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

I just officially signed up for that local half marathon I was talking about a while back.  September 29th.  Should be about 500 runners.

Not a pancake flat course by any means, but no massive hills like the one that I will run in November if I do that one.  I'll be tapered really well because I'm not sure I'll run much at all the week before because I'll be in Wyoming on my elk hunt.

I'm way behind!

Edith-  Congrats on a great race and the new PR!!!  You definitely have a sub-1:50 in you if you were to ever:  1) pick a course that's not ridiculously hard and 2)  Once you pick the flat-ish HM not to run it a week after a ridiculously hard HM.  Although you'll probably recover quickly since you're used to hills.  You might just be able to pull it off.....whoopie pie always helps recovery (although I have no idea what a whoopie pie is).   Sounds like it was a really fun race.

Lurch-  You seem to like picking difficult races, too.  Heat and humidity are not my friends, either.  Great RR!  You've already moved up a corral which seems to be a huge benefit.   Surf City will be a sub-2.  Are you following any particular marathon training plan?

Wolfie-  You're one crazy guy.  Midnight, 3am?!?!  I admire your determination especially since I know I would blow off running all together if I had to run at those times.

blue-  Maybe you have no business running sub-6:00 pace but isn't it nice to know that you can?  I could probably do it running downhill with the wind at my back.  Hope the knee thing is resolved.

Nathan-  Nice streak you got going!  I did run a 10k yesterday.  I'll write a min-RR at the end but it went well.  You made me think about the 800 pace in relation to the 10k pace and my last 800s were @7:28.  My pace for the 10k was 7:51.  So a :23 difference.  That's with terrible pacing and  a fantastic positive split so unless you have a really, really bad day I'd say you'll get your goal.

Jeff-  So are you saying you ran barefoot barefoot?  Or barefoot with those five finger type 'shoes'?  It hurts my brain to even think of running barefoot.  Plus, I just like shoes.

2ft-  Ok, next year is the marathon.  That'll give you plenty of training time.

stever-  How's the taper going?  Oh, just saw you posted.  I'll be hoping for good weather for you!

Yesterday I ran a local 10k.  It was the same 10k that was a full mile short last year (Grrrr) but this year it's USATF certified and they promised it was correct.  The cheerleaders managed to line up at the right spot this year so that was a major improvement.

The good:    I ran a 48:43 which is only :14 slower than my PR.  That was quite a surprise since I had to take 4 weeks off and re-build.  So I was very happy with that.  Also, my shin splints haven't hurt at all before, during or after runs.  It only hurts when I start poking and prodding.  So guess what?  I stopped poking and prodding.

The bad:  My pacing is as bad as ever!  At least I'm consistent.  I lectured myself all the way up to the start about not going out too fast.  Shortly after we started I checked my watch.  7:30.  That was a little too fast but it's a slight downhill so I was actually pleased with this.  I'm chugging along and check my watch again, probably at the half mile mark, and it said 7:06!!!!!  Whatthehell.  So I slow way down and finish the first mile at 7:38.  I hoped I hadn't just screwed up the whole race but I kinda knew I did.  Mile 2: 7:57, mile 3:  7:50, mile 4:  8:08,  mile 5:  8:30, mile 6:  8:10.

The ugly:  I'm an idiot.  I kept thinking about that Seinfeld episode where George insisted he was the biggest idiot.  I beg to differ.  Really, what's so hard about pacing?

I have a couple of months till my next 10k and I told DH that right before the start he needs to grab me by the shoulders, look me in the eyes and tell me, 'you're not nearly as fast as you think you are so slow down!'

Overall it was a good race and I'm happy I could get that time.  I had 12 scheduled for that day so after the race I slogged out another 5 (had a mile warmup) by running home.  That was difficult.

Wow! I'm even further behind that miele! Trying to catch up...

