Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2020
Thanks Jason. My heartrate max is about 170 and the young guy I passed hit 200 so the younger runners have that advantage theres no denying
Watson nice job on a hilly course. Thankfully the Parkrun always seem good distance wise. Not sure if they are Jmac approved though
Official time 18.25 and age grade 81.36 %
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 "
Official gun 1:36:37
14th out of 351
Aaron Pulford won in 1:15
PRs: 5km 18:43 (Dec 2015), 10km 39:59 (Sep 2020), half 1:26:16 (Sep 2016), full 3:09:28 (Jun 2015)
40+ PRs: 5km 19:31 (Oct 2020), 10km 39:59 (Sep 2020), half 1:29:39 (Jun 2018), full 3:13:55 (Sep 2022)
2023 PRs (hope to beat in 2024): 5km 20:34, 10km 41:37, half 1:32:32, full 3:21:05
2024 PRs: 5km 20:25
Excellent placement Chris. Look forward to a race report.
14th out of 360 - 9 finished after I had checked.
Watson I hope you dont have too much of a bumpy landing back into Wellington airport on this stormy day.
I had a pretty good week below. Last minute decision to run the 5k. I'm not fully stoked with a 4 sec improvement but I didn't do any 5k specific training and the course was slower than my last 5k. Also it's the fastest 5k I've run since 2014 and at my age any improvement is good.
I feel like I'm not far off holding 3.35/km for 5k so that is my goal.
Piwi - to be honest with no rest or prep I reckon you easily have big improvements on that 5k time especially given the slower course (Hagley would be as quick as it gets). Amazing what a rest day will do to freshen up the legs.
Watson - good job on the half, obviously a tough course if Pulford was only at 1:15, he would be sub-1:10 on a flat course comfortably. Interestingly the marathon times looked slower than last year too, Voss was around 5 minutes slower.
Me - OK now the taper begins. This was the end of a streak of 34 straight weeks at 50 miles / 80km or above. Crazy to think it's spanned two lockdowns (and perhaps more remarkably, two continents) but taper or not, it was definitely time for a down week!! Given the length of that streak, it's either going to make for next-level taper madness, or I'll frankly just be relieved to be taking it easier for a couple of weeks.
After feeling pretty flat last week the energy levels were starting to come back this week with 3 solid workouts. Yesterday's track session actually felt better the faster I went on the repeats, although this morning's long run in very windy conditions on tired legs was hard work. I've had a few niggles floating around in my right foot, but that's just fatigue I think and it was definitely much improved after massage and osteo treatment this week.
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"
Mark - superb cycle. 34 weeks is a long, long time.
Voss was fairly comfortably ahead at the 34km mark, so I suspect that may have played into times. It was also getting warm too, by 9:30am it was warmer than ideal. The full started 8am.
Mark enjoy taper. Your niggles will heal up and energy levels will top back up.
I have an old customer here in papamoa who ran Rotorua in the early 80s in 2.22 for only 3rd place. That was back in the days when 300 people were sub 3 in a 3000 person race.
Piwi - your 5k was really good. Not the fastest course, plus no taper makes a 4s improvement really good.
Intl. correspondent
James - 5x1200 at 3k pace sounds brutal.
Piwi - awesome result, of course you could run a sub 18. You’re actually very close to it shape wise. A few 5x1000 or maybe even 6x1000 at 3:35/km and a flat course and you should get it.
FYI, for what is worth, one past coach told me that the heart rate range means nothing, it’s like velocimeters in New Zealand go to 200 while only to 120 in America, but the speed is the same.
Watson - nice one out there, I took a look at the elevation and it was nasty. Hopefully it didn’t take too much out of you so you can nail that sub 90 in a few weeks.
Mark - let the taper madness begin!
me - A very tough week but doable. Next 2 weeks should be a bit easier as I taper down for the 10k race 11th of October.
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
Thanks for the encouraging comments.
