Forums >Racing>Sub 2:00 Half Marathon thread
Outside, right where the femur connects to the hip.
Zelanie - Yikes! That's right where my pain has settled with the hip bursitis. My chiro taught me that a tight IT band will irritate the bursa of the hip, and vice-versa. Are you having any pain outside of your knee? He said the best plan when a pain suddenly appears is to stop immediately (which you did), start icing - 20 min. on, 40 min. off every hour. Take the next day as a complete rest day, continuing to ice. Then see how it feels the following day. I'm so sorry this is showing up now, but hopefully you've caught it before it gets too serious.
gosling - I'm excited to see what you think of the Functional Movement Screening! I'm all for anything to keep me moving and correct the things that could stop me.
Jeff - You're brave attempting the 24 miler! That's a tough first marathon, but it sounds like your training will prepare you well for it.
Edith - Nice running! I love running the Rocky steps, and going further than planned because it's such an awesome run is always a good thing. I love the cupcake alternate world. I could go for that, and if Adam Levine was feeding them to me, all the better!
docjen - I'm going to have to have a talk with my DH and tell him I need a couple more!
I'm still feeling good after yesterday's 7 miles. Did spinning, yoga, and my other prehab/rehab exercises, along with rolling.
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
Godzilla
Zelanie- Oh no!! That sounds painful. Yes, definitely take time off. Don't worry about missing your LR, either. You only have a week till your race so all the training has been done. I hope you find a solution. Maybe find a sports chiro like Jan did?
doc- How exciting to see Desiree Davila! Your taper is, well, interesting to say the least. It's a good sign that you feel like you don't need a taper but ignore that and taper anyway. You got your LR out of the way early, which I don't think is a bad thing at all, as you still have a couple of weeks of taper to go. I'm pretty sure I'm not anemic. My last bloodwork was fine and although I don't eat a lot of beef I do eat beans and chickpeas regularly. I'll probably get some spinach, too, just to throw on my plate. Hmmmm, these lists are intriguing. I have no such agreement with DH (makes me feel boring) but now I'm curious as to who is on your list. Feel free to share!
gosling- I forgot to mention that I have never had a problem with blisters before so I was shocked when I took my shoes off a couple of weeks ago and found a big one. No reason for it. No new shoes or different socks. It wasn't raining. I know some people use BodyGlide or something similar. I don't know what the difference is between those and Vaseline. If you have a chronic problem with blisters definitely experiment with products to find out what works.
Jan- That's great news! So did the chiro turn you loose to return to your normal running schedule? Speedwork, hills and all? Now to fix that pesky bursitis.....I've been pretty lax about rolling and stretching, too, but I do get around to it about 4 times a week. I'm going to try and do it every night, though.
Edith- Nice running, as usual! Ugh, the wind. I think you're right about the 'pre-overtraining'. I was hoping it was something I caught early enough to avoid a full on problem.
Jeff- I checked out your log and I don't see any runs this week. You OK?
Nathan and blue- Waiting to hear..................
me- Well, the 16-miler went so much better yesterday than the 14-miler a week ago. Were my legs light and springy? No. They still felt a little tired and sluggish but not so much so that I thought I would have to abandon the run. Today they're a little more tired than normal after a long run but I still feel so much better than last week. That was just awful. I've come to the conclusion that 2 speed workouts plus hills a week is just too much for me. I quite enjoyed it though and felt really good up till last week. I'm about to go for a short recovery run.
10K: 47:12* / 13.1: 1:50:56 / 26.2: 3:53:48
Super B****
gosling -- I'm not exactly the best person to answer this question, seeing that I rarely go over eight miles before a half, but I don't really think a couple of miles either way will make that much difference. Everyone is different, though; I know I'm fragile so I'd rather err on the side of caution and be a little undertrained than break something.
doctorjen -- those are some serious miles; I can't even imagine doing that. And Desiree Davila at the expo is very cool.
Edith -- you've been busy! Hill repeats on trails doesn't sound like it would be too easy...
Zelanie -- sorry to hear about your hip. Hopefully a couple of days off does the trick.