Nathan - Should we start calling you The Streaker?  Where in Wyoming will you be? I'm in Cheyenne, which is in the southeast corner.

miele - Congrats on your 10K. You're rebuilding weeks didn't hurt you one bit - in fact you came back super strong. I'm horrible at pacing too. The start of a race just feels so darn easy that it's hard to hold back. The only time I get it right is when I run with my son - he's the master of negative splits. I'm glad your shins are behaving!

lurch - Enjoy your last run in your "hood." Good luck with the Pfitz plan - it's pretty tough, but I'm sure you'll handle it just fine.

stever - How exciting - only 12 days out from your marathon! I'd say your 18k time is a good indication of things to come.

Edith - Congrats on the PR!! I've seen a picture of a whoopie pie, but haven't ever tried one. The pics look like it would be delicious.

Everyone Else - My work computer won't let me open the same site in two windows, do I can't see what you've been up to. When I get home I'll read back and see what I missed.

Me - Had a short flare up of hip bursitis along with some ITBS. I'm attributing it to the dumbass syndrome. Big increase in weekly miles, lots of hilly runs, and lots of biking miles on top of the running miles. My next half is on Oct. 13th in Long Beach, so I'm going to behave until then. I took a couple days off, and have had two painfree runs this week. Fingers crossed I caught it in time. Happy runs to everyone!

Nathan - Should we start calling you The Streaker?  Where in Wyoming will you be? I'm in Cheyenne, which is in the southeast corner.

My streak is at 33 days at an avg of 6.8 miles per day now.  I'll break this one around 40 days when I leave for my hunting trip.  I will be about as far from Cheyenne as you can get, in the very northwest corner of the state.  The closest town to where I hunt is actually in Idaho.

Miele - that pacing sounds painful.  It also sounds like my most recent 5 mile race!   My splits on it were 7:20, 7:19, 7:36, 8:04, 7:49.  I'm hoping to have similar splits on the first couple miles, just hoping that instead of the big positive splits after that I am able to hold on and then hammer it home.

Me - I keep flipping back and forth between being positive about my chances for sub 45 and thinking that there is no way I will be able to pull it off.  Race day forecast is still holding up with gun time showing 65 degree, 70% humidity and wind S at 7 mph.  I could use a little cooler temperatures, but it would probably come at the expense of a stiff north wind so I guess I should probably be happy with the forecast as it is.  I need to start thinking like the little engine that could and motor up that mountain!

Last workout tonight, just 4 X 400m intervals but at mile race pace which has been around a 6:00 pace the last time I ran them.  Not sure I can run a mile that fast, but I can run 4 X 400m intervals that fast anyway.  Just some easy miles the rest of the way in before race day on Saturday morning.

tara-hope you feel better soon, missing a race has to suck, but you need your rest first. You'll come back with a vengeance.

npaden-enjoy that streak. I don't think I have ever had more than 3 day streak. I'm such a slacker!

miele-Don't start too fast!! . It's tempting and easy to get sucked into that race-start vortex of energy and emotions.

wolfe-man, are you ever cranking out those HMs. I'm sure that sub 1:30 is not too far off.

jan-speedy recovery, only a month out of your HM. Me too, I stopped poking around after my shin splits went away.

lurch-slay it, I will. Good luck on your new place.

me-a little more than a week to go before the full. And like any crazy-minded runner, I signed up, along with DW, for a 5k this weekend. We both want to get  a PR so bad this year, as we both missed out on them so far in the last few races. She's trying to better her 25:58 5K and me, my 22:47 5K from last year. Fingers crossed, as I will go all out this weekend to attempt a PR. I need that for my mental preparation for the full.

Edith-  Good luck in your HM!!!!  Hope you've recovered well from last weekend.

Nathan-  Go get that PR!!!  It's yours for the taking!

stever-  Good luck to you and your DW in the 5k!!!  PR's for both of you.....

Tara-  So sorry to hear you've been ill.  I hope you're feeling better now.  There will be other races.

Lurch-  I've done the Pfitz 18/55 and quite liked it.  Hopefully you'll like it, too.  Enjoy the new 'hood!

Jan-  Geez, you really went a little crazy with all the exercise!  No wonder your bursitis and ITBS yelled at you.  That's OK.  You've got time before your HM to recover.  Really, why can't body parts cooperate and play nice?

