Forums >Racing>Sub 2:00 Half Marathon thread
Jan - I've got a rest day on my schedule the week before my marathon on May 1st. I doubt the streak will make it that far though. Who knows, if it does it will be tough not to go out and knock out an easy mile or two just to keep it going. I figure the day after the marathon it is for sure done though. If I make it until May it will end up over 100 days which seems pretty cool to me. I'm averaging 7.4 miles a day right now.
Have fun in Colorado. The long term forecast is showing we might have a couple days hit 90 this weekend, I'm thinking I need to change up my schedule and get my long run in the morning instead of waiting until the afternoon!
Age: 50 Weight: 224 Height: 6'3" (Goal weight 195)
Current PR's: Mara 3:14:36* (2017); HM 1:36:13 (2017); 10K 43:59 (2014); 5K 21:12 (2016)
Godzilla
kenyan- My hesitation comes from just being tired of running so much and being burned out. My last marathon was my best training cycle ever but the weather didn't cooperate on the day and I swore, swore, swore I would never run another marathon. An unexpectedly decent HM kind of ignites the motivation again, though. I'm still thinking about it.... Don't feel too bad about that run. Sounds like a tough one. I'd just make a point of slowing down (especially when going up) unless you're doing some kind of hill workout. I think you did rather well considering the big-ass hills.
Zelanie- I'm in the bay area of CA but it's become a tradition to go up to Eugene for the race and to visit some friends. Yes, I ran CIM last year. It wasn't just rain it was epic rain accompanied by epic wind. It was ridiculous. And oddly enjoyable. Not that I want to run in those conditions again.
Nathan- You're doing so well!!! What a streak, too! Are you following the canned Hanson plan or did you purchase one or are you just adding miles to the canned plan? Should I sign up for another marathon I would give the Hanson plan a try so I'm interested in knowing how you feel about it. Are you going to run any tune-up races?
Jan- Have a great trip to Colorado! I know you'll enjoy the weather. I can't seem to post a pic so I might change my avatar for a little while.
me- 10 easy today then I went to the gym and did a leg workout. I'm going to be sore. This was my first leg workout in a long time and I'm going to be very diligent and work the legs twice a week from now on. This week will only be the one time just to give the muscles a little forewarning. I'm also laying off the speed work for most of the week just to recover fully from the HM. Ok, I'm going to change the avatar.....
10K: 47:12* / 13.1: 1:50:56 / 26.2: 3:53:48
Nice old pickup meile. Are you restoring it yourself or just telling someone else what to do?
I'm following the Hansons Advanced Plan from their book. I've just added 3 miles on Wednesdays which are the scheduled rest day. They do say that if you want to add some miles adding easy miles on the rest day is an option. I'm also cheating by putting in 2 - 18 mile runs when the plan calls for 16 milers as the longest. I just think the 18 milers will be important to me from a mental standpoint for my first marathon. I'm really liking the plan so far, I enjoy the "something of substance" "SOS" workouts which add variety to the plan and are workouts, but not so bad that they kick your butt.
They also really don't encourage tune up races, but I am cheating on that a little too. I signed up for a local half marathon 4 weeks before the full marathon on April 6th. If I believe the pace calculators I should be able to go sub 1:50 fairly easily, but we'll have to see on race day.
npaden- That was a fantastic interval run! I think the hills on just the first interval would have done me in!
Jan- I have a 10 mile "tune up" race this Saturday, then my HM is 4/14. I hope that you enjoy Colorado, and good luck to your son!
miele- Some runners from our local running club went down for CIM last year and they brought back some serious horror stories! I hope you enjoy Eugene. It would definitely be on my list if it wasn't a week after my race!
Pretty sweet interval workout tonight. 1.5 mile warmup - 3xmile w/ 3min recovery in 7:44-7:30-7:20 (7:31 average, goal 7:40) - mile cooldown.
First mile was right on target, last 2 got away from me a little bit, but still felt pretty good. I wouldn't say I really felt balls-to-the-wall until maybe the last quarter of #3. But I beat my time objective and got faster on each one, so I felt pretty pumped. Got a 5k coming up in 9 days and I'm excited to see where I'm at....hoping for 23:30-24:00. Getting in some more 'fast running' was definitely a confidence boost for that. Obviously more of my workouts have been geared toward longer distance, but a solid endurance base can still do wonders for a 5k.
Zelanie - Congrats on your first 50 mile week and good luck this weekend!
miele - Yay for a new PR! Love when that happens with no expectations. I'm also curious what your new obsession is! I am running RnR Nashville.
Nathan - Awesome running streak and interval workout.
kenyan - Those are some fast intervals! I need to do some interval workouts one of these days, but it's hard because it's so hilly here. I'd have to do them on a track, which means finding a track...
