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

npaden


    Good luck Hector.  With the unexpected time off and the foot issue, I would take it easy at the start of the race and just see how you are feeling at about the halfway point.  Still plenty of time to pick up the pace at the end of a half marathon, but if you push it too fast at the start you could potentially blow up and miss your goal time completely.

     

    If you can find a 2 hour pace group I would stick with them at least the first 4 or 5 miles and then if you are feeling good start to push it in.

    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)

    hectortrojan


      Hector- Good luck on your race!  I was scared of the Kinvaras, too, since until January I was running in 12mm drop shoes, but I love them!  I would love to rotate them with some Cortanas, but get sticker shock every time I look them up.  And apparently my feet are too "average" to take advantage of any of the recent liquidation sales.

       

       

      Thanks! I know what you mean by sticker shock regarding Cortona. I bought them when they were launched first. Loved them, but they wore out earlier than other running shoes. So right now I am having a couple of Triumphs. Saucony launched Cortona 2 and older version got cheaper now! I hope to get older Cortona once my current shoes wear out. Great job in sticking to the plan and good luck with your speed runs this week.

      Zelanie


        Hah!  I am running in Triumphs right now too!

        hectortrojan


          Npaden – thanks for confirming my thinking. I am going to do the same. Will be conservative for first half of the race and will push it or get even slower depending on how I feel.


          Zelanie - Interesting! I am haveTriumph 9 and Triumph 10 and both have 8 mm offset. You mentioned that yours is 12 mm offset. May be there are different offsets for women’s shoes

          Zelanie


            No, my Triumph 10's are 8mm offset.  Before that pair, I was in Wave Riders, which are 12s.

            miele


            Godzilla

              kenyan-  Love the purple tutu type outfit!  That kid with the purple mohawk is funny.  You left out that you got 1st in AG in your first post......Excellent!  Congrats to the DW, too, for a well run race!

               

              Edith-  I've made limoncello a few years ago.  Delish!  But we don't drink all that much of it so I still have a stash.  I hope your stupid cold goes away.  I think I read, though, that it's not good if it's in the chest.  Take care!

               

              blue-  Well, if miracles happen I can't think of a more appropriate venue than Jerusalem.  Good luck with the Wave Riders.  DH wears those and loves them.

               

              gosling- I hadn't heard that expression before, either.  Tissue paper person.  Now I'll have to work it into conversations.  Planks and strength training can only help.

               

              Zelanie-  Lemon cornmeal cookies?  Why have I never heard of those before?  Very intriguing I'm going to find a recipe.  Well done on the 14 miler.  I think getting over the mental hurdles are an important part of training.

               

              hector-  Just to be clear, I didn't run 8 miles at that speed (I wish) I ran 8x 1 minute intervals.  I'm not familiar with the Cortana (except for the price which scares me away) but I love Kinvaras.  I still run in the first version of them so I don't know if they've been 'improved' since.

               

              Nathan-  Hiya!  Hope the wind has died down...

               

              me-  Mondays are always the toughest days for me.  Intervals and then a leg workout at the gym.  My legs are toast.  I ran 9.5 miles with 4x1.25 mile intervals at a 7:56 pace (I was trying for 7:55).  Now I'm just ready to relax.  Perhaps with a glass of wine......

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

               

                          

              Jan26.2


                miele - Jeez! Those were some fast intervals. By the time you're finished with this training cycle you'll be able to outrun Ryan Hall, and next time he'll be following your plan! Good work, and I'd say you deserve several glasses of wine.

                 

                Edith - Colds suck! I hope your doesn't last long. I've heard the same thing as miele - if it's in the chest, working out might not be the best thing, but if it's just in the head it's usually ok.

                 

                kenyan - That picture rocks!! I think it's a good look for you actually. Nice job in the race, and congrats to your wife too.

                 

                blue - I've had good luck with Mizunos, and I think I tried the Wave Riders years ago.

                 

                Zelanie/Hector - I've never run in any of the shoes you guys mentioned, but at least I've heard of the Kinvaras. Everytime I try to change to less shoe I end up getting sort of injured. But maybe it's not the shoes, maybe it's me. Roll eyes

                 

                gosling - I love Tissue Paper Person! In fact, I want it on a t-shirt. How are your parts feeling? Still no pain?

                 

                Nathan - Your marathon is really getting close now. You're following the Hansons plan, right?

                 

                Me - Still in the no-running zone. Tomorrow's the day, and I'm sort of scared. Everything feels good now, and I'm pretty sick of the elliptical and spin bike. This is weird, but yesterday I had a gyno appt. and my doc is also a runner. We were chatting about running injuries and I mentioned my current issues, and how everything feels good to go except my lateral hip. He put his finger on a spot and about sent me into orbit! He said last time he had pain there it was hip bursitis, and all the rest/stretching/rolling in the world didn't touch it. Finally his doc put a shot of cortisone right into the bursa and took care of it immediately. So now I'm thinking...always thinking...Shocked And, it's spring break for me, so my sanity level is currently normal and I haven't had the urge to b*tch slap anyone since last week.

