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

miele


Godzilla

    Free-  The weather didn't cooperate, dangit!  Just reading about 90% humidity would hurt my soul.  You did great under the circumstances and surely you'll get cool weather next month.

     

    stever-  Great pic of you and DW!  Good memories!  How are your joints feeling?  You guys planning your next big race yet?

     

    Lurch-  Great race!  A 2 minute PR on a 5k is huge!  Congrats!

     

    Zelanie-  I'm getting some grey hairs now.  Not planning to color my hair, either.  Too lazy and I kinda like grey hair.  Just curious but why are you running the upcoming 10k at HMP?  Why not race it?

     

    Nathan-  Sheesh!  Sub-6 pace?!?  Holy cow.  I dream of sub-7 pace so I can't even imagine running that fast.  Well done.  What great improvement you've had in such a short period of time.  Thanks for the input on the taper.  I've still got some time to think about how to handle it but there's a definite intimidation factor in the Hansons' taper.

     

    hector-  Sounds like a nice trip to SoCal.  So your father in law hasn't signed you up for any more races?

     

    pc-  Hope the knees behave.  We've got to make it to the starting line healthy.  It's not so much the mileage in the final week (although it does have something to do with it)  but in 'normal' training plans I think the mileage is cut by about 25% the 1st week of taper, 50% the 2nd and then there's the final week of taper which is very light.  IIRC, I don't have my Pfitz book in front of me.  In Hansons' it goes 50, 49, then the final week has 26 leading up to the race.  I need to just stop comparing this plan to other plans.  I'm not going to worry about it till the time comes then I'll see how my body is feeling.

     

    me-  Taking a bit of a cutback week this week since I have a HM this weekend.  This will be my tune-up race to gauge my fitness for the marathon.  So far I'm really liking Hansons' plan and I feel pretty good.  I'm halfway through it so hopefully I'll still feel this way through to the end of the plan.  I have been slacking off at the gym, though, but I sort of expect this to happen during marathon training.

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

     

                

    Zelanie


      Hector- Glad you had a good time on your trip and were able to get some running in!  I went up to 14 in the spring, but 12 is the longest so far post-injury

       

      FreeSoul- Sounds like you are on the road to recovery!

       

      npaden- That's awesome that you have your notes to look back at!  Good luck tomorrow!

       

      pca- Thanks for explaining your thoughts on training and taper.  I like to absorb bits and pieces like that and the "whys" of different training decisions.

       

      miele- Good question- I had to go back and ask myself. Smile  I think the original thought was that 2 weeks felt too close for two hard efforts at 10K, especially since I haven't been racing much.  My main focus for this month, I think, is going to be building volume, and I don't want to risk that for the sake of one non-goal race.  But I think what really sealed the deal is that I do want to add some longer pace runs into my training plan, and it just sounded a lot more pleasant to try that with crowd support than without.  Hope you have a great race this weekend!

      FreeSoul87


      Runs4Sanity

        I'm hoping for great weather in Indy next month, I'm feeling pretty good and as long as I stick to my plan along with stretching and foam rolling, I should be good to go at the Indy Monumental Half. Smile

        *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)

        npaden


          Panhandle Half Marathon Race Report

           

          This summer my running was pretty focused on making my goal of running under 45 minutes in a 10K race since I was 45 years old this year.  I wrote a blog post about meeting that goal when I ran the Shallowwater Stampede back in early September.  My remaining running goals for the year are to simply keep my streak of running at least 100 miles each month going (I’ve run at least 100 miles every month since March of 2011), and end the year of 2013 with over 2,000 miles logged.

           

          With that said, a race that really interested me was The Panhandle Marathon and Half Marathon.  Lubbock hasn’t had a local marathon for at least 10 years, and last year they held the inaugural Panhandle Marathon and Half Marathon, but it was during my annual elk hunting trip to Wyoming.  This year they moved it back a week and I was going to be home in time to run in it, although I wouldn’t be able to prepare very well for it since for at least a week I would be either hunting or driving and probably not able to get any running in.  I decided that although I might be able to run the marathon and finish it, I really doubted I would have a very good time, and more than likely I would really have to struggle just to finish, so I decided I would run the half marathon and try to set a new personal record.

