Forums >Racing>Sub 2:00 Half Marathon thread
Super B****
npaden -- Congrats!! Holding the course record IS pretty cool.
My, my, I'm so efficient... I churned out a RR, to be found here. (I usually try to write them ASAP after the race so I don't forget everything and have to make it all up. Not that anyone would know if I did. )
chasing the impossible
because i never shut up ... i blog
Npaden and Bluerun - Wow! A course record, a more than 2-minute PR. Congratulations to both of you!
And honestly, I am impressed that people go out and race on Thanksgiving. In the past, Thanksgiving for me has been dedicated solely to lying around and eating heaping portions of food -- so the idea of Turkey Trots and running and being grateful for running ON Thanksgiving is a delightful reframing of how I've always conceived of the holiday.
Me? I didn't sign up for a race, but I did make my way to the my local high school track in the morning for a hard and WINDY and COLD speed workout. I think I enjoyed my family meal that much more as a result. And even though there were some physically very uncomfortable moments during the workout, I tried to focus on being thankful for my health and my body and my shoes and the track and the opportunity to run. A good day!
Current PRs: Half-marathon: 2:04:46 (Nov. 2013) /10k: 55:01 (Oct. 2013)/ 5K: 25:40 (Dec. 2013)
Upcoming races: 5k Jan. 25, 2013
Half marathon Feb. 23, 2014
You Rang?
Yesterday morning, as a part of my marathon training plan, I took off on a 12 mile mid-week long run on the bike path of Huntington Beach. When I got t the beach, I encountered the local Turkey Trot 5k/10k on the bike path. The race was rather informal. They did not pull a permit to close the sidewalks or bike path, and there were only a couple hundred people wearing bib numbers.
My marathon plan calls for a half marathon "tune up" race this Saturday. I'm not signed up for a race. I intended to run Saturday's run as a hard tempo run. There was something about being surrounded by fellow runners wearing bibs caused me to move the 'race sim' run up to Thursday and take my running pace up to race pace. Even though I was not wearing a bib, and I did not use the Trot's water stops or port-a-potties (as that would be bandit-like behavior), I threw down a 12 mile run in 1:55.
I think I might be the only regular poster in this forum that has not run a sub 2:00 half. Zelanie has told me on multiple occasions that she thinks I've got a sub two hour half in me and that we would see it real soon. And after yesterday's run, she may be right,
Rick
PR: 5k 25:01 (10/15) 10k: 57:44 (7/14) HM: 1:57 (5/15) FM: 4:55 (1/15)
Hi Lurch,
I'm new but I hope to be a regular here (am kind of addicted to this site) and I have NOT run a sub 2:00 HM yet. I think we are both pretty close and will be able to do it!!!! (Also fellow attorney here - -- though immigration law is way too scary for me.) Congrats on the fabulous T-day 12-miler.
Godzilla
Edith- Sorry your 10k didn't work out. I also had to laugh at your RR. Bagels were definitely the right choice. Have you run races with your nieces before? Just think, this Sunday you'll be really ready to run a great 15k. Are you feeling back to normal after the marathon? I also wanted to ask you about the status of your 50k. Are you in? Is your brother running it, too?
blue- You cracked me up , too. Almost a 2 minute PR and you're annoyed at not having run 4 seconds faster! Those conditions look brutal...again. Is this how all of your races are going to be till the Spring? Congrats on a great PR! Especially in those conditions.
Nathan- You nailed it! Congrats! How precise can you get? And a course record?!? Fantastic. Way to teach the youngins' how it's done.
Pandora- Nice speed workout! It does feel good to get in a workout before the Grand Pig Out.
stever- So you actually like training in that mess? That's hardcore! Well done and bundle up!
Simon- Now that I think about it, I've never trained for a 10k. I think the speed work in HM training is probably good for a 10k, too, with intervals from 400-1600s. I did come across what seem to be good 10k workouts on McMillan's site. Let me see if I can add a link... http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/articlePages/article/39 I'm thinking of trying that out next year.
Lurch- Glad you're feeling better! And, yeah, I think you just took on way too much that weekend. No problems, though, since you got the benefit of learning that 11, 5, 12, followed by a 20 miler isn't sane. Listen to Zelanie. You've got a sub-2. Nice that you could jump in a race and use it for a race-sim workout. I'm sure you weren't the only runner who joined the masses. It wasn't closed off and you didn't use any support so I don't see anything wrong with a person running on public paths in those circumstances. And you had a great workout!
me- Yesterday was my last hard workout of the training cycle. 12 w/10 @ GMP. Of course I ended up running way too fast so I think it was closer to a true tempo pace than a Hansons' tempo pace. GMP is 8:52 and I ran it @ 8:33 (close to HMP). I think there's a shorter tempo next Thursday but I'm not going to push myself that close to the race. I might run a couple of miles @GMP but not more.
