Half Marathon Trainers

12

Darned 2 minutes! (Read 274 times)
posted: 5/17/2009 at 1:38 PM
In October 2007 I ran myfirst half marathon in 1:55.
The son of a friend of mine had run the Scotiabank half a couple of weeks earlier in 1:53. This started a friendly rivalry.

He is a very nice young guy, now 31 years old, very athletic, played professional lacrosse for 3 years after university, but about 6'2' and 210lbs, way too big for a distance runner.

Anyway, next spring he ran Mississauga in 1:40Tight lippedx and I ran Toronto in 1:43, this year he did 1:41 and I ran the hilly Hartwell course in 1:43- he's always 2 minutes ahead, and I am sick of it!!!

I am tired of being beaten by younger runners and I am determined not to let it happen this October, I am going to train harder than ever and leave him in the dust. I am going to drop him like a bad habit, then taunt and humiliate him!
(This is my motivation to get back to training!)
"Old" is not another word for "slow".
posted: 5/17/2009 at 4:08 PM
Whoo hoo, go get him, Simon!


jules2

posted: 5/17/2009 at 7:37 PM
modified: 5/17/2009 at 7:37 PM
I am tired of being beaten by younger runners and I am determined not to let it happen this October, I am going to train harder than ever and leave him in the dust. I am going to drop him like a bad habit, then taunt and humiliate him!
(This is my motivation to get back to training!)

Simon, you now have good motivation but train smart and don't overdo it, what do you think is your biggest weakness when running a half?
you can't keep your money for ever its like saving sex for your old age


For The Thunder!

posted: 5/17/2009 at 11:18 PM
Whatever gets you out the door. Go get him, Simon.
Run fast sometimes.

Don't let the bastard win.
posted: 5/18/2009 at 4:48 PM
Sounds good, so go and get him.

Break down the two minutes, it's only 5 seconds faster pace. The bueaty of a longer race, you can knock minutes off eaisly while only increasing the pace slightly.

Larry
LPH
posted: 5/18/2009 at 10:09 PM
Jules I have always concentrated on my long run, going further than the training programme or conventional wisdom would indicate I need to. I did this to ensure a strong finish.
Psychologically I tend to save a little more than I need to so as to run well in the last 5k, and this has worked well as I have avoided the beginner mistakes of starting out too fast.
So I think my weakness is not going out hard enough, last year I ran the 3rd. 5k in 23:16, my PB at the distance is only 7 seconds quicker.
My idea is to do more speed work this time, so the race pace is not as close to my 10k race pace. This will be my third time running this race so I expect my splits to be pretty good, there is a large hill at the end of the first 5k and the finish climbs gently for 2-3kms.
I think I need to have more confidence earlier in the race; to take more risks. I have worked out that I need to be at 10 miles in about 74 minutes to do a 1:38- this is a VERY intimidating target!

Any advice will be most welcome...
Simon.
"Old" is not another word for "slow".


jules2

posted: 5/19/2009 at 8:08 PM
Simon,

I agree, although I'm the worst at this but we all have a tendency to do what we like doing ( in your and my case long runs ) but avoid what we should be doing ( speed sessions )

I run better when I don't have any great expectations as I tend to start too hard and gradually fade.

We are all different, one friend of mine never came by me until half / two thirds race distance and even in the shorter races always beat me by a good margin.
you can't keep your money for ever its like saving sex for your old age
posted: 5/20/2009 at 1:11 AM
Talking about speed work - today I got to my boot camp early and ran 1 1/2 miles to warm up. When I ran by the instructor at the end, she said, "Teresa!" with an exclamation point. I thought she was going to say, "Great job for getting here early and doing extra!" Ha! What she actually said was, "Wow, we need to get you moving quicker!" She said it a couple of times in different ways. Sigh. Took me right back to 7th grade gym class when I couldn't do the uneven bars!

There is a class starting up that will meet once a week at a local track to do speedwork. I'm thinking about doing it, if I can just get over the embarrassment part! I am REALLY slow, even though I've been running 2 1/2 years now. The thought of doing 100-meter sprints in front of other people is rather terrifying.


jazz hands

posted: 5/20/2009 at 8:07 PM
You know Teresa,

I'm thinking about the same thing - going to a local workout (in my case Camden/ Rockland) to get faster. I've been running with a new RP and she runs between 10-10:30m/m for 4 miles. I struggle to keep up but somehow it seems to be working - the rest of my much slower runs seem to be getting a little faster. We will see what happens at my 10K in a couple of weeks...

A
2010 Goals
Love running.
23 May 2010 Volkswagen HM Halifax

posted: 5/21/2009 at 1:26 AM
Quote from Teresadfp on 5/20/2009 at 1:11 AM:
Talking about speed work - today I got to my boot camp early and ran 1 1/2 miles to warm up. When I ran by the instructor at the end, she said, "Teresa!" with an exclamation point. I thought she was going to say, "Great job for getting here early and doing extra!" Ha! What she actually said was, "Wow, we need to get you moving quicker!" She said it a couple of times in different ways. Sigh. Took me right back to 7th grade gym class when I couldn't do the uneven bars!