           

          After meeting my goal time on my 10K race on September 14th, I ran 4 miles a couple days after the race, then 10 days in a row that I didn’t run at all, then after getting back from my very successful Wyoming Elk hunt I got in one 6 mile easy run 3 days before the race and then the day before the race I ran 3 miles with 6 – 15 second strides thrown in.  So in the 2 weeks from my goal 10K race to the half marathon I ran a whopping 13 miles.  Now I needed to run 13.1 miles and was going to try to do it in my personal best time!

           

          Okay, long introduction but that gets us to race day.  The weather forecast was about as close to perfect as you could want, 47 degrees and a light 5 mph breeze at the start, warming to about 60 degrees by the time I should be finishing.  Tried not to do anything out of the ordinary.  Up early, light breakfast, go to the race and was able to do my packet pickup that morning.  Weather was perfect.  Things were pretty well organized, watched the marathoners get started at 7:30, got my bib and my shirt, did about a mile of easy jogging to get warmed up.  There were a little over 500 runners for the half marathon last year, and as we were lining up for the start it looked like at least that many again this year.  Enjoyed talking with several folks from the local running club, several of the women that run about the same pace that I do were there and we discussed our target times and fun stuff like that.

           

          Here’s a picture of the crowd looking back behind me.

           

          And here’s the starting line.

          start1

           

          Before you know it they are counting down to the start and the horn goes off.  They actually had some pacers, but that was a little mixed up at the start.  The 1:40 pacer was toward the back of the pack and the 2:20 pacer was pretty close to the front.  Those were the only 2 pacers that I saw, although the others could have been mixed in there somewhere.  I was debating on what pace to start out at, and according to the race predictors I might be able to run a 1:40, but anything under a 1:50 was going to be a PR so I figured I would try to end up somewhere between them.   I ended up closer to the front and figured that the 1:40 pacer would catch me pretty quickly and I would try to keep a visual on him for a while and see how things turned out.  I was pretty confident I could get a PR, and willing to risk it a little on the possibility of surprising myself and pulling off a really good number even on the limited amount of running I’d done the 2 weeks before the race.  If I blew up, I could still probably suck it up and drag myself in at a PR pretty easily.

           

          The race started and I fell in a pretty good rhythm with one of the women from the local running group that I had been talking to.  She was going a little faster than I wanted, but pretty close.  If I ran 7:45 splits all the way in it would be right around that 1:40 mark and I wanted to see if I could pull it off.  The first few miles of the race seemed like nothing but a series of twists and turns through the downtown area of Lubbock.  Looking back on the route there were 15 turns in the first 2 miles of the race.  My GPS tends to cut corners on routes like that so it was telling me I was turning out some 7:50 splits, but after I went back and corrected the corner cutting it showed that my splits for mile 1 was a 7:50, but mile 2 dropped down to 7:24.  Too fast, but I didn’t know it because my GPS was telling me I was right on pace.

           

          The crowd support was very surprising to me because generally the races that I’ve run or been a spectator at in Lubbock the crowd support is very limited.  Through the first couple miles there were pretty much spectators every ¼ mile at least, holding signs, ringing bells, etc.  It was really nice.  Saw several signs that made me grin and a few even got a quick chuckle out of me.

           

          We finally got out of the twists and turns and had a nice long straightaway for all of mile 3.  Back to some twist and turns, but at least these were along a road that actually had some curves to it instead of just going back and forth around square city blocks.  The next mile was a slight downhill and then into some slight rollers, one of the nicest areas to run in the city of Lubbock in my opinion.  The splits for miles 3 through 5 are all very solid at 7:38, 7:39 and 7:40.  A little faster than I was planning, but feeling good and it was slightly downhill throughout those miles and I would for sure be losing some time going back up later on so I wasn’t too worried about it.  My heart rate was a little higher than I wanted, but not terrible, still under my lactate threshold on average.