Oh, and speaking of shoes, I scored a great deal on some Kinvara 3s the other day. $27! And I got some Mizuno Wave Riders (last season) for $60. I've always wanted to try those. And I got them in decent colors, too. So if you're near a Sports Basement go check out their clearance shoes. These were marked down and I had an extra 20% off coupon which you could probably get on their Facebook page.
I'm about to go out for an easy 7 in my Mizunos after which I will not be venturing out for Black Friday. I boycott the event.
10K: 47:12* / 13.1: 1:50:56 / 26.2: 3:53:48
Congrats Nathan on the course record !! Sounded like a good run and good effort !!
Grats Bluerun on the PR ! and a huge one. I totally know what you mean about the scaling of times and run distances cascading in a certain order. The OCDness about it or whatever lol. Great run !
Me :
Turkey Trot 5k - Upland, Ca 11-28-13
Sign ins were at 6:30am at the park where the event was centered. Got my bib and a swagbag with some goodies in there. Clif bars, yellow bracelet thing, some ads and some fruit strips. Tshirts were cool and they had plenty of XL for my tallness. They had some tables with lots of food on there, bananas, oranges, muffins, oat bars, grapes, water bottles etc.. I was impressed. I did a 1 mile warm up run with heavy clothes on to get a quick sweat going on. Took some fast strides and then hung out in the car and stayed warm. Temps were in the low 50's. There was some wind blowing, not too bad I guess. Little kids race started at 7:30am. they ran a 1k around the park and it was pretty nice. Parents were running with the kids and there were some speedy little runners out there. They had someone in a turkey outfit leading them around the course. Gave medals to all the kids. I was cheering them on. Fun stuff.
Racetime Had to walk uphill to the starting line, maybe 400 yards or more. People were already complaining about being tired from this walk LOL. My mom and I were running this together so we lined up a few rows back from the front. There was lots of room at first but people kept coming. Ended up being around 450-500 people starting. There was some people with dogs, and strollers, lots of age groups, and some kids running. Many walkers too. Nice crowd though. I saw lots of marathon gear : Boston mara jackets, long beach mara shorts on, marine corps marathon blah blah. So I thought I was at least in some familiar company. I knew there would be some cross country members there from the school or local colleges because this course is a notoriously hilly run. ( I didn't know this when I first signed up ) We all got lined up around 8:05am which was almost right on the 8am start time. The announcer came out and told some thanksgiving jokes and got people laughing. Ready Set Go
Barely had time to click start on my watch, My watch time ended up being 7 seconds longer than my official time because of this. No biggy. It was a little chaotic in the beginning, it was fairly steep downhill for 1/2 mile. The people did not line up for paces obviously because there were plenty of walkers and slow slow people and kids in the front of me I had to literally dodge around the first few minutes. Some people dropped things and went back for them. It was a little crazy but I think mainly because it was a downhill start and people went flying out of the gates. I hit the 1/2 mile area around 3 minutes
Saw a water station around the 1/2 mile mark. I brought my own water bottle and carried it so never stopped at the aid stations. Still thought it was cool to have one so close to the start. At this point there were maybe 50 people in front of me. I could see the leaders several hundred yards ahead of me, I did not make an attempt to speed up. My goal for this was 6:30 6:30 and do whatever possible the last mile. So I held strong and saw the 1 mile mark coming soon. I was passing several people at this point but still many people hanging on to a 6ish pace. I was surprised. I passed the 1mile at 6:20. I was happy
From the start to the 1/2 mark it was fairly steep downhill . The 1/2 to the 1mile mark was a slight downhill. The 1mile to the 1.5 mile mark was the start of the uphill. It was gradual though. I passed several people during this time. Many people took that first mile too fast and were falling off like flies. Pretty much no one passed me at this point that I remember. at the 1.5 mark it starts going back up a fairly steep incline like the first 1/2 mile. this was tougher than I expected. The majority of the race was on the edge of the road they had coned off but this part was a dirt run path. I took it fairly easy going uphill and was saving strength for the big hill at the end. I passed the 2 mile mark around 13 minutes. I didn't have an exact time. There was a small dash on a fairly easy uphill and then the road turns 90' to the right straight up this hill. I have NEVER even walked up a hill this steep lol!!! It was pretty intimidating
I started up the big hill which was probably around mile 2.25 or so. It was brutal and I was tired from the uphill leading up to the second mile. I took a 5second walk break at the beginning of the hill to make sure I saved a little something. At about 1/2 way through I took another walk break 5 seconds and a guy I was running fairly close to, passes me up. I didnt care because this hill was no joke and I didnt have much boost at this point. I saw the crest of the hill coming up about 300 yards and there was a water station there cheering people on for making it to the top. I started speeding up around 100 yards before the top so I could already be running quick again at the crest/ This worked and it was awesome to just be at the top of this hill. I wasnt too far behind the guy who passed me on the hill and my rest/walk thing seemed to work because I caught up with him quick and we were pretty much side by side passing each other for a little ways. miliage 2.9 maybe. I look down at watch and see 20 minutes something. I thought I would finish around 23 minutes after that nasty hill but all of a sudden I see people crowding at the corner and there was the finish WTF.. Some reason I expected to be running uphill more or something, ( should have pre-ran or drove the course ) anyways I tryed to give it a sprint and me and the guy next to me finished pretty close. He beat my by 3 seconds or something.
