Forums >Racing>Sub-90 Minutes for the Half Marathon (2012)
Good luck this weekend, Kevin!
While you are going full tilt, don't forget that "Runners are restricted to the bike lane on the eastbound side of rt. 53 by cones, common sense, fear, police and car traffic."
Ha. Nice.
I think a little "fear" should be part of every race.
Come all you no-hopers, you jokers and roguesWe're on the road to nowhere, let's find out where it goes
Break on through
You don't often see a sense of humour displayed on course certification maps! But this course was measured by "Guido Brothers Escort Service" so it's not out of the blue. But that note means they didn't have to ride the bike out in the middle of the busy highway to measure that part of the course, which is smart.
Good luck, Kevin. I'll be there too!
"Not to touch the Earth, not to see the Sun, nothing left to do but run, run, run..."
Thanks Chris. I had a feeling you'd be there.
Saw some advice from Lemay who said to hold back and pop the cork around mile 8 for the big hill. That sound about right, or any other words of wisdom on this course?
Lazy idiot
Absolute distaster !!! There were a few warning signs that my fast track to fitness wasn't quite on target but I'm a believer so went with plenty of optimism... That disappeared pretty quickly during the race when although I was feeling ok my HR was through the roof. I was running barely below 8 min mile pace (7.46) after half way but my HR was way higher than normal. I knew that it was only a matter of time before I bombed but as I felt ok I kept going. After 9 1/2 miles I knew it was over. I struggled through another 1 mile before the legs gave in and I walked for about 1 - 2 mins. I was wrecked but kept going until 12 miles when I stopped again. Even that close to the finish I couldn't keep going and when I got going again I hit a HR of 190 pretty quickly - quite a HR considering I was only plodding along. Managed to finish in a flourish in 1:44... Yes thats right - 1:44 plus change... I've had faster long runs - so disappointed but this HM was probably a month or so before I was ready so can't complain - will be more careful and better prepareds before the next one !!!
Absolute distaster !!! There were a few warning signs that my fast track to fitness wasn't quite on target but I'm a believer so went with plenty of optimism...
That disappeared pretty quickly during the race when although I was feeling ok my HR was through the roof. I was running barely below 8 min mile pace (7.46) after half way but my HR was way higher than normal. I knew that it was only a matter of time before I bombed but as I felt ok I kept going. After 9 1/2 miles I knew it was over. I struggled through another 1 mile before the legs gave in and I walked for about 1 - 2 mins. I was wrecked but kept going until 12 miles when I stopped again. Even that close to the finish I couldn't keep going and when I got going again I hit a HR of 190 pretty quickly - quite a HR considering I was only plodding along. Managed to finish in a flourish in 1:44...
Yes thats right - 1:44 plus change... I've had faster long runs - so disappointed but this HM was probably a month or so before I was ready so can't complain - will be more careful and better prepareds before the next one !!!
Sorry to hear your race didn't go to plan, Redgraffle. Keep upping the mileage, get the long runs longer, and the quest for 1:30 will be a much easier road.
Do you have another attempt coming up in the next few months?
Tick tock
Sorry to hear your race didn't go to plan, Redgraffle. Keep upping the mileage, get the long runs longer, and the quest for 1:30 will be a much easier road. Do you have another attempt coming up in the next few months?
I might try one in about 2 months time which should give me plenty of time to get the long runs and the general fitness to where they need to be... Might aim for a 10km road race somewhere in between to keep me motivated...
Still happy enough about the shape I'm in but just not strong enough for something as long as a a half - maybe a 10km might have been a better starting point...
Onwards & Upwards !!!
2015 Goals:
Sub 18 minute 5km
Sub 38 minute 10km
Break 1,000 miles for the year for the first time ever...