           

          Mile 6 had a little bigger hill to go up and down and then around one of the canyon lakes for miles 7, 8 and 9.  Still one of the prettier places to run in Lubbock, but a few noticeable ups and downs mixed in here.  This is where I started feeling the big layoff and the mistake of running some hard strides the day before the race after a long layoff as well.  My legs were feeling heavy and I don’t remember that before in a race, usually it’s just my cardio that gets me, but my legs were letting me know they were getting tired on this one as well.  The 1:40 pacer caught up with me somewhere in there I think real close to the halfway mark between miles 6 and 7.  I hung with him for a while and he had about 4 or 5 others with him, but then they started pulling away at about mile 8 and were getting pretty far ahead of me by mile 9.  My heart rate pushed over my lactate threshold keeping up with the pacer toward the end of mile 6 and then stayed over it for the duration of the race.  Had some pretty good spikes on some hills in there and my avg HR hit 179 on mile 8 and then 180 on mile 9 and kept climbing the rest of the race.  My splits were slowing with mile 6 at a 7:54, then mile 7 at 7:54, mile 8 at 7:58 and mile 9 at 8:00 on the dot.

           

          Mile 10 was back up and over a decent little hill, then mile 11 was mostly uphill climbing back up and out of the bottom.  I was really starting to have to work at it by this time even though my pace was slowing.  Mile 10 was 8:12 and with the uphill climb on mile 11 it was my slowest split of the race at 8:22.

           

          Miles 12 and 13 had some more downtown run around the block twists and turns but not as bad as at the start.  Just 7 turns in this 2 mile stretch.  I was really having to push it now and even pushing it I wasn’t tearing anything up by any means.  Mile 12 picked up to an 8:02 split, but I was pushing redline and slowed back down to a 8:13 split on mile 13.  I still had a tiny bit left at the end and kicked it in the last little bit at a 7:28 pace, but I was totally expended crossing the finish line.  My max HR got up to 193 at the finish which is as high as I have gotten it in a long time.

           

          My official time ended up at 1:44:25 which was a new personal record by over 5 minutes.  My official average pace was 7:58 which is pretty crazy to me.  I finished 41st out of 506 runners overall and 3rd out of 20 in the 45 – 49 age group.  That’s my age group, not the Clydesdale division.  Pretty happy with that especially with the overly optimistic start and just hanging on there at the end.

           

          Looking back at my HR numbers, my HR crossed what I think is my lactate threshold right around the midway point of the race and kept climbing the rest of the way.  The last 5 miles of the race it averaged at least 180 and actually mile 12 was a 184 average and I hit 191 for a little on that mile before being forced to slow down a little bit on mile 13.  My average HR for the entire race was 176 which was actually higher than my average HR from my goal 10K race just a couple weeks earlier.  It’s supposed to be the other way around.  One thing I think I can say for sure is that I gave it pretty much everything I had.

           

          Here’s my splits with HR information if you are interested.

          Splits (GPS Interval)
           TypeDistance Split settingsDurationTotal DurationPaceAvg HRMax HRNotes
          1 Manual 1 mi 7:49.39 7:49.39 7:50 161 176  
          2 Manual 1 mi 7:23.66 15:13.05 7:24 170 177  
          3 Manual 1 mi 7:37.46 22:50.51 7:38 171 176  
          4 Manual 1 mi 7:38.83 30:29.34 7:39 172 179  
          5 Manual 1 mi 7:39.31 38:08.65 7:40 172 175  
          6 Manual 1 mi 7:53.2 46:01.85 7:54 173 180  
          7 Manual 1 mi 7:53.33 53:55.18 7:54 176 178  
          8 Manual 1 mi 7:57.59 1:01:52.77 7:58 179 186  
          9 Manual 1 mi 7:59.47 1:09:52.24 8:00 180 186  
          10 Manual 1 mi 8:11.77 1:18:04.01 8:12 181 185  
          11 Manual 1 mi 8:21.18 1:26:25.19 8:22 182 187  
          12 Manual 1 mi 8:01.76 1:34:26.95 8:02 184 191  
          13 Manual 1 mi 8:12.52 1:42:39.47 8:13 183 186  
          14 Manual 0.22 mi 1:38.52 1:44:17.99 7:28 187 193

          One interesting thing is that the lady from the running club that I ran the first 3 or 4 miles with before she pulled away from me ended up winning the women’s race with a time of 1:41:02.