Jan -- glad to hear you've been turned loose! I was horrible about recovering from Jerusalem, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't still be dealing with these stupid shins if I had been more sensible. Lesson learned.
miele -- three hard workouts a week does sound like a lot... but what do I know?! I'm glad your long run was better this week, though.
me -- the trail 10K was fun! I was shocked that I won second in my AG, because I felt like I was so slow... something like 57:50? My Garmin was annoying and only measured 5.91 miles, but my friend did the same race and hers measured 6.22, so I'm not worried that the course was short. It was definitely tougher than a road race -- I don't walk during races, ever, but I did a lot of walking here since that seemed like a better idea than careening headfirst down a steep hill because I took a misstep in my stubborn insistence on running up the incline! I think I prefer roads for racing, though. Easier to run fast that way.
chasing the impossible
because i never shut up ... i blog
My first half mara was a 1:56.49 back in Nov. 2012. I will be running the same route and 1/2 marathon distance in 7 days. I am hoping to hold 7:50 - 8:00min pace so maybe putting me with a new PR around 1:45ish.?.? We will see. I am not ready for the sub 1:30 half marathon yet. Maybe by the end of summer.
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
Going to run my first HM on May 5th. I'm hoping for a sub-2, but I won't be terribly upset if I miss it.
Sulphur Springs 50km-- Ancaster, ON-- May 28, 2022
Tally in the Valley 12 hours-- Dundas, ON -- July 30, 2022 (Support SickKids Toronto)
Stokely Creek-- 56km-- Sault Ste. Marie, ON-- Sept. 24, 2022
You Rang?
Wow you all are a chatty bunch! This thread has grown by 5 pages since I last stuck my head in here. 'm coming down off a manic period of work. The last three weeks all I've had time for is eating, sleeping, working, and running. Now that the madness is over, I'll be a little more involved here.
My weight continues to creep lower. It is moving so slowly. I've also noticed that my easy pace is also creeping down slowly. In January, my easy run pace was in the 10:15 to 10:45 mm pace. Its now at 9:45 to 10:15 mm pace. I've also registered for my first marathon: the Walt Disney World Marathon in Florida in January 2014. May God have mercy on my soul.
Rick
PR: 5k 25:01 (10/15) 10k: 57:44 (7/14) HM: 1:57 (5/15) FM: 4:55 (1/15)
You'll be fine. And see you there!
Wow you all are a chatty bunch! This thread has grown by 5 pages since I last stuck my head in here. 'm coming down off a manic period of work. The last three weeks all I've had time for is eating, sleeping, working, and running. Now that the madness is over, I'll be a little more involved here. My weight continues to creep lower. It is moving so slowly. I've also noticed that my easy pace is also creeping down slowly. In January, my easy run pace was in the 10:15 to 10:45 mm pace. Its now at 9:45 to 10:15 mm pace. I've also registered for my first marathon: the Walt Disney World Marathon in Florida in January 2014. May God have mercy on my soul.
Damaris
As part of the 2024 London Marathon, I am fundraising for VICTA, a charity that helps blind and visually impaired children. My mentor while in law school, Jim K (a blind attorney), has been a huge inspiration and an example of courage and perseverance. Please consider donating.
Fundraising Page
Gosling – sorry to hear that your 12 miler didn’t go well. You will be perfectly fine for your half marathon 3 week after your last long run. I didn’t want to do that, but my foot was hurting and my last long run was 4 weeks before the race. In my case, I also got 33% miles/week compare to my peak (which I ran for around 6 weeks) weekly mileage for last 4 weeks. I was riding a stationary bike on the days when I was not able to run my planned runs. So basically I was forced to have a 4 week taper, but that didn’t affect my race day performance. I never thought that I was getting weak during my entire race. Don’t worry about it. You will be fine.
Miele – I got Blue/Black/Lime. Wide width was available only in that color. It was not my favorite color, but they look cool. I think that Saucony is very good with colors for sure. Glad to know that your 16 miler was better than 14.
Zelanie – good luck with your race this weekend. Good job in cutting your run short after feeling the pain. Take a couple of days. You have put on very hard work in training for the race. Running for few miles in last week is not gonna add much value. Just rest as much as you need and go to the race with fresh body.
Doctorjen – great job in getting 20 milers. I never ran in dark, but seems like you enjoyed first two hours in the dark for sure. Nice pace during your interval training. Good job in getting 60 miles for the week!
Jan26.2 - 7 miles! Woot woot! Glad to know that you are feeling better now.
EdithRevisited – you had a good week of running. Nice job in getting 18.