Stay healthy and keep focused
I might try one in about 2 months time which should give me plenty of time to get the long runs and the general fitness to where they need to be... Might aim for a 10km road race somewhere in between to keep me motivated... Still happy enough about the shape I'm in but just not strong enough for something as long as a a half - maybe a 10km might have been a better starting point... Onwards & Upwards !!!
Amen!
As you move forward in your training, though, I'd think about what may have happened in that race. That tempo on 3/15 is a sign of pretty solid fitness. I checked to see if maybe you struggled through it, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Maybe others can chime in?
"If you have the fire, run..." -John Climacus
Thanks Chris. I had a feeling you'd be there. Saw some advice from Lemay who said to hold back and pop the cork around mile 8 for the big hill. That sound about right, or any other words of wisdom on this course?
Yes - that sounds right. Just before that hill, you cross railroad tracks near the West Redding train station, and there's a water station nearby. I use that as a sort of mental cue to get ready for the tough part of the race. I also like to be able to take advantage of the big down hill on the other side, so I don't go quite all-out on the up hill. When you get to the point where you see the back of Rogers Park Middle School off to the right, you're almost done! - probably within half a mile, so if you've got anything left in the tank, you may want to go into an extended kick to the finish from there!
Amen! As you move forward in your training, though, I'd think about what may have happened in that race. That tempo on 3/15 is a sign of pretty solid fitness. I checked to see if maybe you struggled through it, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Maybe others can chime in?
I didn't struggle in that tempo but I was pushing very hard. I've noticed that in the last week I don't feel as comfortable on my easy runs so I'm thinking that I've overtrained a bit in my bid to get to the level of fitness I needed for a HM in 2 months. My training is not excessive but this all came from a point 2 months ago when I was doing zero so maybe the body is just tired and hasn't adjusted completely to regular training???
I wouldn't discount that, Brendan.
It's good that you are able to identify that maybe your trying to jam too much progress into too short of a time. I was thinking about that workout this morning. Really, 4 mi. at 6:34 pace is hard. I think I did something like that a few months after running 90-minutes for the HM. It was hard. So, I think you are on a great path, just maybe take a little of the pressure off yourself. If you don't run a 90 in two months or in 2012, you can always get it next year. Look at Candice S.: she missed in in 2011 and then went under 89 at the beginning of this year. As my friend would say "Where's the fire?"(But he's kind of a lazy dude).
One more thing. I wonder if wearing the HRM kind of fouled you up. Maybe you put the thing on, got the race jitters, saw a high heart rate, and couldn't relax enough to execute well.
"I knew that it was only a matter of time before I bombed but as I felt ok I kept going." This made me also wonder about the HRM. I get that it can be useful in training, and you need to do what works for you. But in a race in particular, I think we can focus on eliminating things that hold us back (negative thoughts, poor pacing, etc.). You felt good, but knew the end was coming. What if you didn't know the end was coming? Maybe the body would have pushed through, not inhibited by the brain telling it things from a mechanical feedback device. Maybe not, I don't know.
You've got a good outlook though. Keep progressing. Agree with Nader that the tempo shows you've got it in you, just need to be smart about building around it.
Chris, thanks for the wisdom about the course. I drove it the other day, can't wait to run it (especially the down!).
I've got a HM race this weekend. Can't imagine getting sub 90 on this one but should be able to shatter my current PR of 1:37x. I would imagine I will finish in the 1:32 range.
2018 Goals
Figure out the achilles thing...... and THEN try to get running regularly again.
No racing goals
Good luck! Based on the work and recent 5K I wouldn't be shocked if you did break 90. First step is to imagine it though.
Thanks!
I guess the problem IS imagining it. That's a huge difference in time!
A I better off going out at a reasonable pace (7:05/mile) and targeting a 1:32, and then building off of that in the next race, or going out at 6:55 and crashing at mile 9???
I would be VERY happy with 1:32 given that would be a 5 minute PR.
1:24:52
Yay, me!
Huge debt to Chris (beat) for pulling me through first 8 miles in smooth even pace!