Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2018 (Read 704 times)

Keen - Yeah I thought it was quite innocuous but lesson learned.

Go out and smash it 10km runners!

My legs are still telling me they need some respite so I think the sensible thing is an easy week or 2 and look at a different race rather than push to do the one in 3 weeks.  There's either the half marathon at the Selwyn Running Festival which doubles as the Canterbury Half marathon championship this year, or the Canterbury Half-Marathon at Pegasus.  Selwyn is November 4 and Pegasus is December 9 so I'm leaning towards Selwyn.  Either way it's my last chance to live up to the title of this thread.  Selwyn looks pretty small with sub 90 meaning a top 20 finish last year, although with the Half Marathon Championship I expect a few more this time.  The winner was Samuel Wreford in 1:07 (the guy who won the South Island half).  He must tour the south island racking up wins!

Keen: Congrats on the PR!!! I remember you have a high max hr of close to 200 and a relatively low min hr - looking at your hr data it looks like you could have pushed it a bit more - what do you think?

Keen congrats on the shiny new sub 19 5k pb.

Mark excellent new 10k PB and great team placement.

54kms for me this week. Did a fastish last 5k today in the 2nd half of my 10k run. Ran about 19.25 for that bit but felt pretty tough after 7 weeks of low easy mileage.

Keen - well done on the PB!!

Also, both of us have to do RR's under JMac's "if it's a PB, you have to do a RR" rule.

Hi everybody!

first well done Keen and Mark on your amazing PB. I will wait to see the report and, I will try to improve my training following your example

My 10 Km went well today, especially considering that I got a stomach bug yesterday night and spent 3 hours tonight between bad and toilet... but this morning I felt a bit better and I decided to run. I think it impacted a bit on the final Km, but not too much

Unfortunately I stopped my watch at 6Km mark (passed in 23:30) and realised it at 7Km mark (the last 3 I ran ~12:30 ... the watch actually says 12'29''99). so I know I am damn close to 40' but I won't know my chip time until they are published. I will keep you posted, but I am definitely happy with the intervals and with how I dealt with the distance, until 2Km to go. Then both things happened: I was very tired and my brain did not keep me in pain cave (I think I could have pushed and suffered more with my young brain). I need to get some training for that! I think racing will be key, and also run speed work with people faster than me.

before the race: I heard voices that a special guest was running this 10K: the marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe. So I thought to myself: that's exciting

I got there about an hour early, met with a few people from my running club (11 were running from that club) and started my warm up. everything went well, I felt a bit tired from the summer HM training and I noticed some pain behind my right leg (I pulled and broke it when I was 14 and it is giving me a bit of a problem lately). Anyway, I found a guy in my team who wanted to run a sub 40, so I started with him (at the end of the sub 40' group.

The start was for about 600 mt. down hill (the end was in the same place so it was up hill. we passed the frist Km in 3'48, second in 3'53'', third in 3'54''. I knew it was a bit faster than I wanted, but I didn't want to let this group go, cause I knew they would eventually settle at 4' pace as they were slowing down a bit. we passed 4km in 3'59'' and at 5 km we were on a 4' pace. On a side I realised that this was my personal best on the 5 Km (19'35 - my best 5km was 19'43''...). At this point the other guy from my team gave up and slowed down a bit. I was in pain already but wanted to stay at this pace. I started to watch the feet of the person in front of me and kept focussed. I also realized in this moment that I was really thirsty. there was a water stop and i managed to get some water in. it was hot for the race (probably above 20 degree.

At 6km we passed in 20'30''' (3'55''). I stopped the watch. I hope I kept the pace as I stayed with the same group (the effort was a bit above where I wanted to be). I restarted the watch at 7Km, but I was really in pain cave. I tried to keep up with the same group. The pace between 8 and 9 was again 4', then I started feeling contracted. I ran passed at 9 km with a 4'10 (the final bit was up hill, and I finished with a 4'20 (with about 600 mt up hill).