Bluerun – congratulations in getting 2 in your AG
Me – it was fun to go running on my favorite trails this Saturday after a month. It was drizzling for first hour and everything was green. We passed some turkeys and deers and it was a lot of fun. Ran a little over 4 miles with a couple of friends and than a little lover 5 miles with wife. Half way in to the run with wife, when we were passing by some turkeys, wife started clapping as she wanted to go them away from the trail. She heard that turkeys can attack and didn’t want to run near them. It was cool to see her trying to send turkeys away from the trail. Had one more easy week and ran a little under 20 for the week. Parts of the trails that I go running is steep and I tie my shoe laces very tight so that my foot won’t slip on downhill and I can avoid squeezing my toes. This Saturday I tied my right shoe so tight that it ended up hurting very bad half way into the ran. Tried running this morning, but it was still hurting so ended up riding a stationary bike. It doesn’t hurt bad I hope it will be fine by tomorrow morning.
What's uuuuuuuuup double-hourglassers? I just got back from a few days in Moab last week during spring vacation (working for a school district is pretty sweet), where I managed to keep up on my running for the most part. It was so nice being close to 'sea level' again (moab is at about 4000ft, while I currently reside at about 7000ft up in Wyoming). Got in a pretty cool trail run and an easy run on the bike path, where I was able to hit 8:45-9:00 pace pretty comfortably for 6+ miles.
I still struggled on the long run though, which has been going on for a couple weeks. I think it's more mental than anything else, but I've just been checking out when it gets to double-digit mile territory. I think a lot of it is mental, as I come from a team background and still struggle with running alone sometimes. Not much in the way of running club activity out here unfortunately. I've been debating whether it's worth making the hour trip down to salt lake a couple times a week and hooking up with some of the clubs down there.
I'm six weeks out, so at least I have some time to figure it out. It's at least encouraging that I'm hitting my goal pace so easily, I just need to get the distance figured out. I've gotten up to 11 miles thus far and have bonked in my past couple attempts at 12. I'm hoping the race atmosphere will fire me up a bit, but I'd at least like to get in a run or two at/above race distance for the confidence boost.
Okay, sorry for not posting this earlier, but I've been struggling with deciding exactly how to post it. Long story short, I'm logging this as my half marathon PR with an official time of 1:50:04. I shouldn't be disappointed with that result, especially considering I have a lot of excuses to go along with it, but due to the circumstances of the race I am disappointed with it.
Long story with all the details and pictures.
The race was set to start at 8:00 AM and it was about a 25 minute drive from my house so I had my alarm set for 6:30. Woke up before the alarm, dressed in the clothes I had set out the night before, toasted a bagel and put honey and peanut butter on it, grabbed a banana and a diet coke and out the door.
Weather is good, 50 degrees at the start increasing to about 60 degrees at my anticipated finish time, wind not terrible at 12 mph out of the west.
Got there plenty early, parked, checked out the start/finish areas, did a 1.5 mile warmup at a nice slow jog and got to the starting line about 10 minutes before the start. My heart rate monitor wasn't working so I started fiddling with it and listening to the race director giving the last minute instructions.
After 10 minutes of fiddling, my HRM was still not working and then the gun goes off and the race is started. I get going at a nice easy pace, I recognized a couple other runners from the running club and it was nice to know they were about the same pace as me so I just kind of fell in with them at the start. We ran around a circle and as we come out of the circle, we are supposed to follow a service type road along the airport perimeter. There were a couple of bicycles leading the race and they went straight instead of making the turn. The first 20 or 30 runners are following them. A lady comes running over pointing to us saying that they are going the wrong way and that we need to follow the correct course so we make the turn. About 100' farther a guy comes running over screaming at us that we are going the wrong way and that we need to follow the rest of the runners who are following the bicycles so our little pack makes a quick turn and runs after the leaders.
I was pretty confident that we weren't following the correct course (I knew it wasn't the course map that was posted online), but they had mentioned getting the course certified and I hadn't ever actually looked at the certified course so thought maybe it was short so they had changed this part at the start. We end up running on the interstate access road and traffic isn't terrible, but not closed off by any means and we had been instructed to run on the right side of the road, but with traffic merging onto the interstate, we all ended up moving over to the left to keep from getting hit or playing chicken with large moving vehicles. About that time we looked over and noticed that a large group of runners is running parallel to us on the service type road along the airport perimeter that was the original course map online. At some point 20 or 30 runners behind us they had evidently quit having the runners follow the bicycles and run the correct route instead. Pretty disheartening to see a large group of runners that had started behind you and that were running slower than you already ahead of you because you took the long cut (opposite of short cut) at the direction of the race officials. We get to the next intersection and turn back toward the correct course. Several of the group that was behind us are now in front of us already and we still have about 100 yards to go to get to where they are turning. Probably 40 or 50 people who started behind us, and are running slower than us, are now in front of us because we ended up running .22 miles extra right there at the start. VERY frustrating!
