Sub 2:00 Half Marathon thread (Read 2396 times)

miele


Godzilla

    pc-  Great RR!  Your legs must've been feeling really fresh to be able to go out so fast.  Sorry you suffered so in the final miles.  Leg/foot issues, wind and side stitches don't make for a pleasant experience but you powered through.  Well done!  How's the leg feeling now?  How're you feeling overall?  Ok.  I got questions...How did you handle the taper?  I checked out your log and it seems you skipped a few workouts.  Hopefully by choice and not because you were feeling bad.  Did you do a big carbo-load for a few days?  The fast early miles seem to indicate very fresh legs which kind of back-fired on you in the end.  I mean, 10-11 minutes ahead of schedule at the half?!?!?  Crazy!  But still good to know you felt ready to go at the start.  How often did you take gels?  Why do you think you got light-headed at the end?  Oh, and the friend bringing the car is a good friend.

     

    Tara-  LOL!  I have tunnel vision, too, when it comes to racing.  But what's up with almost blacking out?  Has that ever happened before?  Very scary.  Is the race in Dec. flat?  Cause you're due a nice PR.  You almost had on the hilly course.

     

    Zelanie-  Speaking of new PRs.  You're workouts have been impressive!

     

    hector-  Sounds like a very pleasant trip to the east coast and Charleston.  I've never been to Charleston but I hear it's beautiful.

     

    Edith-  We've missed you around here but certainly understand the emotional turmoil you're going through.  I think it's a good choice to go for the 4:15 and to stick with the group until mile 20.  Not sure how much training you've missed but this seems like a good way to finish strong and regroup for your sub 4 effort later on.  I'm torn, though, because I know your easy pace has gotten a lot faster but at the same time I realize that doesn't have much to do with endurance.   It's a tough one.  Again, not knowing your MPW and LRs it's difficult to say so, yeah, I say sub 4:15 is a solid goal and would be a very nice PR.  We'll be rooting for you!

     

    Pandora-  Is that a Corgi in your avatar?

     

    me-  An easy 4.5 miles at the track today then to the gym.  Nothing exciting.  It looks like the new Garmin 220s aren't going to be in in time for the marathon so I just have to deal with the fact that my 405 might die at mile 20.  Oh well.

    10K: 47:12* / 13.1: 1:50:56 / 26.2: 3:53:48

     

                

      Miele,

       

      Yes, indeed, that IS a corgi in my avatar.  An old corgi.  Unfortunately, we lost him this past summer but I like using him as my picture for now.  If I had a decent running picture, i would use that but I always look I'm one step away from death

      Current PRs:  Half-marathon: 2:04:46 (Nov. 2013) /10k: 55:01 (Oct. 2013)/ 5K: 25:40 (Dec. 2013)

       

      Upcoming races:  5k Jan. 25, 2013

                                    Half marathon Feb. 23, 2014

      Zelanie


        I always look I'm one step away from death

         

        That means you are doing it right. Smile

        EdithRevisited


        If you ask

          Miele - thanks for the advice... My endurance is pretty decent, but I don't want to push it as I lost a number of weeks of training, being only able to fit in some runs.  Certainly not the mpw I had wanted.   My garmin 110 died two days ago.  Just....blanked out and never returned.  I have NO time to contact garmin and try to have it replaced so I'm borrowing my friends garmin forerunner 10.  I NEED it to pace myself at the beginning bc my comfy pace is way too fast.  Sure hope this isn't an omen of things to come...

          • Charlie Horse Half Marathon - May 25
          • PA Grand Canyon Marathon - July 27
          • Labor Pain 12 Hour Endurance - August 31 (50k...or more!)

           

            Edith - Go to the garmin site and look at troubleshooting - my garmin died just as you described one day before my half and my hubby was able to push a combination of buttons to reset it.

            Hope it works - and if not you have a backup.  Damn things need to know not to conk out too close to a race.

            Ready, go.