Wolfie-  Officially signed up for the marathon, are you?  Excellent!  You're going to do so well.  Although a 24 mile training run is just nuts, IMHO.  But you seem to do just fine doing your own thing.  I hope you're getting cooler weather now.  It's been beautiful up here in the mornings with the fog cooling everything off.

me-  Just running the mileage this week.  No speed.  It just seems to take forever to recover from a race.  If I feel up to it then I'll try the tempo tomorrow but we'll see.   Been slacking off the gym the past couple of weeks.  Tore out the seats from the truck and got a bench seat which needed reupholstering.  Then, while the seats are out, you gotta tear out the old carpet, right?  Then you've got to put in sound deadener, right?  Since we have no idea what we're doing it's taking a little longer than expected.  But I'm getting my runs in first thing so I have the rest of the day to deal with the truck.  Have a good weekend, everybody!

Well, it seems like you guys had more faith in me than I did, but I was able to pull it off!  44:51!!!!  

It was about as humid as it can get and I was a bit worried about that, 94% humidity isn't something that I normally run in.  But it was 65 degrees and overcast and a light cross breeze for 95% of the race so I think that more than made up for the humidity.

Started out a tiny bit too fast right at the gun, my runkeeper app gave me a 1 minute split pace of 6:50 something so I tried to slow it down a little bit and get into a groove.  I guess I did!  I'm amazed at how consistent my splits are.  The first 3 or 4 miles I kept waiting for it to get harder, but I was just rocking along and my HRM kept telling me that I could keep this up.  I didn't start crossing what I think my lactate threshold HR is until mile after the halfway mark and I knew I could keep that up as long as it didn't spike.  Skipped the first aid station and then next one wasn't until the 3 mile mark.  Just took a sip of water to moisten my mouth and poured another cup on my head.  Still feeling good through mile 4 and 5, really getting confident, but not wanting to push it and blow up and miss my goal.

Another sip of water at mile 5.2 and another cup of water on my head and just kept rocking it on in.  There was a guy ahead of me that was keeping a good constant pace and I just tried to stay about the same distance out from him.  My split on mile 6 shows to be my slowest, I actually thought I was picking it up a little bit on that mile and my runkeeper app was telling me the same thing, but somehow when the GPS track got logged it shows a slowdown right before the 6 mile mark, I guess maybe I did slow down some there unintentionally.  Started having to work at it and my breathing was getting labored, but my HRM was still telling me I was in good shape and when I turned the corner with about 300 yards to go.  I was a little worried that my phone GPS could be off a bit, but I had been matching up with the mile markers pretty well so I wasn't really concerned.

Started to pick it up and bring it in, still had some left in the tank for sure.  Saw the clock and it was a little closer than I had intended, I guess my GPS was off a little bit so I really had to hammer it on in the last 100 yards or so but came in under the clock as it ticked to 44:5X.  I was very happy.  Had to push it that last bit and was for sure feeling it from that, but I was really surprised at how well everything had gone otherwise.

Here's my splits, pretty consistent!

Splits (GPS Interval)
	Type	Distance	Duration	Total Duration	Pace	Avg HR	Max HR	Notes
1	Manual	1 mi	7:13.81	7:13.81	7:14	165	174
2	Manual	1 mi	7:14.94	14:28.75	7:15	172	176
3	Manual	1 mi	7:13.26	21:42.01	7:14	174	179
4	Manual	1 mi	7:13.2	28:55.21	7:14	177	183
5	Manual	1 mi	7:14.51	36:09.72	7:15	179	188
6	Manual	1 mi	7:17.62	43:27.34	7:18	181	186
7	Manual	0.24 mi	1:32.66	45:00	6:27	186	192

I was pretty confident at about 4 miles in because my HR was lagging about 1 mile from last couple 10K races.  My overall avg HR actually ended up lower by a couple beats than my last 10K.

Finished 1st in my Clydesdale division and 16th overall out of about 100 runners.  Pretty happy to meet my goal.  I really didn't know whether I was going to be able to do it or not when the gun went off to start the race.

Thanks for all the support!

Nathan

Nathan, congratulations!  I'm so happy that you were able to accomplish your goal! Now you need a new one for the rest of the year.

And you're right, those are some seriously consistent splits!