Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon 2021 Edition
Heard on Jeopardy right now:
Hicham El Guerrouj holds the world record in the mile and this slightly shorter metric distance.
Contestant 1: The 10,000 meters
Ken Jennings: No
Contestant 2: 10 meters
Contestant 3: Uh, 500 meters
Ken Jennings: No, the 1,500 meter
5k: 20:32 (1/17) | HM: 1:34:37 (2/18) | FM: 3:31:37 (3/18)
Getting back into it
Rune haha amateurs. I don't recommend trying to ride a skateboard either after 40 so no mechanical bulls or skateboards
55+ PBs 5k 18:36 June 3rd TT
" If you don't use it you lose it, but if you use it, it wears out.
Somewhere in between is about right "
Its always unfair to ask Americans metric questions. You cannot expect them to know that kind of stuff 😃
The last time I wanted to impress some neighbourhood kids with an Ollie jump over an obstacle I fell so miserably that I thought I had broken my foot. I was not 40 at that time bit close and I scared the shit out of the kids. If you ride a skateboard dont try those tricks anymore. Or just dont get on those, they are dangerous and should be banned for 40+
HM: 1:47 (9/20) I FM: 3:53:11 (9/23)
2024 Goals: run a FM & HM + stay healthy!
Speaking of skateboarding. During my tempo attempt, I passed by these two guys. Obviously an avid skater!
Intl. correspondent
RUNE!!! Hey man, good to see you around. Here’s to a year full of running (and swimming, for you)
Darkwave - Fluffy is getting famous, I’ve just told all about her to my wife.
Mick - Ahh, Piemonte, that explains all Damn that’s a scary amount of snow! Also, where are you originally from? I never remember. I need that information to properly stereotype you
RP - cheers, I’m glad the issue is solved. Also kudos por choosing the superior measurement system
PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021
Up next: some 800m race (or time trials) / Also place in the top 20% in a trail race
Tool to generate Strava weekly
Cobra Commander Keen
Rune - Have you tried upping that red meat intake to help remedy the iron deficiency?
Mick - Awesome picture! That looks like fun. Kinda reminds me of my dad pulling my brother and me on an inverted truck hood behind his pickup when it snowed. hashbrown growing up in the country.
This morning I was reminded why I don't strength train much - my hammies or adductors are sore after a bunch of post-workout goblet squats yesterday.
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
OKC Memorial 5k - April 27
Bun Run 5k - May 4
Mick - that's very similar to what we've got here in Western Iowa but I'm not nearly brave enough to skateboard (or snowboard) in it! You really should take a sled with you on those runs, sled down the hill, pull it behind you the rest of the way!
Rune that's just a sad commentary on the American public... sigh.
Keen if you strength trained more, it wouldn't make you sore!
A buddy let me know that he's planning on doing a Sunday 6 mile progression run from 6:40 /mi -> 5:40 so if I want to show up he'll pace me to a sub 20 in there. I'm trying to decide if it's worth the 45 minute drive given that my recent workouts are telling me I'm just don't have that gear right now (it's really hard to get turnover up past about 6:40/mi). That said, next week is supposed to be recovery and today was a super easy recovery day so I'll probably give it a shot. I just checked the weather and it might be 20F, windy and snowing at that point... sigh.
1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)
Hot Weather Complainer
rune and mick - awesome to see you guys here again. rune, hope you continue to make good progress. During my current niggle I've done some cross training and while I'm grateful to be able to do it, nothing gives me the feeling running does. mick - awesome photo. I think I'd be sticking to the treadmill in conditions like that.
RP - you say "lol" as a word?? I used to be that guy and ask people who typed "lol" in a chat if they actually did laugh out loud...hopefully next time you get pulled over you're not kinda drunk!
Mark - Despite what people may think, Auckland is unbearable when hot. I'd rather run in 30 degrees in Christchurch than 25 in Auckland any day.
CK - I can imagine what flavio will say about your strength training comment.
zebano - Give it a crack! Good luck, and hopefully you avoid the Gaga costume.
me - I had an increase in pain last weekend after stupidly moving and stacking a massive pile of firewood. The pain is at the lowest when running but was still slightly higher than before so I missed my jog/walk on Thursday and stuck to the bike. I saw a physio yesterday and she did some significant stress testing on the medial ligament and the kneecap around where the pain is. I felt no pain throughout any of this and she thinks the issue is a "less important ligament" just under the base of the kneecap. My knee wasn't well aligned on a lunge or single leg squat so she's got me doing exercises to correct that and has taped it to re-align in the meantime. After she taped it, the pain was almost non-existent on a squat so I will try my jog/walk again this morning. It may be that taping will get me through this, which is what happened with my left knee a few years ago. Fingers crossed.
I've also retired a pair of shoes I use for recovery runs only, at 650km, and moved my main shoes to recovery shoes as they're at 420km. I found a good deal by NZ standards so got 2 new pairs of shoes which I'll start using straight away just in case any of this is shoe related. All going to plan, I'll buy some racing shoes in a month or so - I see on the Nike website they have a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee so it seems like there's no risk. I'll use them in a half first and see how I go. The Christchurch half is now only 12 weeks away so it will be a tempo/training run for sure.
5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23
2024 Races:
Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024 1:29:55
Christchurch Half-Marathon April 21, 2024 1:27:34
Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
Mick - great picture. Makes me miss snowboarding a lot!
Steve - good taping can make a massive difference. Just taping my foot on long runs helped me solve a niggle without impacting my mileage at all. Also I really rate the Vaporflies but I know a lot of people that have opted for the (cheaper but similar) Zoom Flies with good results too. The ZF's apparently feel a lot more like a normal shoes than the VF's.