           

          Forgot to have someone take a picture of me with my age group award, and my family wasn’t able to make it because they were at church so I ended up just taking a picture of myself in the mirror.

          finished

           

          Here’s my race shirt and all the bling from the race.

          shirt

           

          Overall a pretty positive experience.  Again, I was impressed overall with the crowd support during the race.  The marathon only had 146 runners and I think if I had kept going the crowd support for the full marathon would have dwindled pretty quickly, but with a little over 500 runners in the half marathon that is a pretty good sized race for here.  The event ran pretty smoothly, but if you were looking for a big expo with lots of vendors and things like that you would have been really disappointed.  The post race food was decent with the usual bananas and bagels and some pretty tasty breakfast burritos as well.  Not much for bling, just the shirt in the registration bag, but usually most of the other stuff in the registration bag ends up in the trash anyway so no big loss there.

           

          Overall I'm still pretty stoked.  Felt like I did about as good as I could have and this still leaves me with a number that can be beat if I decide I want to really work at it and set a goal half marathon to race sometime in the next few years.  I think if I had hung a 1:40ish number up there on this it would be a long time or maybe never before I would be able to beat it.  Sounds like a good excuse anyway.

           

          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)

          pcaharrier


            Zelanie - I'm glad you got something out of that.  Time will tell whether my own advice is any good even for me!

             

            npaden - Congrats on the half marathon PR!  I enjoyed reading the race report.  I don't know that I would have the confidence to go out and try for a PR with a gap in training like you've had, so congratulations on that too.  Do you have another race lined up yet?

             

            miele - Good luck with the half marathon.  Are you replacing one of the long runs with that race or an easy run?  I think you have the right idea on the taper (as well as in general).  If your body is telling you to ease off a bit, it's probably a good idea to ease off.  For instance, the wife and I were treated to an impromptu, intermittent barking session from about 3-5 a.m. Monday morning (our dogs, not neighbors; maybe a big truck drove by or something?).  The schedule called for 6 easy miles that morning (and I usually get up at 5 to run anyway), but I really just felt totally drained so I let the dogs out and back in and then went back to bed.  I figure that (especially after the 16 mile run on Saturday) my body would benefit more from the rest than from the run.  I hope I'm right about that in the end, but I guess we'll see.

             

            Ten easy miles are on my schedule for tomorrow after a week where my interval workout and marathon pace tempo run went really well.  It rained throughout my tempo run on Thursday (with gusty winds for some parts too), but I finished it thinking "If I can do that, I can do a marathon."

            miele


            Godzilla

              We've got races this weekend!!!

               

              Zelanie-  Enjoy the 10k!

              blue-  Hope you're feeling good for the HM!

              Jan-  Have a great trip and HM!  We miss you around here.

              Nathan-  Are you running a 5k?  If so, knock out a new PR for us, please.  Great RR and pics!

               

              Hope y'all have perfect weather.

               

              pc-  Race day I'm scheduled for a 10 miler but I'm reducing the weekly mileage to about 40 (instead of 50) and I'll skip the tempo.  I did the speed work on Tues.  That was my last speed workout before switching to strength.  A dog concert at that time of night would drive me crazy!  You made the right choice going back to bed.  Aside from that little hiccup you've had a great confidence-building week.  Nice.  Have a good 10 miler tomorrow.

               

              me-  Taking it really easy this week.  I feel like a total slug.  Tomorrow I'll go to the track and run about 3 with some strides then Sunday is the race.

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

               

                          

              npaden


                Perfect weather for my 5K this morning!  47 degrees, 48% humidity, wind NW at 4 mph!  Just beautiful!

                 

                Was able to pull it off.  Shooting to break 21:30 as my A goal and ended up with an official time of 21:27!