                PR's: 5k - 23:33/ 10k - 48:30/ 5 mi. - 39:21/ 13.1 - 1:53/ 26.2 recent - 4:34

                 

                Upcoming races: Resolution Run HM 1/1/13

                                            Phoenix R&R    HM 1/20/13

                pcaharrier


                  A lot can happen in a just over a week around here, huh?  I didn't even realize it had been that long since I'd checked in.

                   

                  I hit the road this weekend with the guys from work for 10 miles.  We went out at a comfortable pace and two of us covered the last two miles in a brisk 16 minutes.  It felt great!  Yesterday I started my 6-days/week running schedule with an easy 5 miles.  Did my first "something of substance" workout for the week at the track this morning with 12 x 400 @ 10k pace with 400 recovery jog in between intervals. I was experimenting with the RunKeeper app, but I don't know that I'll continue using it for that.  It kept count of my intervals well enough (and with 12 of them that's no small thing when the alternative is to count them in my head), but toward the end it was about half a lap off the correct distance (fortunately I took my watch along as backup).  I did have to run a little to the outside in one of the turns because of puddles (it's a dirt/cinder track), but I don't think it was enough of a detour to get off by quite that much.  I suppose I'll give it another try and see if I can get better results; it is a free app, after all.

                  gosling


                    I love my Kinvaras too...switched in November from 12mm drop Asics and haven't looked back.

                     

                    Zelanie - Amazing that your "new" HM pace is 25 seconds faster than you planned. You are a rockstar!

                     

                    Hector - Good luck this weekend!

                     

                    miele - Nice intervals! Hope you had that glass of wine.

                     

                    Jan - I'm still feeling good. Had a little sensitivity today on my 10 miler, but nothing I would call "pain" and I feel fine now. Back to the chiro on Thursday so I'll see if he has any tweaks for me. He's working on getting my pelvis into alignment now and making sure both sides are balanced. Interested in this bursitis theory...I was worried that's what I had as I know it can be a pain to deal with (or a really easy fix, as you said...) Have you run that idea by your doc?

                     

                    pcaharrier - Sounds like you've gotten some good workouts in this week already!

                     

                    Me - Ran 10 today with a friend, which was lovely (I almost always run alone.) We ran the course @ 9:30 which allowed us to chat the whole way, even up the hills. I can't believe I just have one more 10+ run before my race!

                    hectortrojan


                      Miele – what kind of leg workout do you do? About shoes, so many companies have so many models and they constantly ‘improve’ them it. I think it has to do with marketing then actual need.

                       

                      Jan26.2 –is interesting that we hear so many different views about injury and that make us thinking in a lot of directions

                       

                      Gosling – 10 miles at 9.30 is your comfortable pace. That is quick!

                       

                      Me – rode a stationary bike for half an hour today.

                      EdithRevisited


                      If you ask

                        Bluerun - how are the Ghost 5s different?  I ran the Diva Half in Long Island.  It wasn't bad (except for all of the women dressed in pink).  I like the minimalist PureFlows, but not over 10 miles.  I hope your shins feel better.

                         

                        Gosling - I need to start doing some planks.  I need to start doing something more than run.  I need to strengthen my core.   Nice 10 miler, and always nice to have a friend along.

                         

                        Zelanie - the most excellent training continues!  My brother loved his Triumphs for years until I convinced him to try the PureFlows.

                         

                        Hector - I think it's smart to continue taking it easy. I think you will totally ROCK your half.  I look forward to the RR.

                         

                        Miele - I read the same thing about colds in the chest.  I ran a nice and easy 6 miler (9:30 pace),  and it was fine. I'm just not pushing it.  In the spirit if Forrest Gump, I'm going to suggest lemon sherbet, lemon cookies, lemon pound cake, lemon meringue pie, lemonade, lemon bars, lemon marmalade, lemon ice cream, and when all else fails, lemon shots.   Your Monday workout caused me to cower in the corner, haha.

                         

                        Jan - stop thinking!!!  It's spring break!!  Heehee.  I sure hope you figure this thing out.  A shot of anything, anywhere, makes me nervous. Ugh.

                         

                        Harrier - good luck with the 6 days per week.   Im not sure I could do that.

                         

                        me - because of my stupid cold, I only ran Sunday. Rested Mon and Tues.  Although if I ran as much as my nose did these past few days, I'd be across country by now.  Heading out today for 9 miles (road to trail to road).  I have my 15k trail race on Saturday... hoping my legs feel strong by then.