Zebano - having a good pacer can definitely help. That weather, on the other hand...
Good track session for me this morning with 2 x 4k at a good tempo. Was actually quite busy up there with a group of crossfitters running split 500's and a group of sprinters exercising their jaws and their speaker more than anything else. To be honest it was nice to have some company and some distractions while running the tempo efforts!
3,000m: 9:07.7 (Nov-21) | 5,000m: 15:39 (Dec-19) | 10,000m: 32:34 (Mar-20)
10km: 33:15 (Sep-19) | HM: 1:09:41 (May-21)* | FM: 2:41:41 (Oct-20)
* Net downhill course
Last race: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr, 1:15:48
Up next: Runway5, 4 May
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
Piwi - Ha, I'll stay far away from skateboards, I never figure out those things. Felt reasonable confident on a pair of rollerblades at one point though. Still need to figure out the roller skis I got a year ago, the balance was really tricky on those.
Mick - Nice snow! Although I prefer to be able to choose when to deal with it, even as a Norwegian.
FLAVIO! - My favorite Italian-Brazilian strength training enthusiast! I like what I see from you on Strava. The swimming is good, although I find it difficult to get into the hard efforts with the colder water temperatures we have now. I think it's some sort of protection measure from my body.
Keen - No, I haven't specifically tried eating more red meat, but we've never shied away from it at home so I'm not sure if it could bring me over the hump. But again, definitely something to keep in mind (including other iron-rich foods)
Z - Good luck with your sub-20 workout!
Steve - That shoe change might make a big difference, at least it's been that way for me a couple of times. Regarding the feeling you get when running, I love it and missed it dearly when I couldn't run. There's something about just going out there and not thinking or focusing on anything else. For me OW swimming beats it by a hair though since you're immersed in the water and feel even farther away from everything else in life. And regarding taping, back in 2011 when I thought I had PF for the first time and taped my foot to help (only the bad one), I am convinced it threw out my back because only one foot was taped. Never had such back pain in my life before or after (mechanical bull included ).
Time to take the dog for a short run and then do a very few easy miles myself. Look at Strava for pictures.
Rune i can't skateboard either. I can surf ok though. I think my body knows concrete is bad and water is good 👍
Check this wave surfed recently near San Francisco at Half Moon Bay
https://www.surfer.com/videos/pete-mel-best-wave-at-mavericks/
Steve lol lots of love of course 😘
Rune i can't skateboard either. I can surf ok though. I think my body knows concrete is bad and water is good 👍 Check this wave surfed recently near San Francisco at Half Moon Bay https://www.surfer.com/videos/pete-mel-best-wave-at-mavericks/ Steve lol lots of love of course 😘
Apparently skateboarding is a lot like snowboarding. I really like snowboarding, but snow is a LOT more forgiving than concrete!
Keen I would have loved to see that sliding on the inverted top Sounds like a great childhood!
Zebano its actually ok to run in these snowy conditions if the sidewalks are cleared. But these lazy houseowners havent bothered with it yet... I dont have enough room for a treadmill. And no cash (we dont have craigslist here and the prices on the equivalent of eBay here are just outrageous). But this is a dream of mine definitely. One day...
Flavio: I consider myself European. I was born in the West of the continent then moved to the Center and have now been living in Switzerland for a long time. I have 2 passports; same as you. Not sure where I see myself retiring. I love the Spanish islands somehow. Great for Surfing (Canarian Islands). Or maybe Fernao de Noronha!
Mark: I might go up tomorrow and again for a week in February. But I ski, since its less physical as compared to snowboarding (bindings are a nightmare imo). You went to Canada in February 2 years ago. I would love to do that too one day.
My week is in the bag. 5 runs 43km. More was not possible given the snow. Next week will be worse I think. This is pure willpower
Mick - yeah we were at Big White 3 years ago and Sun Peaks around this time last year. Awesome trips and I'm really glad we got that Sun Peaks trip in a month or two before the world went nuts!
Me - another decent week in the bag. No long run this week but some good workouts again and I snuck an extra recovery run in on Friday. Struggled a bit on Wednesday's session but that tempo at the track yesterday felt really good.
JamesD
More treadmill time, and continuing to go three days on, one off. At some point I should go outside again, since my excuse was that when I was taking frequent walk breaks because of the hamstring, I didn’t want to walk in cold weather while sweating. I’ve gone through the treadmill manual pretty thoroughly, and there doesn’t seem to be any way to make it go longer than 1:39 without stopping. That’s ok - that amount of time 5x/week is enough for me anyway, and if I want to go longer, I can just shut it off, walk for 20 seconds while it powers down, and start back up from zero like I did Thursday when I had to retie a shoe.
Inspired by a LetsRun thread about inaccurate treadmill speed displays, I measured the length of the gym treadmill’s band and timed it for 30 revolutions at several displayed speeds a total of a dozen times. It did seem to be going faster than the display says, but only by about 5%, while I thought the display was underestimating my speed by 15% or more. I guess when I get back outside I’ll have a better idea of how fast and how far I’ve been going. In the meantime, the mileage numbers I post may be up to 10% too high.
Sun - about 11 “miles” on treadmill (1:39 at what felt faster than 9-minute effort even if the machine disagrees)
Mon - off
Tues - 11 TM
Weds - 11 TM
Thurs - 12 TM (1:49), short break to retie shoe
Fri - off
Sat - 11 TM
Total - about 56 miles worth of time/effort, or about 50 miles if you knock off 10%
Post-1987 PRs: Half 1:30:14 (2019); 10K 39:35 (2019); 5K 19:12 (2017); Mile 5:37.3 (2020)
'24 Goals: consistency, age-graded PRs, half < 1:32