Oh well, still a long way to go and now I can focus on the fact that my HRM isn't working so I can freak out about that a little. I felt pretty good about my pacing and was falling right in at a 8:10 pace which was my target and feeling pretty good so I figured I would be okay without the HRM. It isn't a complete crutch for me, but I do use it to reassure myself of where I'm at and how I'm doing during a race.
This stretch was with the wind and in retrospect I could have probably pushed it a little more here, but at the time I was trying to be conservative especially with my HRM on the blink. Splits were running right around 8:10, feeling relaxed, just focusing on running smooth and staying hydrated.
Just before mile 4 we turned back into the wind and it wasn't bad, but it took noticeably more effort for sure. I tried to just hang back and draft behind some other runners, but they kept slowing down and I was getting down close to an 8:45 pace and knew I needed to break out and go on my own so I did. The next 5 miles were mostly into the wind with a little jog south and then back north to break it up and I ended up averaging about an 8:25 pace through there. Took a GU before the mile 7 water stop just to practice for my marathon coming up. Seemed to work fine. With the extra bit at the start and this stretch into the wind, I pretty much realized I wasn't going to make my A goal of 1:46:59, I still felt like I was giving it the right amount of effort, but this is where having a working HRM would have really helped me zero in on the correct level of effort.
At mile 9 we turned back to the North and the forecast had predicted the wind shifting to the southwest, so I was expecting to get a little boost, but was surprised to find out that the wind was northwest instead and so I was still pushing into it. Another mile slower than I wanted at a 8:23 pace for mile 10. They had water stops every mile or so and I was drinking a cup and pouring a cup on me by this time. It was only 60 degrees, but being a big guy I tend to overheat pretty easy so I'm always battling that. I do need to remember that I don't have to drink the entire cup of water every time, by about mile 10 I was getting a little water logged and would have probably been better off only drinking about a 1/2 cup at each stop.
At mile 11 we turned back to the east and did get the wind behind us. 8:02 for mile 11 and 8:12 for mile 12, feeling pretty decent still, but not sure I have enough left to really push it in for the next 1.? miles. Make the last turn right just after the 12 mile mark and realize the wind has shifted even more from the north and for sure is a net headwind more than a crosswind. At the time I felt like I was pushing it in, but mile 13 shows a 8:27 avg pace so in fact I actually slowed down. At about mile 13.1 we turned one last time and did have the wind at our back going into the finish. Pretty discouraged at this point, not really even paying attention to time or anything, just working at getting to the finish line.
My wife and son were there to cheer me on at the finish and my wife took a couple pictures that I'll throw in here.
Here's me coming toward the finish. The flags are an good indicator of the wind here. Too bad this was only about the last 1/4 mile of the race in this direction!
My son decided to run that last 1/4 mile or so with me and that was really neat. He was struggling toward the end though so I didn't sprint toward the finish line like I normally would and it ended up costing me that sub 1:50 mark this time. It was still worth it to run that last little bit with him.
Here were are crossing the finish line. My son was running right beside me then moved off to the left because he didn't want to get in trouble for crossing the finish line with me. I told him I would have loved him to cross the finish line with me, but he didn't know it was okay at the time.
You can see him ducking out of the way on the left. Also not sure how I ended up with a 1:50:05 gun time looking at this picture I would think it would be closer to 1:50:10 or something like that, but with the fiasco that was the start, I'm taking every second they give me. I went back and added the time up that I spent running directly off course for the .22 miles at the start and it was 1:35, so I would have run a correct length half marathon in 1:48:29. Oh well, I guess this will make me keep training and put a goal for me to beat sometime this fall or next winter.
Here we are at the other side of the finish line. He's looking out for me showing me where the donuts and chocolate milk are. Something tells me that he was looking out for himself as well because I ended up sharing with him.
Back at the house after the race with my race shirt and finisher medal.