                 

                Here's my splits:

                 

                Splits (GPS Interval)
                 TypeDistance Split settingsDurationTotal DurationPaceAvg HRMax HRNotes
                1 Manual 1 mi 7:00.78 7:00.78 7:01 168 181  
                2 Manual 1 mi 6:55.58 13:56.36 6:56 178 183  
                3 Manual 1 mi 6:50.93 20:47.29 6:51 182 185  
                4 Manual 0.12 mi 0:46.7 21:33.99 6:30 184 187

                 

                Was able to pace myself about exactly like I wanted, the first half was slightly uphill to a turnaround and then back down.  Felt good for the first mile, not too bad on the second mile and thought I wasn't going to make it there at the end.  The crazy thing on these shorter races is that my heart rate ended up averaging the same as on my half marathon.  I guess it is because that first mile it take a little to climb up.  I came really close to getting a side stitch toward the end but just ended up with a little ache.  I'm just not used to breathing that hard for that long.

                 

                Very happy to be able to pull it off though!  Won the Clydesdale division by over 3 minutes, actually would have won my age group because the really fast guy in my age group won the overall masters category with an 18:36!  Finished 19th overall out of somewhere around 300 runners.

                 

                Good luck to all the other racers this weekend!

                 

                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)

                  Nathan = Wow man great runs and race reports.  I liked your negative 5k splits. Great job!! This is PR month for sure

                   

                  Good luck to the rest of the racers tomorrow.!.!.! I am too far behind to catch up but I know several people are running to win! Look forward to hearing the results and stories.

                   

                  Me : Been doing my thing. Last Sunday I ran another 20 miler and once again the stupid runkeeper app I use to track splits and pace etc messed up again and lost my mile splits....  From now on I will be running 10 miles, then start another run on the app for the rest of the 20 miles.  It never messed up until I did the 20 mile runs and this is twice now.  Anyways we will see what happens next week I will be running 22 miles.  Tomorrow's long run will be 8.6 take a rest / food break then 8.6 back home for total of 17.2  miles. I have been doing this 17.2 / 20 /17.2 /20 thing for over a month now so my feet are getting a pounding but I am feeling stronger big time.  Last weeks 20 miler was (2hour37mins27secs) = 7.52 pace.  I wish I knew the splits but all I can say is I started around 7:45 pace and the last 5-6 miles I slowed down a little bit. Best long run I have done ever. I definitely felt I could run another 6.2  I don't know about keeping the sub 8.00 pace though. I was getting kind of tired.  Also set PR times in training for my 8 miles (59.01)=7.22pace,  my 5.6miles (41.04)=7.19pace,  and my 5k (19.48)=6.22pace.  I was most proud of the 5k time because my old PR was way back in December 2012 so it was ready to be broken.  My old time was 20.54 so I killed it this time. It was a fast week !!!  Yesterday I did some laps at the track.   400x5 and some other laps. Nothing too speedy because my ankle is still feeling sore from all the speedwork last week.  Tomorrow I won't be pushing too hard on the long run. Hoping to just recover.  Ok thats it, I am looking forward to running a 5k in the future since I finally broke the 20 minute mark. I always said I would race one if I could break the mark.  I have two in mind, Turkey trot on thanksgiving or some other one called "honor Conor" in the near future.  I'll let you guys know.  Until then it is back to marathon training. Cya guys!!

                    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

                    Finally managed to improve my HM personal best in the Staten Island HM: from 1:53:30 to 1:52:08. Pretty pleased as the training I have been doing has been a little bit too general, and not really focused on my goal. Not really any flat HM left this year, so I will try and improve my PB in the 5K-10K range before the end of the year. Then I will rest a week or two, and then start a program focused on getting my HM time to 1:49:59 in the spring of 2014. And NYC Marathon in the Fall (obtained guaranteed entry today)

                     

                    Miele: Good luck with your HM, although it must be finished by now. Would be interesting to have your comments on Pfitz vs Hansons at some stage, particularly for someone who will be running his 2nd marathon in 2014.....