             

            pcaharrier


              pc-  Great RR!  Your legs must've been feeling really fresh to be able to go out so fast.  Sorry you suffered so in the final miles.  Leg/foot issues, wind and side stitches don't make for a pleasant experience but you powered through.  Well done!  How's the leg feeling now?  How're you feeling overall?  Ok.  I got questions...How did you handle the taper?  I checked out your log and it seems you skipped a few workouts.  Hopefully by choice and not because you were feeling bad.  Did you do a big carbo-load for a few days?  The fast early miles seem to indicate very fresh legs which kind of back-fired on you in the end.  I mean, 10-11 minutes ahead of schedule at the half?!?!?  Crazy!  But still good to know you felt ready to go at the start.  How often did you take gels?  Why do you think you got light-headed at the end?  Oh, and the friend bringing the car is a good friend.

               

              Let's see . . .

               

              The legs feel pretty much back to normal now.  Yesterday was the first day I didn't have to hobble and cling to the banister going down the stairs.  Today there's barely even a hint of soreness in my quads (the sources of most of the soreness) and my lower legs/ankles feel normal.  Overall, I feel really good.

               

              I did skip a few workouts during the last week.  Wednesday was a planned day off, but I think I ended up being up late that day for some reason.  So when Thursday morning rolled around and it was steadily raining and I was tired I just decided to skip that one.  Friday evening my oldest daughter had a friend over to spend the night and that kept me up again so I skipped the short shakeout run on Saturday (knowing that I had to drive down to the race on Saturday afternoon anyway).

               

              DW made at least one pasta meal the last week (maybe there was another on in there somewhere), but I didn't really make a big push to load up on carbs.

               

              I took gels at each of the aid stations that had them (in addition to the one I brought with me and ate about 20-30 minutes bfore the start).  They were at Miles 6, 13, 17, and 22 according to the race website, but I don't remember now whether that's where they ended up on race day (no reason to believe they weren't, I just wasn't focused on it at the time).  There was one aid station where I grabbed the gel, but waited until the next station to eat it (either there wasn't water or I missed it).

               

              I'm not sure about the lightheadedness.  I though I did okay on taking fluids and getting calories, so dehydration and low blood sugar shouldn't have been a major problem.  I went pretty hard right at the end so I'm sure my breathing could have been out of whack a bit too.  Now that I think back a bit, I had been sitting down for several minutes before we met up, so perhaps the getting up and walking around was a contributing factor too.  It went away pretty quickly (and I had just finished some extreme physical exertion), so I don't think I have too much cause to be concerned.

              miele


              Godzilla

                Edith-  Good luck tomorrow!!!!  I'm checking the weather and one site says rain and another says no rain.  I hope it's the latter.  Temp looks good.  Little or no wind.  You got this!!!

                10K: 47:12* / 13.1: 1:50:56 / 26.2: 3:53:48

                 

                            

                npaden


                  Good luck Edith!!

                   

                  I was just looking through the pictures from the half marathon that our club puts up after the races and found one of me that I thought turned out really well.  This was probably 50 feet from the finish.  Usually on a good picture there is someone standing in the background or the background is a cotton field or something like that, but on this one everything turned out really good.  For sure a neat benefit of our local club races that there is usually at least one and sometimes two people taking pictures and they upload them after each race and you can download them for free.

                   

                  I didn't mention that about this half marathon this time, but it sure is hard to beat the price on it.  There is a $3 fee for admission to the lake and then the race costs $5.  $8 for a chip timed half marathon with aid stations and the whole works is a pretty good deal if you ask me.

                   

                  finish face

                   

                  Actually looks like I'm running fast and I don't look fat!

                   

                  Still solidly in the Clydesdale division, but I don't know if I will ever be out of that, I would need to lose 10 more pounds and while I can still pinch an inch, I don't know if I have 10 more pounds to lose.

                  Age: 50 Weight: 224 Height: 6'3" (Goal weight 195)

                  Current PR's:  Mara 3:14:36* (2017); HM 1:36:13 (2017); 10K 43:59 (2014); 5K 21:12 (2016)

                    Nice race reports Nathan and PCA and Tara and if I missed the others Sorry Smile

                     

                    Nathan - 8 bucks for a race !!! so awesome, what a deal.  Cool picture too, lake in the background sets it up.