So overall I think i managed to get the job done.. I kept the time I wanted for most of the time. It looks good for the half marathon on the 23rd (I hope to hit the sub 90' there) and I know I have some space for improvement on this PB on the 10K. I am happy I am back running 4' pace on a 10 km. I know it's not the faster, but it's a good Sunday!

I will let you know the time and position once I have it.

all the best

Marco

Mark: I love that finish photo. You are in a singlet and the lady next to you in complete winter gear including gloves and a hat

Marco: congrats signore. Don't worry about the time. As you said with some mental pain cave training and physical training you will break the 40 min easily. You never mentioned whether Paula really raced or were you the only celebrity there?

Flavio: omg brother thank you for the banana pancake recipe. I have to get some tapioca powder somewhere. Really cool that new job of yours dont worry too much about old dog & new tricks. Just outwork it and you will be fine But you know whats really funny: I am switching horses at the end of September too!!! Last minute thing and I will start there on 9/24. And me too I am a bit concerned as I will be focusing on a new product line that I don't have as much experience with. But I totally look forward to it.

My week was 71k with a 20k long run this morning to beat Piwi otherwise all good - I think I need two more of these cycles to break the 90 minute barrier so it will be next year!

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Marco: congrats signore. Don't worry about the time. As you said with some mental pain cave training and physical training you will break the 40 min easily. You never mentioned whether Paula really raced or were you the only celebrity there?

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Paula ran it ( I would not say she raced it):in ~ 42:30 than took a few pics

It was a nice day for the 10k overall

Race Report: NZ Road Race Championships, Cambridge, 2 Sept 2018

There were two goals for this race - firstly, to beat my 10km PB (having missed it by 1 second 2 weeks ago!), and secondly, a slightly harder goal to be in the top 4 Auckland runners (top 4 placings count towards the team's results).  Last year on Fathers Day I had a frustrating race at the North Shore Half Marathon so I'm hoping this year things go a bit better!

Arriving at the course, the weather is actually pretty nice, despite a forecast of rain and wind.  I'm hoping it holds out.  We stayed in Cambridge with family and it was definitely a better option than a 2 hour drive on the morning of the race.  I check in with the Auckland team, get my race number, and then walk the course.  It looks like it'll be quick over the first half of each 2km lap, but the hill at the back is a bit steeper than I'd appreciated.  It is on roads around St Peter's School, so the surfaces are a little bit variable in places, but I'm glad I've scouted it.

At this point most of the rest of the team starts arriving, including a few guys (Simon and Tim) who I know from other races.  We mess around and kill an hour before warming up.  I always like warming up by myself just to clear my head so I cruise off for a short 1.5km jog.  The rain has started and its pretty heavy.  So basically I try and stay under cover until the last minute before we assemble at the start.  The teams have marked start areas, so I line up in the 3rd row behind Nick Moore and Nick Pannett (who should be our two fastest runners), and Simon Mace and Sasha Daniels (Simon should be quick but Sasha is a bit of an unknown after coming back from a break).

They start the race with a gun (I do love how these elite events always start with a gun rather than a hooter).  I thought it might be a bit of a free for all but its actually a lot more co-ordinated than bigger events, I guess because everyone knows what they're doing.  My plan is to stick with Simon, knowing he was 20 seconds ahead of me at the Auckland Champs.  After the first 500m which has a bit of downhill, there is a clear lead group (unsurprisingly with 4 Wellington runners), Nicks M & P and 1 or two others.  Coming up the back straight its clear there's a second group forming as well and Simon kicks a bit to get in this group - I follow him.

Turning and going up the hill for the first time, I notice my HRM seems to have gotten confused (140bpm, lol).  The hill is a bit of work but not too bad.  I notice that Simon has surprisingly dropped off, along with many others and already the second group is breaking up - there is me, my Auckland team-mate Adam Gallagher (who I pipped by 2 seconds at Auckland Champs), a Waikato guy and a Hawkes Bay guy.  I figure this is good, Adam definitely had gas in the tank at the end of Auckland Champs too so we should be able to push each other along and work together.