That's about it I guess. Still sticking with my plan on my marathon. Got in 6 miles on the treadmill last night and have 8 on the agenda today, so no break after the race Saturday. I'm actually feeling pretty good with no nagging aches or pains from the race.
Here's my splits. The first mile is wrong because I didn't get my GPS started for about 100 yards or so. I went back and corrected it to the right starting line, but that ended up showing the pace too fast. It was really right around an 8:00 pace on the first mile.
Sorry it took so long to get this posted.
I'll come back and post a regular post soon.
Nathan
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)
Docket - Maybe I'll actually see you at WDW this time Are you doing the Dopey, Goofy, or just the Marathon? I'm signed up for just the marathon, and will probably be hanging out in Central Florida for a couple of weeks afterwards.
Kenyan - Altitude does funny stuff. I'm a sea lever runner, usually running trails that have a nice view of the sea. My wife's family has an annual camping trip to Hume Lake, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains at 6,000 feet. I ran laps around the lake and thought I was gunna die. The altitude knocked a full minute mile off my easy pace.
Nathan - Thanks for the race report. Poorly marked course sucks. nice picture running with your son, and love your mantle!
Jan- I went back and reread some of your posts from a few weeks back to see what I can learn. I am thinking that you taking several days off in a row right after your felt the pain seems to have done well for you. So I think I will take 3 days off and then run one very light day on Wednesday to see how it feels. I thought about getting into a sports massage guy but I think I'll just try home care this week. Glad you seem to be on the mend!
Miele- I'm also glad that you seem top be feeling better! Just in time, too!
bluerun- Sounds like a fun race!
wolfwalker- Good luck on your half! Sounds like it's the same day as mine!
keeponrunning- Welcome!
Lurch- Glad that you're seeing progress!
Hector- Sounds like a nice run! Hope the foot is feeling better.
Kenyan- I really struggled with the mental aspect when I first tried to get my LRs into the double digits. Some things that helped me were to set a range when I headed out the door. So if I wanted to run 12, I might tell myself I was running 10-12, and then not make the decision of whether or not to go on until I hit 10. I always feel like I have another mile in me at the end, if I haven't been obsessing over "OMG how much farther????!!!!1" for the first 10 miles. But I also run out-and-backs and don't turn around until the halfway point of the distance I really want, so it would also be an annoying walk back if I ever did decide to stop early.
I think the other thing that helped me was that my plan had a long run and a medium-long run every week. The MLR did a lot for my endurance, I think. Plus I wasn't allowed to feel sorry for myself on a LR until after I'd passed my MLR distance. I'd tell myself that my LR didn't begin until that point. And by then I was almost done.
npaden- Sounds like you ran really well and were well prepared for your race! I am so sorry that they messed up the course at the beginning! That's so frustrating that everybody didn't have to run the same course, as well! In any case, congrats on the PR, and it sounds like you've got sub 1:47 in the bag for next time! How adorable that your son was so conscientious about race etiquette, too!
me- Resting and rolling until Wednesday. Legs feel fine, but they felt fine before, too. Hopefully the rest is doing its thing.
Thanks Z. I've been doing out n' backs as well, unfortunately the annoying walk thing hasn't stopped me. There's just always that feeling of 'ugh I'm not even halfway yet', then I'm always aware of how much farther I have to go and I lose it. I need to work on my zoning-out ability! I usually have an MLR of 7-9 miles scheduled during the week, but I have kind of been slacking on those the past couple of weeks, so that could be part of it. Between work and weather (8 inches of snow today. Really?), I haven't been as consistent as I would've liked. That's probably a big part of it.
I'll try to mix some other things up too, like experimenting with fuel during the run. I've used a handheld water bottle on my long runs and might try some gels too....if anything it'll be good practice for marathon training down the road and may keep me sharper. I think I'll try some music again too; I haven't been doing that lately, so perhaps it'll give me a boost.
My wife offered to drive me 12 miles outside of town this weekend and let me find my way back (which I think she would like to do on most days anyway), something which I just might take her up on. The route I have in mind is a straight shot out of town on a state road with gradual downhill the whole way, which is the same profile as the half-marathon, so I think that'll be really useful if it goes well. Plus I'll really have no idea how much further I have until the last 2 miles, at which point I'm usually able to hold it together and will already be in double digit range anyway.
Hey NPADEN. The second picture with you and your son running is the best one. THAT is what running is all about