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

Thanks for dragging me out again JMac! I don't have the book in front of me now but in the 40-55 mile program there is a 14 miles at MP in the Q1 workout in week 13. Maybe he somehow made a typo in the plan for that week. Either way, I will do the half at m-pace and see how it goes. Last night I also started questioning whether I should race next weekend or not. With my sore hamstring or whatever it is I'm not sure how smart it is to go all out on a HM these days.

Rune - welcome back!!

Keen - I'd just go for it on the segment.  I got a notification the other day that I'd lost a CR from our trip to Noosa in Oct 2016.  I couldn't believe I actually held it for that long as that place is triathlete central!!

Steve - done.  Your patience with those niggles is admirable!  Do you do much foam rolling or stretching?  I know opinions on this differ, but back in my hockey days I was incredibly lazy with stretching etc. and always used to have niggles and achilles problems.  Once I started running and was foam rolling and stretching regularly I seem to (touch wood) have had a lot fewer problems.

Me - weather is beautiful down here in Dunedin, with sun and a light NE breeze.  Forecast for tomorrow is similar, should be ~8C / mid-high 40's F, with only very light breezes for the race, plus clear skies again.  Staying in an Airbnb and can see the stadium where the start/finish is around 1.5km away.  I don't really have a set time goal for the course.  With all the turns it won't be super-quick, it doesn't look like a PB course to me, but I shouldn't be too far off.  I'm more focused on running a good race, keeping the pace consistent through the early/middle stages and then really pushing it hard over the last few km.  Another Takapuna club mate, Stephen Lett, is running too, he is probably 1-2 minutes quicker than me though.  With a good field of competitive runners I think my plan will be to try and find a group going around 3:35/km and stick with them and maybe give it a nudge over the last 2-3km.

Rune: crazy Vo2max according to your Garmin. Even if its overstated, I prefer that over my Suunto that always tells me how crappy I am (probably true though). Why is that lazy bugger from Brazil not running along, making the race his long run? Flavio, whats your excuse man?

Mark: low temps make for high tempos. Kill it! Looking forward to your Strava entry. If Garmin foresees a 1:10 race then just believe in it

Steve: good luck with your recovery!!!

Since my Garmin does both VO2max and lactate threshold, I wish there would be some communication between those two and the race predictor. Right now it thinks I can do a 1:18 half and a 2:43 full marathon. It also thinks my lactate threshold is at 6:35 per mile (which is probably too fast for me even), which is slower than both the predicted half and full marathon paces   .

Good of luck in your race Mark!

Race Report - Dunedin Half Marathon / NZ Half Marathon Champs, 9 Sep 2018

I realised just before I left home that the only two times I've flown to races they have been total dumpster fires.  Hope that's not the case this time!  I'm normally lucky to have the wife and daughter supporting but given the 2 hour flight, this one was a solo mission.

Forsyth Barr Stadium is about a 1.5km walk from the Airbnb I'm staying in.  After a reasonable 7.5 hours sleep (pretty good pre-race by my standards!!), I have some breakfast, get packed and walk down to the race.  Dunedin is a student town so on the way down there are the usual student sights, like a couple of guys in t-shirts, shorts and jandals despite the 7 degree temps.  The weather is damn near perfect with clear skies and cool temperatures, although the wind seems to have gotten up just a touch.

I drop my bag and do short 1km warm-up jog.  Hooray, I remembered my gels this time as well as some cheap gloves that I'll ditch when my hands get warm.  It's kind of nice not knowing anyone because I can just do my own thing.  The stadium is a great start/finish venue, it has a fully closed roof and finishing in there will be pretty cool.  After checking my laces for the nth time - and the ankle bracelet they use for timing - it's time to line up at the start.  There seems to reasonable field of elite runners in club singlets, although not as many as I would have expected given the event doubles as NZ Half Marathon champs.  I have a chat to Steven Lett, one of my club mates, who is aiming for 1:16.  I say I will try and hang with him and he says you never know, just back yourself.  He is a very experienced runner and former winner of the Auckland Marathon (under 2:30 I think), and a pretty genuine guy so it's food for thought.  I don't have the nerves I often have and am just feeling relaxed and looking forward to a good run.

The start goes and we're off.  The first section around Logan Park is on closed tree-lined roads and very nice.  I ditch my gloves about 1km in as my hands are warm and I don't need them.  I hope it looked as hardcore as it felt haha.  There is already a decent lead group of probably 8-9 guys including Sam Wreford who should be a comfortable winner - possibly the fastest distance runner in the country not named Robertson.  One guy stops to fix his shoe lace and then sprints to catch up, that must've sucked.  The pace feels comfortable and the first km is a touch quick, but not crazy quick at 3:28.  Steve is just on my shoulder along with a couple of other guys in what is basically the second group.