Flavio nice week. I love the specificity of your training without logging endless miles at a similar pace. Good to know about heart rate. I assumed that if your heart rate max is lower you cant work at such a high effort. What's your goal for the 10k ? Sub 38 would be cool. My 10k is now at the end of November. This is the start of summer here too so may be warm.
One more takeaway from my 5k is my warmup or lack of. I did an easy 4kms but nothing else. I have in my mind to do strides and surges and some high knee kicks etc but it never seems to happen. How important do you think this is ? I know the longer the distance the less of a warmup is required.
Mmmm Bop
I had a pretty good week below. Last minute decision to run the 5k. I'm not fully stoked with a 4 sec improvement but I didn't do any 5k specific training and the course was slower than my last 5k. Also it's the fastest 5k I've run since 2014 and at my age any improvement is good. I feel like I'm not far off holding 3.35/km for 5k so that is my goal.
Sub 18 will be a matter of when and not if...especially when you’re on a tarmac road and have faster runners to chase. But winning a Parkrun at 50+yo...C’MON!
Watson - Congrats,14th out of 351 is very impressive. 👍
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
Thanks for the encouraging comments. Flavio nice week. I love the specificity of your training without logging endless miles at a similar pace. Good to know about heart rate. I assumed that if your heart rate max is lower you cant work at such a high effort. What's your goal for the 10k ? Sub 38 would be cool. My 10k is now at the end of November. This is the start of summer here too so may be warm. One more takeaway from my 5k is my warmup or lack of. I did an easy 4kms but nothing else. I have in my mind to do strides and surges and some high knee kicks etc but it never seems to happen. How important do you think this is ? I know the longer the distance the less of a warmup is required.
It'd be super cool to run sub 38. I'll have to see how I feel on race day.
Warm up is very individual. I don't do much warm up at all, maybe 5 min moving around slowly, saving energy, some front kicks, butt kicks.
That'll probably serve me well because this next race won't allow warm up once in the starting chute. They will have fixed positions marked on the ground (based on your BIB number) and you're supposed to go there and stay put for half an hour waiting for the start.
Also there's a no draft rule and you're supposed to stay 5m behind the runner in front of you. You can pass another runner but must do so running by giving them a berth of 1.5m.
I'm sure runners will be rule abiders and do exactly that I feel for the race directors, the Italian athletics federation is a joke.
Literally thousands of people walking around bumping into each other with no masks in sight downtown Bologna and they're shitting rules to runners who are the least at risk group. Race directors and runners unfortunately have no political power at all, cause if we're going to talk about risk of transmission then then thousands of pubs and bars that are open since May and have a much higher risk of transmission then an outdoor activity (running race) wouldn't be open at all.
And now the bozos are running a story of how Italy should be commended because it avoided the second wave unlike France and Spain. They're presenting a bunch of reasons for why that happens and they've all forgotten the one and probably only reason: All Italians already caught it
Mother of Cats
Also there's a no draft rule and you're supposed to stay 5m behind the runner in front of you and there's a no draft rule.
I just don't see how that works in a race. I can see a statement asking that people try to maintain distance as much as possible, but....it's a race. And if I'm just behind someone waiting for my chance to out kick them, well...I accept that risk.
Warm-ups. I need a BIG warm-up. What you guys are describing will not work for me for any distance short of a marathon.
For 10K and shorter, as well as for track workouts or tempos, I have settled on the following:
1) 15-20 minutes jogging.
2) 3 minutes at half-marathon effort, followed by 90 second jog,
3) 4x30 seconds at 5K effort with 30 second jog; 90 second jog after last
4) 4x10 seconds at mile effort with 20 second jog.
5) jog another few minutes until I hit 4 miles.
Then drills, plus a few strides, and I'm ready to go.
And yes, I've often tried to go with less than this for a workout (usually when I run out of time) and it never goes well.