The first 2km lap was 3:16, 3:30.  Not surprising given the hill goes straight into a couple of quite sharp, technical turns, and I figure that pattern will probably repeat itself.  The rain is starting to pick up again at this point and get really heavy but thankfully there's no wind.  As we hit the back straight, Waikato runner has dropped off the pace a bit so now it's just us 3 behind the lead group, which is probably 10 seconds ahead.

I am the one pushing the pace along the back straight and up the hill this time.  With the rain picking up, it's necessary to take a bit of extra care on the sharp turns at the top of the hill - especially where someone has cut the corner and gotten some mud on the path.  As we descend towards the start line for lap 3, Adam pushes ahead, which I take as a signal that he's going to do the work this lap.  Lap 2 was a little slower at 3:25, 3:34.  I'm a bit nervous that the PB goal is in jeopardy but then realise that the 4km marker was some way back up the hill so my watch is measuring short.  This was probably a good thing as it focused me on running to effort, not single mindedly focusing on pace and a PB goal!

Adam leads us up the back straight this time, the hill climb definitely felt tougher on the third lap and I can see that this climb on laps 4 and 5 is going to be the most physically tough part of the race.  It's a bit of a nasty hill, because it has a sharp bit, then flattens out, then another gradual climb once you think you've made it.  Back down to the start line, and my watch is definitely measuring around 150m or so short.  Lap 3 was marginally slower again - 3:27, 3:36, although I'm not reading much into the splits in case the watch is still measuring short.

On Lap 4 I kinda hoped the Hawkes Bay guy would step up and do some work but he's quite happy to hang off me, I was feeling pretty strong at this point and although we're soaked, the temperature is actually perfect for running.  Adam is still there too although the lead group has definitely split up quite a lot now.  The hill was hard work and I know that it's really going to suck on the last lap.  The second half of this lap was when I really started to feel the burn and I'm going to have to really push on the last lap.  But that's not a bad place to be, because I didn't push hard enough 2 weeks ago.  Coming past the start line, I get a bit of extra encouragement from my wife, sister-in-law and soon-to-be brother in law and I'm grateful for the support!  Lap 4 was 3:26. 3:38.

Here comes the slog.  It's still the 3 of us and Adam steps up on the back straight.  Km 9 is 3:29, and while I don't know exactly how far to the finish, I figure I should comfortably be in to PB territory if I can hang in there.  And the hill is going to be the big challenge.  Up we go, with Adam leading the way, and I'm definitely starting to battle now, the breathing is very heavy and the legs are definitely a little tired.  With around 700m to go, it was probably a good place to be.  Adam kicks clear once we're free of the turns and then Hawkes Bay guy also makes a move.  I'm pushing as hard as I can and certainly holding pace but don't have enough to match the two of them.  We turn right onto the home straight and I figure I'm going to be not far over 34 minutes so I am just smashing it as hard as my legs can handle.  On to the finish mat and BOOM, watch time 34:07, a massive PB - my watch was around 200m short! Final km was at 3:23/km pace so there was definitely a bit of a finish acceleration.

I congratulate Adam and Hawkes Bay guy.  Adam ran a good race and I was lucky to have him to work with.  I'm 4th Auckland runner home so 2nd goal also accomplished!  Catch up with a few of the other Auckland guys, Nick and Nick also ran very good races and we are comfortably second in the M35-49 teams.

We have to wait around a while for prizegiving but it's pretty sweet getting the medal.  I love collecting race medal bling as much as the next guy but this is the first one I've got that wasn't just the usual medal for finishing the race!

Official time was 34:08, so a massive 36 second PB in conditions that were less than optimal, and on a course that was by no means flat. It's definitely rewarding to have pulled out a really good race on a big occasion like this.  I was also 4th M35-39 and 10th overall in the masters grade so that is cool as well.  Although maybe not as cool as the fact there were guys in the M80+ category!  How awesome is that?  Maybe it will be me some day haha.