found it inspiring, although I will probably never break 2:00 -- firstly, as I am a 63 yo female, and secondly, I live in a relatively rural area with two reasonably local half marathons per year, two weeks apart. I have been running for six years, and I've run each one of them once. I'll almost certainly miss the first one this year because of work, and that's the flat one. I might be able to run the second one, but there are a lot of hills.
However, I found myself on vacation last week near Acadia National Park, and realized that I would be there for their YMCA half marathon. Four weeks ago I impulsively signed up and yesterday ran the race in 2:02:00. So, maybe there's hope ....
Robin
Latent Runner
Like others have suggested, training on technical trails is essential for racing on technical trails. When I first started training on trails I was astounded at the number of times I would find myself on the ground and not even remember tripping or seeing some minor obstruction (like an acorn or something) which caused me trip or painfully turn an ankle.
Now, several thousand trail miles later, I'm surprised at how often I *don't* trip, and how often I feel a rock or root under my foot which would at one time have either sent me to the ground and/or caused a painful turn, and now is a matter of routine.
Long story short, I guess what I'm trying to tell you is to not give up on trail running, you'll become more adept at it with more mileage.
Fat old man PRs:
Runs4Sanity
I ran the Owensboro Memorial Day Half on May 24, my time was 2:01:36.... I was really hoping for another sub 2 hour but I wasn't ready for the 60something and sunshine, I am pretty sure I poured over a gallon of water on myself throughout the entire race. Now I know why I enjoy long distance racing in fall and winter lol.
Other than that, my debut marathon training begins June 23, less than 3 weeks from now and I am excited for this new journey and excited that I have picked the Monumental Marathon for my first one
*Do It For Yourself, Do It Because They Said It Was Impossible, Do It Because They Said You Were Incapable*
PRs
5k - 24:15 (7:49 min/mile pace)
10k - 51:47 (8:16 min/mile pace)
15k -1:18:09 (8:24 min/mile pace)
13.1 - 1:53:12 (8:39 min/mile pace)
26:2 - 4:14:55 (9:44 min/mile)
CT JEFF
Memorial Day Marathon. Previous PR was 4:41 on this course. Last year it was cold. 38-58 I think. This year was warmer. 48-68 but it seemed nice. I had trained well, the first half was downhill to flat. Second half was flat to uphill. I peeked at my paces here and there, but wanted to be a little faster for first half. Was shooting for sub 4:00. At the half I was just under 2:00. I got de-motivated knowing the 4:00 wasnt likely. Then I started talking myself into "it would still be a PR" and was walking quite a bit before you know it. Final 4:28:30.
This Sunday (one week later) Amica Iron Horse Half Marathon. Didnt set an alarm. DS came in bedroom at 6:25 and I jumped out of bed. Had some water and walked around. Headed out for 7 and got there 7:15. Found packet pickup and they informed me race was at 7:45 not 8am! Ah. Back was tight, but one booth had free chair massages, so that was nice. Started about 48 and hit 58 by the end. My splits were pretty consistent for first 8 or 9 miles, but then started dropping off. Still got a 1:51:31 beating my PR by 6 minutes and this course last year (where it hit 80) by over 20 minutes! Im eyeballing 1:45 (8mm) pace. Course and weather were perfect, but a little more rest might have helped.
RUN SAFE. Barefoot 1st: 6/9/13. PR: 5k=22:50 10k=47:46 HM 1:51. FM 4:28 Oct 2015 joined RUN 169!
Edith, sounds like a crazy trail run for you at Charlies. How did the wine country run turn out? I am training ( and just signed up for ) the Summer Sizzle half mara in Santa Monica Ca. on Sunday July 13, 2014. It is pretty flat so I think the trails and uphills I am doing are overkill but I want to be ready and I am falling in love with trail running especially tough uphills.
Robin : Wow, so close ! I think there is definite hope to break sub 2. Stick with it and read some of these testimonials from the regulars. Many in here have grinded their times down minute by minute
Free soul : Good luck on your marathon training cycle. What type of plans have you considered?
Jeff : Nice PR's !! I ended up walking some on the last part of all my marathons so far hah. I am still waiting for the one that I can constantly keep running.