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

                         

                        Zelanie


                          miele- Nice intervals!  I had lime-cornmeal cookies at a party once.  I didn't think they would be all that good, but they were *fantastic*.  So I was thinking maybe lemons would work well too.  Here's the recipe for the lime ones.

                           

                          Jan- I was was worried about the Kinvaras for the same reason.  But they're not really minimalist, I don't think.  They have a low drop and a very light upper, but still seem to have a decent footbed underneath.  Before I bought them I read lots of stuff that talked about how they were still enough shoe to support marathoners whose form has broken down in the last few miles.  So I figured they would be fine for me for the distances I run.  Hope your run was pain-free.

                           

                          pcaharrier- A half lap is a lot to be off by!  Although my Garmin got temperamental with me for one track workout.  It kept autopausing on me while I was running!  That is a discouraging feeling!  Luckily it only happened once.  Hopefully your app behaves next time.

                           

                          Gosling- I forget, when is your race?  It seems like we're on a similar schedule.

                           

                          Hector- Nice job getting the cardio in on the bike!

                           

                          Me- Ran my last over-10 mile run until the race.  Super tired legs since my schedule is a little funky this week.  I ran 14 Sunday, Monday I ran trails with more hills than I'm used to, yesterday was my progression run, and then today LR again (just 12, but still...)!   I will be pretty busy for the rest of the week, so it's good to have the quality workouts in already.

                            jan-sorry to hear about the injury, hope the recovery is quick and all goes well for your race on the 28th.

                             

                            lurch-we follow kyokushin karate. Being doing it for about 6 years, and passed my brown belt grading in December. How long has she being doing karate?

                             

                            miele-DW is running on her own. We first ran a race together, and when she later ran one on her own, she PR'd. Jokes that I somehow slow her down.

                             

                            edith-thanks, we are so looking forward to this HM.

                             

                            me-well, I had an interesting weekend. On Sunday, I wasn't feeling too good, like I was getting a cold or flu. That later passed, but in the evening, I started to get serious chest pains on the left side. Freaking out, I thought I was having a heart attack, so called 911. Ended up in emergency for the night, but all my blood work and EKGs were negative. Doctors think it may have been a stress related attack. Long story short, I am better, and have a stress test on the 24th, just 4 days before my HM. Maybe I'll tell the technician that I am tapering and don't let me run too fast :-)

                            Funny thing was that both EMT guys were runners. One was a triathlete, while the other was leaving for the Paris marathon on Tuesday. So we spend the entire ambulance ride talking about running, running gear, bikes and races.

                            I hope to get a long run in on Thursday and get back to karate on Saturday.

                            Steve

                            5K/22:33   10K/47:52   21.1K/1:44:06  42.2K/4:07:37
                            2014 Goals: 5K<22:00 10K<45:00 HM<1:40  FM<3:45

                            miele


                            Godzilla

                              Jan-  How'd the run go?  How great was that that the gyno was able to pinpoint the pain immediately?!?  Makes you think he knew exactly what was going on.  So, if it is indeed bursitis (which it sounds like it is), is it chronic?  Will it come back after the shot has worn off?  What do you think now of the Crossover diagnosis from the chiro?  I'm glad to hear the shot took the pain away.  May it stay gone.  I wish I could run half as fast as Ryan Hall.  He could follow my, 'How to Slow Down 12 week Plan'.  Guaranteed to work.  And, yes, wine was enjoyed.  I won't divulge just how many glasses.....Speaking of which, I hope you're enjoying Spring Break.  (Glad you don't feel like b*tch slapping anyone.  I bet your DH is glad, too)

                               

                              pc-  I can't count intervals, either.  For hill sprints I have to count on my fingers otherwise I'll lose count.  That's a nice workout you ran.  Actually both the 10 miler and intervals were great!   Can't help you with the run app as I've never used anything like that although half a lap seems like a big discrepancy.

                               

                              gosling-  Glad to hear you're almost 100% again!  And, yes, the wine was tasty.  Are you getting excited about your race?

                               

                              hector-  On Mondays, after my intervals, I go to the gym and do a classic weight-lifting routine.  Squats, presses, lunges, extensions, hamstring curls.  Then I throw in a hip abductor exercise and a calf exercise.  I tend to always skip my leg routine with all this running but I'm being diligent and sticking to it this training cycle.  I think I'll do some straight-leg dead lifts next time instead of the curls....we'll see.  Your race is soooo close!  How you feeling?

                               

                              Edith-  Good news that you're feeling better.  Yeah, you had me a bit worried with the chest cold thing.  You'll be fine by Sat.  I have a chronic runny nose when I run.  And that's without a cold.  A few weeks ago when I was getting over a cold I couldn't believe the quantity of 'stuff' that came out during a run.  It was disgusting.  TMI, I know.  The lemon marmalade sounds intriguing.  Sounds like something I'd like.