                     

                    Glad to see everyone is tearing it up out there and not getting too torn up.  I am still struggling to get some kind of schedule with my running but it isnt happening this school quarter.  I have been managing to get the runs and miles  in but I have had to do 2 a days or consectutive days of running in a row which I don't like.  Either way it is not beating me up too bad yet.  I have been doing speed work this week because I want to run in the Turkey Trot 5k here on thanksgiving morning.  Thursday I ran a 5k of 19.55 which felt good, i think I could have pushed it a little more.  The first mile being 6.40. Then sped up a little but kept it pretty close to mid 6's.   Then last night I ran 5.6 miles with the first mile being 6.25 third mile 7.20 and 5th mile 7.35.  I ran a little slower on the even miles to rest up.  It was a weird workout but I wanted to get the feeling of "you went out too fast".  The whole run ended up being 7.35 pace which wasn't bad.  My fastest mile on the track is 6.10 so I am pushing it pretty hard.  Anyways hoping for a 19-20 minute time in the 5k. It is sponsored by the Highschool cross country teams so I think there will be some fast gals and guys in there but I will do pretty well in my age division I think.  Marathon is coming up in like 6 weeks so this will be the last of my speedy work.  Everything else will be resting long runs and then the wonderful taper.   Ok,  have a nice weekend everyone, hope to hear some more race stories. ! . !

                      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

                    Zelanie


                      Edith- Good luck tomorrow!

                       

                      Miele- Glad things are still going well.  You're running the CIM, correct?  Are you still doing that 10K in your sig as a tune-up?

                       

                      Pandora- Thanks for telling us about your corgi.  It is so hard to lose them.  They are never here for long enough.

                       

                      PCA- Glad that recovery is going well for you!

                       

                      npaden- Love the pic!  I don't think you look like a Clydesdale at all!  You must be tall.  Plus that is some serious quad definition. Smile

                       

                      Wolfwalker- You are speedy!  Can't wait to see what you can do with a little competition. Smile

                       

                      me- Things are still going well.  Trying not to push too hard or take it too easy.  We'll see.  One week left.

                      miele


                      Godzilla

                        Hi Everyone.  Just drinking coffee before I head out for my last long run.  Thinking of Edith and she should be 3 hours and 40 minutes into it...not too much longer, Edith!!!!  This is the tough part.  Keep strong!

                         

                        Will be back for personals later.  Enjoy your runs!

                        10K: 47:12* / 13.1: 1:50:56 / 26.2: 3:53:48

                         

                                    

                        miele


                        Godzilla

                          Pandora-  Sorry you lost your Corgi.  He looked pretty content.  I also suffer from horrible race pictures.  Don't we all?  Of course Nathan has to go and post a great running photo to prove me wrong.

                           

                          Zelanie-  Yes, I'm all signed up for that 10k.  Don't know how I'll do since I'm coming off a high-mileage week but we'll see.  And, yes again, it's CIM.  You sound like you're in a good frame of mind for your upcoming race.  What's your schedule look like leading up to the race?

                           

                          pc-  Thanks for the responses to my questions.  Your legs must be feeling normal by now.  Ugh!  The stairs!  They should be avoided at all costs after a marathon.  Maybe you just stood up too quickly from the curb?  I get lightheaded sometimes when I get up too quickly from a chair.  And that's not even after having run a marathon.  Obviously I take my carbo-loading a lot more seriously than you.  I do the whole 3 day pig-out.  From the equation in the Hansons' book, I figure I need 6-8 gels during the race.  That's if I figured it out correctly.  I'll go over it again before the big day.  Looking at your sig it seems like you've smashed all your goals for this year!  And you've still got another 6 weeks to go...Congrats on your accomplishments!

                           

                          Nathan-  That is a disgustingly good photo!  Seriously.  You don't have 10 lbs. to lose.  Lookin' lean and muscular.

                           

                          Wolfy-  If you ran a 19:55 5k just the other day, you should aim for faster than that on race day.  You said it was pretty comfortable so go for it!  I'm told 5ks should hurt like holy hell.

                           

                          Edith-  I hope you had a wonderful race!