Me : I am still running consistently. I hit 33 miles this week 31 last week, and will keep building my base up. I am training for Summer Sizzle half mara in Santa Monica Ca. on Sunday July 13, 2014. It is on the beach path and runs past the pier and the promenade and all that so it should be a fun one. 75% of my runs have been uphill and trail runs, 25 % on the regular bike paths. The last few runs I have been trying to translate the strength from the uphill/trails to speed. I did a 8 mile at 7.52 the other night and 8.6miles at 7.56 pace yesterday but I feel I can go lower. Anyways, that is where I am at, I have a month left to train so I will be adding more miles, working on speedwork and sticking to the hills and trails. I hope everyone else is still running and training at least. I know it is hot out there
Well, I am 16 days from half mara race day. I am still training doing ab workouts, hiking, and uphill training. I am pretty confident to get a sub 2.00 time but I am not sure if I will be anywhere near a PR but I am feeling ok about this. I am going to start doing a little more speed work and less uphills as I get closer to race day. I probably won't be doing any dramatic taper. Anyways that is about it for now, did some mile repeats yesterday and looking for a long uphill run today. Have a great week, I know someone out there is training, where is everyone?
Have a great week, I know someone out there is training, where is everyone?
Thanks, you too.
I'm still training in my usual 50-70 MPW LSD mode and am half way through the 2014 racing series of events put on by a local running club. The series events are a 1-Miler (5:50), a 2-Miler (13:49), a 5K (21:57), a 5-Miler (37:24), two more 5Ks, a 10-Miler, and a Half Marathon.
Funny thing #1, I haven't changed my training one bit from last year in that the only speed work I'm doing is on the rare occasion when I'm racing. The LSD stuff has been working so well for me I've decided to forego any formal speed training until next year.
Funny thing #2, I started running back in 1970 and have been racing off and on since then, and in spite of the fact that I've run all manner of races, the half marathon at the end of September will be my first (I'm hoping to break 1:40; 1:45 is probably more likely).
Hello all, good to see some "old" faces and new ones. I've been guilty of not posting for a while, but here goes.
me-Started my FM training plan over a month ago, with the race date on Sept 28. Trying to break my first and only PR of 4:07 provided the knee doesn't cause any more problems. I'm shooting for 3:42, and my training plan so far wants me to go down to 3:30. But I resisted and said "no" for now. We'll see how the plan progress as the longer runs start soon.
Hope everyone is doing well. Any races coming up?
Steve
5K/22:33 10K/47:52 21.1K/1:44:06 42.2K/4:07:372014 Goals: 5K<22:00 10K<45:00 HM<1:40 FM<3:45
hello everyone,
Less than a week until my half mara race. I completed last week with a little over 36 miles and lots of cross training. I ran a half mara distance yesterday trying for a 8.00 pace and I ran a 1hr42mn45sec which was a 7:55 pace. I would be really happy with this time on the upcoming race. I will be scaling back some of my high intensity workouts this week and doing some sort of a taper but not much. Anyways, I hope everyone is avoiding the terrible heat and humidity out there. Its been in the high 90s here during the day and its 81' in my room now at 9:00am so today is probably another hot one. Take care, race hard !!!
Sounds like you've had great training, and a good plan for a slight taper. Good luck!
ok everyone, here is my Race Report from Sunday's Summer Sizzle Half Marathon in Santa Monica, Ca.
My training for this race was mainly high intensity workouts running uphills and downhills plus I started doing a lot of situps later on in the training cycle to see if it would help. (it did) I stuck to trails a lot too so my body was feeling bulletproof. No pains blisters sore anything to speak of before the race. The trail running really toughens you up. I only averaged low 30's miles per week. Highest week was 36 miles.
Race day : Woke up at 3:55am to get ready and be at the beach by 6:30am for bib pickup. Ate one pack of Oatmeal and one sandwich ( peanutbutter and honey) I made another sandwich which I at about 15 minutes before the race. I didn't plan to eat any gels or bars during the race, only drinking powerade. The event was smaller and had a cool vibe. The weather was great, maybe low 70's. Race start time is 7:00am.