For a half-marathon, I'll usually cut out the 4x10 seconds, and stop after the 30 seconds at 5K pace. For a marathon, I just jog half a mile, do about 400m at marathon effort, and line up.
+++
Piwi Kiwi - congrats on the great age grading, among other things! Was that picture the start/finish area?
Watson - good placing - given the descriptions of the course, that seems like a very good time.
Marky_mark - I think you are timing this exactly right.
Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.
And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.
My week (repeated from other thread)
63 miles, 1000 yards of swimming, and 3 hours of pool-running
M: 60 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.T: 12 miles, including a track workout of 4x1200m, 2x200m in 4:57, 4:49, 4:54, and 4:58, and then 43 and 44. Recoveries between 2:50 and 3:20 for the 1200s, full recovery for the 200s.Followed with leg strengthwork, 500 yards swimming, and streaming yoga.W: 12 miles (9:15), followed by drills, hill strides, and streaming yoga.Th: Upper body weights/core and 65 minutes pool-running.F: 12 miles, including a tempo workout on the roads of 4x1.5 miles at tempo effort with 30 second jogs (10:25, 10:21, 10:13), then full recovery before 2x200 with 80 second jogs (48, 48 - I suspect the 200s were marked long on the road). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards swimmingSa: 11 miles very easy (9:26) plus drills and 6 steep hill sprints, followed by streaming yoga.Su: 15 miles progressive, split as first 5 averaging 9:27, next 5 averaging 8:30, next 5 averaging 7:31, plus mile cooldown. Followed with streaming yoga, leg strengthwork, and 55 minutes pool-running.
Serendipitously, the PT I am working with did Tuesday's track workout, and we're about the same pace right now (she's a low-3 hour marathoner, but coming back from a long break). So she very generously kept an eye on me as we did the workout together, and pointed out after the last 1200 that I was leaning way far back when I ran - very different from my previous form. So I started tilting forward in what felt very exaggerated, but rapidly felt more normal, and things started feeling much smoother, so yay.
In other news, on Thursday I got my MRI results back (I had the lumbar area and the right ankle done). The lumbar back came back surprisingly good - no obvious issues there. But the ankle....the ankle looks HORRIBLE. To the point where the doctor thought they had mixed up images. The highlights are:
1) "severe posterior tibial tendonitis with longitudinal split tears involving the distal 9.0 cm, moderate grade at the level of the talus and calcaneus, with mild tendosynovitis"
2) "Chronic high grade anterior talofibular ligament sprain, with at least partial tear."
(and there's a lot more relatively minor stuff).
And just so we're clear, this is an ankle that burns some at times, but is not currently hurting when I run or walk (hasn't been the past two weeks, since we started taping it to give a bit of support). I do sets of 25 single calf raises with it, and sets of 10 single leg hops on it as one of my running drills. All of those are currently pain free, though the right ankle is slightly weaker than the left, and I struggle with one legged balance poses on that leg. According to my doctor, that report would normally be associated with someone who is not physically capable of running - I should be struggling to do a single calf raise. So something's off here.
Since nothing in the MRI appears to be acute, nothing hurts, and I've been seeing progress over the last two weeks, I'm just going to keep training for now (my PT agrees with this plan). The plan is to get into a fancy ultrasound place to double check the MRI results. And then I'll probably do a round of PRP on the ATF ligament (and maybe the post tib) to try to fix stuff up. Surgery is not a good option - my functionality is too good to justify risking surgery, and surgeries for this type of injury often don't turn out well.
My hunch is that the ATF is the real problem, and is contributing to the lack of stability in the ankle. As for the PTT, I should note that another ultrasound that I had done last fall when it was hurting some noted an "accessory" posterior tibial tendon. I think one doctor's 9 centimeter split tear is another doctor's accessory tendon - at some point one tendon split up the middle and healed up as two parallel tendons that are now doing their job decently so we should leave them alone. But I need to see what the second superfancy ultrasound says, and also see what the doctor says after the second superfancy ultrasound.