                    My taper for the HM was 13 on Saturday, 5 on Monday with 3@ goal pace, 4 on Wednesday with 2@goal pace, then 3 plus strides on Friday. Seems to have worked for me this time.

                     

                    Nathan: Congrats on a great HM time. That must put your way up in the 60% age performance percentile. Nice job. Your HR figures are very high - I get nowhere near those levels - for a HM, I'm between 154 and 158 average, with peaks of 164-5. Maybe I'm lazy and don't push myself enough, or maybe I just have a smaller motor......But 193 for someone who I am guessing is in his 40s just proves that the 220 minus age formula doesn't work for everybody...Just curious, what is your resting HR?

                    Personal bests (bold = this year): 5K - 23:27 / 5M - 38:42 / 10K - 49:31 (track) / 10M - 1:24:26 / HM - 1:51:17 / M - 3:58:58

                    Next races: NYC Marathon, Nov 2014 

                    bluerun


                    Super B****

                      I've been up since 3 AM and I can barely even see straight, so I will be back tomorrow (after what will hopefully be a LOT of sleep) to catch up... but I did write a RR.  No PR, but I wasn't necessarily shooting for one, so I'm not upset about that.  I am upset that I probably could have eked one out and didn't because of my knee.  I need a new one.

                       

                      RR here, if you want the longer version, but the shorter version is that I finished in 1:51:05 (placed pretty high, though... not such a speedy field I guess), my knee hates me, and the hatred is mutual.

                      chasing the impossible

                       

                      because i never shut up ... i blog

                      Zelanie


                        Here is my 10K RR.  Cross posted in a few places.

                         

                        Executive Summary: 53:32, started easy and finished strong.

                         

                        I was not really sure how to approach today’s race.  It’s my 3rd race in 4 weeks, and also the hilliest of the 3.  Also, my main priority has been building my mileage to prepare for the half marathon I’m running in November.  Since this race was really just for fun, I went ahead and ran my 13 mile long run on Friday.  I figured if nothing else, I could take it easy today and run this at HMP as a good workout.

                         

                        But after I got my LR done, I realized that I didn’t have anything coming up on the schedule that would be affected by really racing today, if I got there and felt like I had the legs for it.  So I figured I’d show up and just run how I felt like running.

                         

                        Prerace: It was a cold 46 degrees at the start.  I ran my 2 mile warmup with 4 strides, which was enough that I was comfortable starting in short sleeves without a jacket or gloves.  I intentionally started my warmup later, so I finished within 5 minutes of the start.  There was also a 5K that started 10 minutes after the 10K.

                         

                        Start: The start was pretty narrow.  We started off dodging horse poop at the fairgrounds and then headed onto a sidewalk, so it took about half a mile to really get clear.  I just focused on running evenly and easing my way into race pace.

                         

                        Mile 1- 8:52

                         

                        Now we’re onto the bike path and there’s more room.  Everybody ahead of me must have gone out too fast, because I’m breezing by everyone.  One guy in black tights and a hat passes me around mile 1.5.  I start to get a side stitch.  Clearly I have some work to do.  I breathe all the way out, that makes it worse.  I switch my breathing to the other leg.  It’s not terrible, and I’m otherwise running really easily.

                         

                        Mile 2 – 8:43

                         

                        We head out onto the road to a part I’m not familiar with.  This whole mile is uphill but not very steep.  I catch black tights guy and say “leapfrog”.  I can hear him behind me and realize that he’s probably using me to pull him up the hill.

                         

                        Mile 3- 8:52

                         

                        Black tights guy passes me and I try to keep him in sight.  There’s nobody else to race because we are just breezing past everyone else.  There was a girl off to the side trying to work out a cramp or something, and a guy started clapping when she got back on the road.  I thought that seemed like a good idea and start clapping too, and then I realize he’s just the volunteer dude clapping for everyone.  We hit the turnaround midway through the mile since the course is a loop with an extra out and back for the 10K.  Somewhere in here my side stitch disappeared.  I count from a telephone pole and black tights guy now has 30 seconds on me.