                               

                              Zelanie-  Thanks for the link.  I'm definitely making those!  Then the next time I have lemons I'm going to go with the lemon marmalade idea.  No wonder your legs are tired!  I can see why you wanted to get all your quality runs in, though.  I like to front-load, too, if I know there's something that might mess up a run scheduled for later in the week.

                               

                              stever-  How scary!  So glad they didn't find anything serious.  You have been really busy lately so the stress might very well have caused the episode.  Too bad they can't get you in earlier for the stress test.  For peace of mind.

                               

                              me-  5.5 today with hill sprints.  Apparently the hill I decided to try today was bigger and steeper than it looked.  I needed grappling hooks.   I managed 4x 30 second hill sprints before I flipped that hill the bird and went to a more 'people friendly' hill to do the final two sprints.  They were supposed to have been 6x 45 sec. sprints but that hill about killed me.  It's now my nemesis which I have to conquer.  We have another date next week.

                              Oh, I signed up for a 10k so I'm hoping to at least equal my PR.  It's on the 13th of April.  Curious to see if I've made any improvements.

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

                               

                                          

                              Jan26.2


                                miele - Dang, you're stringing together a bunch of awesome workouts! I predict a new 10K PR is in your future on April 13th! It's been so long since I've run a 10K I don't think my legs would remember how to push it that hard. I haven't got the shot - yet, but it sure helped my gyno. As far as the lower crossed syndrome diagnosis from my chiro, I think it's totally accurate. I don't think the weak/tight/unbalanced muscles are the root cause of my issues now, but it's something I need to work on. The stuff I've been doing so far seems to be making a difference for the better.

                                 

                                stever - That's a scary experience! I'm glad it doesn't appear to be heart-related, but a stress attack makes sense. Getting the stress is a good idea though. My DH had something similar happen to him about a month before our marathon in Oct. He had several stress tests and an echocardiogram. They eventually figured out it wasn't heart-related, but it was comforting to know. Hopefully yours shows just how healthy your runner's heart is!

                                 

                                Zelanie - Yay for having the tough workouts done this week, and having your longest ones behind you. How long do you plan to taper for the half? It's getting so close!

                                 

                                Edith - I hope your 9 miler went well, and that your legs ran as well as your nose. Are you aiming for a PR in your race this weekend? The name Mudfest makes me think of a race like a Tough Mudder or one of those other torture fests.

                                 

                                hector - Great job staying on that bike for an hour! As I've recently learned, being on a machine for any length of time is pretty tough mentally. I absolutely agree with you about the running shoe companies having to improve on something that was good already. Definitely more marketing-driven than runner-driven.

                                 

                                gosling - I hope your chiro visit goes well today. From what I've heard about the bursitis shot, it's a one-and-you're-done thing. That's good, because I'm not a shot lover. Your 10 miler sounds awesome - 9:30 is a great "easy" pace. That's pretty much where my body likes to settle in when I just run without any pace goals.

                                 

                                pcaharrier - Nice 10 miler, and nice pace! When I have to count laps or intervals, I tend to lose track too. I guess it's too much for my brain to make my legs move and count at the same time.

                                 

                                me - Well...there's some good, some bad, and some ugly. The bad - yesterday's trial run wasn't as great as I thought it would be. After re-reading my doc's instructions, I followed them to a T. Walk 5 min./run 5 min., for a total of no more than 3 miles. The walking felt fine, but the running didn't feel so great. The ugly - yesterday afternoon I was walking my dog and we had to trot across the street to avoid becoming road kill, and I thought my hip/glute was going to explode. So of course I had to run to the end of the block to see just how bad it was, and it was bad. I came home pissed and...well, more pissed! I immediately called my sports med doc (the one with the needles) and made an appt. for April 11th. I almost asked if a nurse could just shoot me up, but didn't, since I don't want them to think I'm a psycho (yet). Then I called my chiro and actually got to talk to him. I'm going in today so he can do some range-of-motion testing on my hip and maybe some alignments, and we're going to talk about me using a small heel lift on my left side since that leg is so much shorter. The good - This morning I ran 3.5 miles, and it was good!! Not pain-free, but sooo much better than yesterday. There's still something not right with my left hip and glute, but this morning's run did so much for my mental state that it's bound to carry over to the rest of me.

                                PR's: 5k - 23:33/ 10k - 48:30/ 5 mi. - 39:21/ 13.1 - 1:53/ 26.2 recent - 4:34

                                 

                                Upcoming races: Resolution Run HM 1/1/13

                                                            Phoenix R&R    HM 1/20/13