                           

                          me-  Ran my last LR of the training cycle.  18.5.  Decided to try a progression run:  5@10:00, 5@9:50, 5@9:40 then the final 3@GMP.  And .5 really, really slowly back home.  Ended up running everything a little too fast but not by much so I call it a good run.  I know it's not officially taper since Hansons has a 10 day taper but I kind of feel like it is since the LRs will be shorter.  Also this coming week I'm planning on running fewer miles than the plan calls for since I have the 10k on Sunday.  Oh, and I finished the week with 77.5.  Never, ever thought I would run that kind of mileage.  Ever.  Now I'm hungry.  Again.   I'm always hungry.

                          10K: 47:12* / 13.1: 1:50:56 / 26.2: 3:53:48

                           

                                      

                          Zelanie


                            77 miles, holy cow!  Have a snack for me as well! Smile

                             

                            This week I am planning on taking it pretty easy.  Sorry for the log privacy- I'm participating in a team mileage challenge called "2013 in 2013" and my team is in the playoffs.  It's been a lot of fun, but we have our logs locked to discourage snooping.  Our team is currently in round 2, and if we win last week, we'll have 2 weeks before we go to the finals.  Otherwise this next week will be an elimination week for us.  So I probably should post more details until Wed. when we find out if we won or not.

                             

                            I am trying to figure out how much I should be running at HMP or below this week.  I've heard "reduce volume, not intensity" so I'm trying to keep that in mind!

                             

                            If anybody is interested in the game, though, they are taking signups for the "2014 in 2014" game.  You can find details in the Beginners and Beyond usergroup, or over at the Runner's World forums in the "team challenges" section.  You DON'T have to run 2014 miles!  My goal was 1200 this year, although that was a little low since I'm already past that. Smile


                            You Rang?

                              Greetings All - Another week of marathon training is behind me.  Forty-three miles of fun.  This week due to a heavy work business trip to Boston (and the fact that I have no cold weather running clothes), I ran all 43 miles towards the end of the week, including my first double (a five mile run at 6 am and eight mile run at 7 pm).  

                              I'm using Pfitz's 18/55 training plan.  It has three 20 mile runs in it, the second of which is next week.  The last one is the week of Christmas.  At least my business travel is probably behind me for the rest of the year.  I may have to go to Hartford, CT the week of Christmas (yay!), but I'm doing my best of to avoid it.

                               

                              I'm still trying to unwind the whole mental meltdown behind the 20 mile run, and I don't think he 20 mile run is to blame.  IT may be the catalyst that started the meltdown.  Some of you may recall that I suffer from depression.  Running is a an excellent mood stabilizer, and the striving to accomplish things larger than myself (like the marathon or a two hour half) is rather therapeutic.  For some yet to be discovered reason, lately, running, talk therapy, and marathon planning does not seem to keep the demons at bay.  I'm still thinking about this.  I'm trying to figure out what is driving this bus.  I'll feel better once I do.

                               

                              Rick

                              Rick 

                              PR: 5k 25:01 (10/15) 10k: 57:44 (7/14) HM: 1:57 (5/15) FM: 4:55 (1/15)

                              bluerun


                              Super B****

                                npaden -- gorgeous photo!  And $8 for a half marathon is ridiculous.  In a good way, of course.

                                 

                                miele -- 77.5 miles is more than I've run this entire month so far!!  Very nice.

                                 

                                Zelanie -- I can wish your team luck, since mine kicked the bucket a couple of weeks back!!

                                 

                                Rick -- hoping you get it all figured out soon.  It's a horrible feeling when "the trick" seems to not be working the way it used to.

                                 

                                I think we're owed some RRs around here, no?

                                 

                                me -- no race this weekend, though I did volunteer at the Brooklyn Marathon... I would never, ever, ever do that race, not unless it moves out onto the streets.  Two loops of Prospect Park is about my limit -- my ITB woes started with the Battle of Brooklyn, which is three laps.  So yeah.  It was a nasty rainy day, but I'm glad I wasn't out there running it!  I ran 9 earlier instead.  Even when I can't concretely say "this hurts," I still feel like I'm old and decrepit and falling apart.  Boo hoo.

                                chasing the impossible

                                 

                                because i never shut up ... i blog