                         

                        Mile 4- 8:35

                         

                        Finally heading downhill.  I am feeling good and decide I want to get into the 8:20s.  I get there and still feel good, so decide to try for the teens.

                         

                        Mile 5- 8:19

                         

                        OK, I’m feeling great.  I think about that 5K that I ran a month ago at what was probably on 8:08 pace, and decide that it would be fun to have my last mile of my 10K be at my 5K pace.  But I get there and am still feeling good.  7:59 was my goal pace for that 5K.  Maybe I can use this mile to redeem myself!  I aim for 7:59 and it feels really, really good.  I know we’re running downhill, but I’m still thrilled.  I keep waiting to feel tired, or pukey, or something, but it doesn’t happen.  No side stitch, either.  I just feel strong, like I am finally actually running.

                         

                        What does happen is that I hit the back of the 5K.  Lots of people to run around.  But I’m passing 10Kers very handily too.  Black tights guy is out of sight.  He must be hauling.

                         

                        Mile 6- 7:58. My first actual sub-8 mile in any race ever.

                         

                        After that mile, I stop looking at my watch and just keep running.  I am feeling great.  I give a thumbs-up to the photographer, turn the corner, and sprint to the finish.  I am passing everyone, even the 10Kers, the whole way.  Except for the random dude who made a point of going around me in the chute after the finish line. Wink

                         

                        Last 0.3- 7:38 pace.

                         

                        Final: 53:32, for about the same pace as my apparently slightly shorter and flatter 10K two weeks ago.

                         

                        Black tights guy still beat me by 40 seconds.  He says his strategy was to attack on the uphills and recover on the downhills, but his splits might have a different tale to tell. Wink

                         

                        As a training run, this feels really good.  I felt like I had more distance at that pace at the end.  So maybe when I’m feeling tired in a future race, I should just run faster, because running faster is fun!  In reality, I do well easing into my race pace and picking it up as I go, I think.

                         

                        Official results aren't up yet and apparently were a bit of a mess because it was tear tag timing instead of chips, they had way more runners than last year, and once both 5K and 10K finishers were coming in at the same time, all hell apparently broke loose.

                        Zelanie


                          npaden- Congrats on the new HM PR and your AG award!  You had a bold start, bravo to you for trying it out and then holding things more or less together when the going got tough!  Is that a 5K PR too?

                           

                          pca- Sounds like a good "mental training run"!

                           

                          miele- Hope you had a great race today!  Looking forward to reading about it.

                           

                          wolfwalker- Nice job on the runs!  You are able to push yourself on solo runs very well.

                           

                          Two-foot- Congrats on the HM PR, and good luck with your fall races!

                           

                          bluerun- Glad you were able to get through the run with a misbehaving knee.

                          bluerun


                          Super B****

                            Sure I'll miss some people, but...

                             

                            miele -- slug weeks are good sometimes.  Or so I'm told.  (And hope, because I have a couple coming to me.)

                             

                            npaden -- nice 5K!

                             

                            Two Foot -- congrats on the PR!  I considered doing that race but decided against it since it's so far.  (Then I went and drove two and a half hours to another one, but whatever.)

                             

                            Zelanie -- congrats on the 10K!  Negative splits are always so lovely.

                             

                            me -- knee is very, very, very unhappy.  Obviously whatever we're doing is just not working, so something is going to have to change, but I'm not sure what.

                            chasing the impossible

                             

                            because i never shut up ... i blog


                            You Rang?

                              Miele - Slug Weeks are good.  I've got one this week.

                               

                              Npaden - Congratulations on the Half Marathon Age Group Award.  Holy smokes!  Look at those 5k splits!  And from a Clydesdale no less!  It's nice to see the larger than the average bear folks throw down numbers like that.  Thanks for the encouragement.  You see I am 6' 6" tall.  I and always will be a Clydesdale.

                               

                              Wolfwalker - I've never used runkeeper, but I had similar problems with Nike+ on my phone.  I blamed my phone (and not the app) and moved to a purpose built solution:  a Garmin watch.