Me - had a great 10 miler today. Decided to do it faster than normal LR pace to see what I could do and try to give myself a better idea of where I am in regards to a 2:00 goal. Average pace was 9:22 with splits of 9:16, 9:37, 9:36, 9:52 (worst of the hills), 9:34, 9:18, 9:10, 9:25, 9:15, 8:34. Felt really good, I could have sustained this pace for another 3 for sure, especially being that the rest of the course is mostly flat/downhill until a short bridge in the last mile. Hoping that if I keep my pace controlled at the start, the weather cooperates, and I'm feeling well rested and fueled, I might actually have a 2:00 race in me!!
Nathan- I think I would get the book also if I decide on another marathon. I'm sure there's a lot of interesting info in it that you don't find on the website. I don't remember exactly but it seems the 16 mile long run is a specific percentage of the overall weekly mileage so if you're adding on extra miles during the week I don't think it's breaking the rules too much to run a couple of 18 milers. And I agree that it's a mental boost to get runs up to at least 18. While I was sporadically reading the posts during my absence I noticed your paces getting quite a bit faster. No doubt you'll go sub-1:50. And I'm excited about your marathon. I know you'll do well. I see you're about to hit your weight goal, too!! A big pat on the back!
Oh, and about the truck. It's already had a frame-off resto done about 20-25 years ago but it still looks great since it's been garaged. And, since I know nothing about mechanics, I'll leave it to the experts. I wish I did know how to work on cars, though.
Zelanie- Good luck tomorrow! Have fun! This should give a good idea as to your potential for the HM coming up. And should you decide to run Eugene next year let me know. I'm there every year and it would be fun to meet up.
kenyan- Smoking intervals! See, all you needed was a great run to get your spirits back up. What are your PR's? I think you'll achieve your goal in the upcoming 5k.
gosling- Nice run! When's your race? My new obsession is the truck in the avatar. It's sah-weeet!
2ft- How's the achilles? Hope you're healing....
me- Well, that leg workout Wed. really made for a slow slog yesterday. I managed 5.25 and called it a day. I'm taking today off and tomorrow I've got 13 w/5@ GHMP. It's a tough one. I'm going to try and hold 8:20. In the previous pace runs I've gone too fast (more like 8:14) and felt like it was a bit too tough so I want to try and slow it down just a bit and see what happens.
Thanks dude! My high school/college PRs are actually 18:09 for 5k, 29:31 for 8k, and 3:28 for the marathon, but I'm not really counting those at this point. Post 7 year layoff, my "PRs" are 24:57 for 5k (set last november and then tied last week during a solo tempo run without too much strain) and 53:15 for 10k set at the beginning of January. January and the first part of february were somewhat inconsistent for me, but I'm amazed at the gains I'm still seeing just off of a couple solid weeks.
miele, race is April 27.
I also wanted to thank you guys for reminding me that this race should be fun and not all about time. Normally the first time I race a distance I don't go into it with a super specific time goal; I think the only reason I am getting hung up on it with this one is that I am so close to such a big milestone (2:00). If I was thinking I'd be closer to 2:10 I probably wouldn't care. Anyway, good reminder just to go out there and have an awesome experience.
The Kenyan, Gosling, and Zelanie....
I think all 3 of you guys are well on pace to smash 2:00. The only thing that will keep you from beating that by 10 minutes or more is if you start out conservatively (which is always a good idea). Your times are improving dramatically and with a taper and race day magic added in you should smoke 2:00.
Zelanie - Good luck on your 10 miler this weekend. You shooting for a conservative 1:30 or are you going to try to go out a little faster?
I am thinking of starting my 10 miler at an 8:45 pace to get a sense of what it feels like to sustain that. If I can hold it the whole time, I want to know.
It seems it's been a while since I checked in here.
miele, welcome back and big congrats on the PR! Also, welcome to the few newcomers that we've had.
I've had a bumpy last couple of weeks. Ran with a friend after work last Tuesday and was too pooped to get my usual run in the next morning (in hindsight, I should have just swapped Monday and Wednesday). Then this week I felt queasy Wednesday night and on into the next morning which threw a wrench in my tempo run--pace was too slow and I ended up cutting the cool down in half. Then I stupidly stayed out late last night with friends and didn't make myself get up and run anyway. I'm meeting up with some guys from work to get in a longish-run of 8 tomorrow so hopefully that will snap me out of this minor funk.
Hah, thanks npaden - I don't know about 10 minutes, but you're theoretically right based on some of my workouts over shorter distances. I'm always worried about the dropoff as races get longer though, especially with not as solid of an endurance base as I would like. So I'm just trying to milk as much as I can out of the next 2 months + 2 days before the half....starting with 12 miles tomorrow! As far as half-marathon time, I'd be ecstatic with 1:55 if everything goes great between now and then.
zelanie - I hope you SOULCRUSH it!
If the weather cooperates I think you've got that for the entire 10 miles with some left at the end to pick it up the last mile or two.
Thank you! I really hope so! I will have to remind myself of your post a mile or two in if I start getting nervous.