21.31 official time. 6.56 pace. 14th place overall / 450-500ish people 2nd place in my age division. I was really happy and honestly not too hurt or winded even, I was saving up for a burst and never really got to kick it in at the end. In my next 5k race I am really going to be watching around the 2.75 mile mark for when to be ready for a speed burst. It was a crazy 5k with the hills. I never expected that. Anyways I ran back to the bottom of the big hill afterwards and my mom was just rounding the corner there. I walked with her up the hill cheering her on. She had a little knee pain going on and I tried my best to cheer her up. She finished her 5k walk around 1 hour 5 mins. She was happy, I was happy to run the same race with her.
Overall 9/10 on the race scale. Great organization. Chip times on the bibs, plenty of aid stations and food / water. Music and flags and fun things for the kids. Great weather and nice people. I would give them 10/10 if they had told people that were not sub 25 minutes to go toward the rear. Some of the fast runners were almost tripping on people. That was my only complaint. Great run and still feeling good about it. I ran way faster in training but I didnt run up monster hills like that 5k I look forward to finding a flat 5k to see what I can do.
5k = 19.48 10/1/13
10k = 45.28 4/16/13
Half Marathon = 1:38.53 Summer Sizzle 7/13/14
Operation Jack Marathon 12/26/12 4:39.11
Solo O Marathon 06/02/13 3:52:10
Operation Jack Marathon 12/26/13 3:40.34
Thanks for the suggestion regarding McMillan and 10k training, Miele.
Nice race and report, Wolf. Definitely not a race for challenging your PB, but sounds like fun.
Weather a bit milder where I live, north of Toronto, but still snow on the ground. A really early start to winter this year.
PBs since age 60: 5k- 24:36, 10k - 47:17. Half Marathon- 1:42:41.
10 miles (unofficial) 1:16:44.
Wolfy- Nice race! Congrats on the great time and AG award! So nice your Mom took part in the race, as well. Good for her! Those hills sound horrible.
Simon- Hope your weather stays mild for a little while. At least long enough to melt the snow.
Edith- Good luck tomorrow!
hector- Good luck in your 5k tomorrow!
I read Wolf's race report last night and actually had a nightmare about the hill!!!!
LOL ! ! That hill was a beast for sure.
Edith: great race report. How did Philly go this year, I haven't been on here too much recently, and must have missed that
NPaden: you are really in great form. PR after PR...
BlueRun: PR also. Will you be at the Roosevelt Island Hor Chocolate 5K/10K in December?
Miele: On week to CIM. Do they have an App where you can follow selected runners? I must also confess to having used Black Friday to stock up on running gear for the year; in particular winter gear to get through the Marathon training in New Jersey in December, Jan and Feb.
SimonR: you're running through the winter North of Toronto, and I worry about New Jersey!?!
Lurch: keep on training as you are, and the taper will do th rest. We are all surprised by how fast we run races after a good taper.
