Sub 1:30 Half Marathon 2021 Edition (Read 448 times)

Last night I got an email from the RD of my 10k tomorrow that caused some slight panic until I opened it and discovered it was only directions on how to avoid some road construction.
Looking at the entrants list (5k & 10k) I only see one name I recognize - a local-ish guy who's between JMac and Mark speed-wise.
The forecasted temperature is looking ever-so-slightly better than earlier in the week, but a big oversight on my part is that the dew point should be a good deal lower than typical, so the Kiwi Point should be a manageable 125-ish! Really looking forward to this one.

 

 

Good luck with your mile Darkwave! Do you get to run with the elites?

Thanks!  Nope.  40-49 heat (which in 2019 included former Olympian Jen Rhines, as well as Roberta Groner, who represented the US at the 2019 World Championships in the marathon).  So possibility of elite competition.

I was a bit bummed they combined men and women (and non-binary) into one heat - one of the great things about this race in years past was getting to compete in a big competitive field of exclusively my age group peers.  OTOH, looks like we may have a significant headwind this year, so having a bunch of guys to block the wind won't be a bad thing.

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Other notes:  JTReeves - my comments about goal marathon pace actually were not directed at you, but rather at so many people throughout the years that I have trained with who seem to believe that if it's a "Marathon Pace" workout, and they can sustain a certain pace for that workout, then that pace is their "marathon pace."  If only it worked that way.

Re: Marby's point on "which part of the marathon effort" - to me marathon effort is defined by the majority of the marathon - miles 6-20 ish. As for training for how hard things get at the end of a marathon?  I don't think running your marathon workouts too hard is how you prep for that.  I think doing some intervals and tempos and a race or two during your cycle is how you prep for that.

Like Jmac, I don't buy into the importance of "marathon pace mechanics."  There's not that much difference, biomechanically, between 6:40 pace and 7:10 pace, for example.  (I think practicing the mechanics of race pace gets more important in the short stuff - mile and shorter).  And I've known a few people who have trained at a "marathon pace" that ended up somewhat slower than what they ran on race day.  One recent example is a woman on my team who ran 2:43 to OTQ back in 2019.  She did all of her marathon pace workouts with a friend of mine who was going for sub-3:00.  I don't think her "marathon pace" was ever faster than 6:40 during any workout.  And yet she ran 2:43 on race day.  (and no, that wasn't a surprise at all - she was a former Division 1 runner who was running with the OTQ as her goal).

People keep thinking that it's better to err on the side of being a bit fast during marathon pace workouts.  When what I've seen time and time again is that it's better to err on the side of being a bit slow - you have much more room for error there, and less potential for damage.

I think that locking in marathon pace effort (that rate of breathing, heart rate, rhythm, during the majority of the marathon) is much more important than practicing the mechanics of a certain running speed.

DW posting marathon pace comments here. The lure of the Kiwis is too strong!

Darkwave will you be bringing the Takumi Sens out for this one ? They work for Nick Willis 

Keen good luck. Maybe don't try and keep up with that guy if he's halfway between Mark and Jmac 

Zeb hope that sinus thing clears up.

Have a great weekend everyone 😀

Darkwave - good luck on the Mile?  Even though the wrong thread, your post as always has knowledge.  And more importantly, what shoes tomorrow?

Keen - good luck.

My shoes for the mile...I'm going to throw a curveball and go with....

The Puma Deviate Nitro Elite.

I did a bunch of 100m strides on the track today, swapping out various pairs of shoes, and liked them the best.

Unfortunately, I do not have a currently usable pair of Takumi Sens that fit me.  Just an old broken pair that fit perfectly, a pair that is too small, and a pair that is too big.

Thank you!

Keen/darkwave - Hope your races go/went well!  Looking forward to the RRs.

Me - Nothing much noteworthy.  Was surprised at how sore my legs were for a couple of days after Wednesday’s run, which was longer than I had gone in a while but not by enough that it should’ve mattered.  Summer is definitely over, as morning low temperatures are now around 68/20.

Sun - 6.2 very slow (72 mins) on treadmill after Saturday's tempo

Mon - 9.4 miles in park @ 8:27

Tues - off

Weds - 11 in park @ 8:41

Thurs - 6.2 very slow (72 mins) on treadmill

Fri - 7.8 in park @ 8:43, sore

Sat - off

Total - 40.6 miles

YTD average - 45.3 mpw