                               

                              Two-Foot-Shuffle - Congratulations on the shiny new PR.

                               

                              Bluerun -  Thanks for the race report.  I trust that you and your knee can come to terms.

                               

                              Zelanie - Your experience with your 10K sounds just like my experience with my last 10k:  running into the slower 5k crowd towards the end.  Well done and I love the negative splits.

                               

                              Me - Week 4 of marathon training ended last night with a 16 mile run.  I run on Huntington Beach bike path. Last night, I ran out of beach.  I live  a block from the beach, and typically, I run to the beach, turn north and keep running.  At mil 7.75, I found the end of Huntington Beach and the entrance channel of Anaheim Bay and the Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station.  I know that there are some 18 and 20 mile training runs in my future.  I'm gunna have to find a new route.

                               

                              Last night's 16 mile training run was downright magical.  Eight miles were supposed to be at race pace.  Since I've never run a marathon before I don't really have a feel for what race pace should be.  I took off at a pace that was comfortably hard, but I thought I could hold.  I didn't look at my watch as I run the long run at night.  I have a tough time reading the watch in broad daylight.  That comfortably hard pace was a 10:00 mm which is kinda fast for me.  Sixteen miles is my distance personal best.  I ran a 16 miles training run six months ago in 2:55.  Last night I ran 16 miles in 2:45.  I am feeling it this morning.  

                              Dr. Pfitz has a cut back week for me this week.  I'm also finalizing the travel arrangements and other plans for the marathon.  Disney announced a special room rate for Marathon weekend, but it didn't apply to the room I booked.  So I changed hotels and got a nicer room with a better view and free food at a cheaper price.  Can't complain about that.  My wife and daughter are a little nervous about hanging out at the finish line for four hours, so we found a spot on the race course where I will meet them  Its at mile 23.  From there I'll head on to the finish line and they will head back to the hotel.

                               

                              RIck

                              Rick 

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

                              miele


                              Godzilla

                                Nathan-  Once again you nailed your goal!  Congrats!  You are the master pacer.  Beautiful splits.

                                 

                                Wolfie-  Nice new PRs!  Too bad about the Runkeeper.  That's just frustrating.

                                 

                                2ft-  Congrats to you, too, on the new HM PR!!  So far I'm liking the Hansons' plan.  I feel stronger.  Tired but strong.  Whereas with Pfitz I felt tired but a fatigued kind of tired, if that makes any sense.  With Pfitz, when I felt really tired, I would skip the speed work an just get in the miles.  With Hansons, I've skipped some speed work but only because of a race and the recovery after a race.  And I think I skipped one speed workout due to the shin splints thing.   I've never felt like I couldn't hit my paces.  My taper leading up to yesterday's HM was like this:  Sun:  16 (that was ending a 62 mile week), Mon: 10 (6am/4pm), Tues:  8.5 w/ 3x1600s, Wed:  off, Thur:  6, Fri:  off, Sat:  3.5 w/strides.  I can't say it worked for me.  Possibly it's too much for me to do intervals on Tues. then race well on a Sun.  I don't know.  And, not that you asked me but that's never stopped me from chiming in, my HR is similar to Nathan's, I think.  My max is about 192.  My resting is 58.

                                 

                                blue-  I got half an hour more sleep than you.  What's up with that?  I woke at 3:30 and just couldn't go back to sleep.  I hate that.  Nice race, though!  I just read your RR and now realize that you woke up that early on purpose.  Sorry your knee is being so uncooperative.  Hopefully you'll find an alternative treatment or a different diagnosis which would help with a treatment to get it back in order.  Well done on a great race under trying circumstances.

                                 

                                Zelanie-  Nice race!  Congratulations!  Very close to a PR, too.  Sounds like quite a mess at the finish but, oh well.

                                 

                                Lurch-  Nice LR and good call on changing hotels.  You've obviously made some great improvements since your last 16 miler.

                                 

                                me-  I'm about to head out the door so I'll write a short RR later.  Till then my time:  1:50:56.

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