Me: Westfield Turkey Trot (5m): my reasoning before the race was that my goal for 10K being 51:00, or 8:12 pace, according to McMillan Calculator, my 5M pace should be 4 seconds faster, so 8:08. That would have given me a time of 40:40 (easy to remember) and so that time or anything below would be positive. First mile was 7:50 - first mile is always a little on the fast side due to the adrenaline, so not too concerned, but said to myslef that I had to slow it down a little to avoid dreaded lactate and bonking miles 4 and 5. However, body was only moderately taking notice of mind's sound advice, following up with a 7:55 and a 7:53 in miles 2 and 3. Mile 4 body was even more rebellious with a 7:45, and for mile 5, mind threw in the towel and let body do what he wanted, resulting in a 7:19 and an overall time of 38:42, almost two minutes under goal. Safe to say, I was quite euphoric, having run a time I would not have been crazy enough to even dream about the night before. How did this "miracle" occur? 1. Good base, 2. more speed intervals in the last 4-6 weeks than I have ever done, 3. good taper and race-week preparation.
So I now have to try to maintain this form for two more weeks, to cover a 5K and 10K on 12/8 and 12/15 respectively. I will duplicate exactly what I have done this week, and hopefully I will be fine. If I do maintain this form, I will be under 24;00 and 50:00, which I had as medium / long term goals, but really didn't expect to see this year.
Personal bests (bold = this year): 5K - 23:27 / 5M - 38:42 / 10K - 49:31 (track) / 10M - 1:24:26 / HM - 1:51:17 / M - 3:58:58
Next races: NYC Marathon, Nov 2014
Pandora -- my family actually doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving as such, so I'm not working off any gluttony... just getting in a race when I have the day off work anyway. Works for me! But it does feel good to get in a good run before a family feast. (Personally, that would be for the stress-relieving factor, but hey, that's just me.)
Lurch -- I definitely think you can pull off a sub-2:00 half if you managed a 1:55 twelve-miler on your own! Race day adrenaline can speed you up quite a bit.
miele -- well, no, I hope NOT!! I'll take a nice calm day, temps in the upper 50s, for my next race, please. Or even better, a tailwind the whole way. And I don't shop between Thanksgiving and New Year's if I can help it -- rabid shoppers scare me. But $60 for Riders?! I WANT!! Love those shoes.
Wolf -- nice race!! I'd kill for that time, but then, I'd be delighted with anything sub-23:00 (yeah, just watch me complain when I do get there... it's my specialty).
Two-Foot -- if my body cooperates, yes! I'm registered for the 5K. I netted a big PR there last year (and again in July), so I wouldn't mind a repeat. I take it you're doing the 10K? Congrats on a great Turkey Trot!
me -- 10 slow and easy miles today, a bit faster than 9:30 pace; I didn't know I could run that slowly, but it's good for me. I have a chronic problem in which I run my easy runs too fast. I don't run by HR, but I wear a HRM because I'm a data geek -- and my average HR never went above 160, which is consistent with what I'd expect if I'm taking it easy. It might have helped that my hip flexor didn't get the message from the excruciating massage to which it was subjected last week -- it's still insanely tight. I sense some more torture in my future...
I haven't posted in this thread before. Just ran my first half marathon on Thanksgiving - the Atlanta Half Marathon. I would have been very happy with anything under 2 hours and 1:55 was my ultimate goal. I ended up finishing in 1:53. Considering the amount of hills I am amazed at my time. My next half is the Publix Half Marathon in late March (also in Atlanta) so hopefully I can improve my time by then.
-Tim
Tim – welcome and congratulations for running a sub 2:00 HM!\
Bluerun – nice 10 miler. What’s your max HR?
Two-Foot-Shuffle – great 5 mile race in 38:42! I am sure that it must feel amazing to be 2 minute faster than the goal time in a 5 mile race. Congratulations!
Miele – you had a great hard workout. Good luck with your race on coming Sunday. I am going to sports basement today. I guess I am late for 20% coupon
Me – I am sore from a good weekend. We went and cut the Xmas tree, played flag football, had a 10mile bike ride and ran a 5k race @ 7.46 min/mile. This morning I had hard time getting out of bed and am walking funny today.
Just trying to catch up after having been offline for a week or so....Congrats on the Course record NPaden. That's pretty cool!
Zelanie - Great race and congrats on the PR - love the pics!
All you turkey trotters are to be commended....I didn't venture out into the cold and wind - but the more deterring factor was our local turkey trot had no facilities at the start and I just found that unacceptable.
Good continued work on your marathon plan Lurch - you are going to be more than ready.
Blue - Great PR - your body doesn't seem to slow you down any!
Pandora - Food always feels so much better after a run - whether its a thanksgiving feast or a toasted bagel....
Miele - How are you feeling? Ready to rock this thing??
Wolf - Love the race report! Congrats !
Me - I'm getting ready for a half on Sunday - fingers crossed the weather holds. Not certain how prepared I feel - but it should be a nice way to begin a Sunday :-)
Ready, go.