There is a class starting up that will meet once a week at a local track to do speedwork. I'm thinking about doing it, if I can just get over the embarrassment part! I am REALLY slow, even though I've been running 2 1/2 years now. The thought of doing 100-meter sprints in front of other people is rather terrifying.


Teresa, Slow is a relative term. Compared to my son and your son, I'm slow. Speed is what you make it. To me, running faster than whatever your pace is, is speed. So don't be embarassed, you're there to learn speedwork to get faster. Whether it's5 seconds or two minutes, it doesn't matter, the only thing that matters is that there is some imporvement.

Larry
LPH


For The Thunder!

posted: 5/21/2009 at 2:05 AM
modified: 5/21/2009 at 2:06 AM
Quote from SimonR on 5/18/2009 at 10:09 PM:
I think I need to have more confidence earlier in the race; to take more risks. I have worked out that I need to be at 10 miles in about 74 minutes to do a 1:38- this is a VERY intimidating target!


A 1:38 half is 7:29 minute miles. Even splits would put you at 1:14:50 for 10 miles. I don't think you need to be as low as 74 minutes. I just PR'd at 1:37:49 a couple of weeks ago. It was a 2 minute PR and all but 10 seconds were made up in the first 10 miles. That said I hit 10 miles at 1:14:58 when I ran 1:37:49.

I guess my point is yeah you want to be more aggressive at the start but only to the point where you're splits end up close to even.
Run fast sometimes.

Don't let the bastard win.
posted: 5/21/2009 at 4:37 AM
That's cool, Ayola! I've noticed I tend to run faster with a friend I've started running with (in addition to my long-term RP). I'm currently booked to run 4 days a week with other people, and that makes me try harder.

Larry, you have a good point! I'm just comparing MY times, no one else's. And nobody I know can type as fast as I can, so there! Wink

DS is getting to that fun point in high school where they start handing out awards. Tonight he was inducted into the National Honor Society, and also was one of three kids out of 180 juniors to get a plaque for making all As all year. He also got a silver award for the national Latin II exam, and a bronze award for the national Spanish IV exam. Then, to our surpise, he got the Dartmouth Book Award! The mother of one of his track teammates went to Dartmouth and presented the award to him, so it was cool. Afterwards, she asked him to consider going there. So it was a heady night for him. We embarrassed him by taking lots of photos! Now I have to pull an all-nighter to get a project out with DH. Boot camp in the morning will be tons of fun.
posted: 5/22/2009 at 5:56 PM
Congrats to your son, Teresa! Let us know how the track work goes.
"Old" is not another word for "slow".


learning to soar

posted: 5/26/2009 at 9:06 PM
Speed indeed is relative.

 

I've got a good friend beat at the short distances--5 and 10k, and so far she's edged me out in the half and 26.2. Well, at my last half I finally did it--I got her 1:51 PR by about a half a minute. Unfortunately, since I'm so late to the marathon party, I know it'll be a while til I catch up to her BQ--she's run five or six and I just ran my first this spring.

 

All that to say that some of us are also faster at certain distances, too. I know it'll be hard for me to learn how to truly race the marathon from the gun, to know what pace I can safely sustain without risking everything. I suppose it's why balanced training is important.

 

It's good to have these challenges in our running. Keep us updated, Simon.


But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Is. 40:31)
Mile by Mile
posted: 6/5/2009 at 8:36 PM
Quote from SimonR on 5/17/2009 at 1:38 PM:
In October 2007 I ran myfirst half marathon in 1:55. The son of a friend of mine had run the Scotiabank half a couple of weeks earlier in 1:53. This started a friendly rivalry. He is a very nice young guy, now 31 years old, very athletic, played professional lacrosse for 3 years after university, but about 6'2' and 210lbs, way too big for a distance runner. Anyway, next spring he ran Mississauga in 1:40Tight lippedx and I ran Toronto in 1:43, this year he did 1:41 and I ran the hilly Hartwell course in 1:43- he's always 2 minutes ahead, and I am sick of it!!! I am tired of being beaten by younger runners and I am determined not to let it happen this October, I am going to train harder than ever and leave him in the dust. I am going to drop him like a bad habit, then taunt and humiliate him! (This is my motivation to get back to training!)

 

 

Simon, you've got a great source of motivation there.

 

Looking at your log, I'd say you can easily run faster than 1:38 if you start putting in some consistent miles. Even when you ran 1:42, you weren't running a whole lot. That just means there is a ton of unrealized potential for you.

 

I'd suggest making a goal of running 150 miles a month between now and October. I know you can do it, because you ran 155 miles in March already. If you do this, and also do a tempo run every week, I would bet real money that you'd break 1:38.

 

To me the most important criteria in training for a half marathon are:

  1. Mileage
  2. Tempo runs
  3. Long runs
  4. 5k-10k paced intervals

These are ranked in order of importance.


I've been following Dakota's log since last year and that guy is going to kick some ass. -flovesparko


2010 Goals
Sub-18 5k
Sub-38 10k
2:55 Boston Marathon
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