The plan : My basic half mara plan was to go out with a 8:00min mile the 1st mile and then drop it to 7:50 and see if I could hold that until the last 2 miles. Then kick it in high gear the last 2 miles. I trained for this type of kick at the end. If it came down to a race with someone else, maybe I would have something left. ( This great plan was thrown out the window after about 30 seconds )
The race : There was a good turnout of people but I was unsure how many were running the half, 15k 10k or 5k but the half started first so I lined up right on the front of the line. Countdown 54321...go Maybe 10-15 people took off in front of me and I didn't mind as I had to get my headphones on, put away my phone, blah blah blah. I fell in behind some guy and stuck with him for maybe a mile or so. He started to slow so I went around him and some others. The course was 3 loops of 4.336 miles or something. So it was like 2.16 miles out and then back. When I was close to the turnaround I saw that there were only 2 people in front of me now. Some guy in a red shirt and a girl in yellow shorts. They were well ahead though, over a minute or two. I had my runkeeper app on 3 mile alerts for my pacing so I was well halfway done with the first loop before I heard my average pace of 7:29 or something I freaked out because I went out way to fast and my plan was shot. The 4th place guy behind me wasn't far off so I didn't want to slow down. I changed the plan to be, JUST HOLD ON ! ! ! ! ! I got to the end of the first loop and saw my Mom and My aunt and uncle cheering so it helped and I let them know I was in third place. The next 7 miles was pretty much the same. I was holding third, red shirt in 1st, yellow shorts girl in 2nd. The guy behind me was still maybe a minute behind. No time to restroom or tie shoes or anything. When I got to the last turnaround at mile 11 or so, I saw yellow shorts girl leaning against the wall in the shade, rubbing her leg or cramping or something. I cheered her on and we took off, she was in front of my maybe by 30 feet. I kept this distance until I saw the 4th place guy coming up to do the turnaround. He was well behind me now so I knew I just had to deal with this girl. The red shirt guy was well ahead by a few minutes, no catching him. Yellow shorts started to fade a tiny bit so I passed her and kept the same pace. I was now at the 2 miles left mark so I stepped it up a notch and saw the Santa Monica pier getting closer. It was around the 1 mile left mark. I faded a bit right before the pier and had a nightmare of the girl or 4th place guy speeding past me so I stepped it up again. I was around 400 meters left and saw the finish / crowd. I sprinted as hard as I could the whole way. Not sure if it even was fast considering how tired I was haha. Anyways I ran in and finished second overall woohoo.!!! The first place guy was little over 3 minutes ahead of me, yellow shorts girl was 1 minute behind me and 4th place guy was 10 minutes behind. It was really intense and fun to get to actually RACE instead of just SURVIVING the full marathon. This was my first official half marathon race so I was pretty happy. I set a new PR too over my training times. I congratulated everyone and cheered on the people coming in behind us. Walked down to the beach afterwards and walked around in the water to cool off the legs. it was fantastic.
THE NUMBERS:
13.11 miles. Total time : 1hour 38minutes 53 seconds. Pace = 7.32 minute miles. 7.9mph
Splits: Mile1: 7:33 mile2: 7:20 mile3: 7:17(fastest) mile4: 7:34 mile5: 7:42 mile6: 7:30 mile7: 7:43 mile8: 7:41
Mile9: 7:30 mile10: 7:45 mile11: 7:46(slowest) mile12: 7:27 mile 13: 7:26
So anyways I got second place overall, there were no age group awards. I got a new PR by close to a minute. Felt great and returned to running after one day rest. I think this was a really cool race and had a fun vibe. It was small but I liked it. I posted a short 2 minute video of the race on my youtube page if anyone wants to watch. Ok, hope everyone is training hard and running fast, cyas!!!
Summer Sizzle Half Marathon Video
Wolfy
not bad for mile 25
Nice going, Wolfwalker, congrats! Looks like your plan was way too conservative - good thing you didn't abide by it. Good report, too!
Fletch
Nice report, Wolfwalker. Great race! Congrats on the PR and the 2nd place finish.