The first section sees us trekking south through the maritime sector, a bit of an industrial wasteland.  There are a few exposed spots where it feels like the wind has picked up a little.  Steve has dropped off slightly but I am running with another guy (from Louisiana, but studying in Dunedin I assume) who tells me he placed third last year, despite a course error.  Hope that marshalling is up to the task as this is a very technical course, too technical even to bother trying to write directions on my hand as a backup.  The pace was really nice and steady through up to the 6km mark (3:37, 3:37, 3:32, 3:33, 3:36) and pretty much exactly where I want it to be.  Louisiana guy tells me his family have flown over and he's nervous about blowing up so he dials it back a bit.  Steve had already dropped back too so once again I'm Nigel No-mates.  Ah well, run plenty of races like that so no big deal.

Then we hit an uphill spiral on to an over bridge which I've figured will be one of the most annoying bits on the course.  It's short, although km 7 came up at 3:50 and I figure the GPS got briefly lost on the covered sections.  Then we're heading back to the north, this section is a bit of a grind as it's a very gradual, almost imperceptible uphill.  I'm feeling pretty strong but conscious that I'm just working a little harder than normal.  Some of the students have come out of their flats to cheer us on which is cool, most of them are still in their pyjamas and dressing gowns, classic Dunedin really.  Kms 8-10 were 3:28, 3:43, 3:42, and then we're into the Botanic Gardens.  I'd slowly taken my first gel at this point.  One guy has, surprisingly, stopped, and I run past him as I then catch another guy in a blue shirt who tells me he is blowing up a bit (no doubt feeling the hill).  The gravel path in the gardens has a bit of a short surprise hill (km 11: 3:47) but the scenery is a nice distraction and then we're back on the road.

Another short hill and I ALMOST took a wrong turn but got saved by a marshal here (PHEW!).  Relieved, I rip down the other side and now I'm on full alert for course markers and marshals because I know the next few km are where the course criss-crosses itself a few times.  Coming back past the stadium, my Takapuna singlet gets a big cheer from a marshal who is also an Aucklander!  Definitely a nice boost.  Despite entirely failing to grab a cup of water (sorry water guy) I'm feeling really locked in pace-wise through this section, even though the wind has definitely gotten up as we turn back to the north.  Kms 12-16 were 3:30, 3:33, 3:37, 3:34, and 3:33.  At this point I click that a PB might be on the cards if I can hang in there, knowing that 3:36-ish avg. pace would be PB territory and that was on a course that measured a little long.

We are now running back past the stadium for the third time.  The final section is out to Ravensbourne and back, and I know there's one final hill before a flat fast finish.  The glutes and hamstrings are starting to tire a little but I reckon I have enough to hang in there pace-wise, as long as this hill doesn't take too much.  I slowly take a second gel to give me an energy hit.  We're on the footpath here as the road isn't closed and the footpath has a slightly inconsistent camber.  Km 17 is 3:43/km and at this point I realise that on current pace I could well be into PB territory.  If I can hit those last 3km in under 11 minutes or so, we're there, and that's well below current pace.

Even though we're over the hill, the footpath and the wind are making for slightly harder work than I'd like.  I figure I'll get a speed boost on the downhill shortly and then a tailwind to finish (I hope).  Boom goes the downhill and I almost got distracted and took another wrong turn at the bottom here (thanks, marshalls!) but then I'm onto what is basically the home straight.  It's another waterside path, with a few joggers and people out enjoying a beautiful morning.  Another marshal cheers for my Takapuna shirt and with km's 18-19 also holding solid (3:35, 3:31) I am just focused on holding on to the finish.  I can see the stadium and every step is a step closer.  I don't have enough to take it up a level and my breathing is definitely getting a bit heavy but I reckon I can hang out at my current pace.

I hit a gravel section that I didn't expect, fortunately it's quite short, and there's the stadium looming large now.  I pass a couple of 10km runners where the courses merge, one of them got a bit grumpy about it as he didn't realise I was running the half, he tried to catch me, before flagging it.  Another turn and we're into the stadium, the finish line is two turns and around 100m away, so I just gas it at this point, resulting in an almost imperceptible increase in my actual pace.  I actually almost cried because I looked at my watch and realised I'd be well under 1:16.  Across the finish line and BAM!  1:15:45 on the watch and actual official time 1:15:40.  I'm absolutely elated as I didn't expect to PB on such a technical course where it was hard to maintain a rhythm.

The even better news is that I'm 9th overall, and 2nd M35+, meaning I get to stand on the podium and get a silver medal!!  I also got the prize pack for winning the Masters race since the overall winner (Sam Wreford, unsurprisingly) was also in that category, but took out the Open 1st place prize.  It is a huge buzz and I think wifey was almost as stoked as me when I face-timed her.  Just feeling lucky to have had a day where the weather was near-perfect and I was able to really execute a race strategy of just locking in the pace and holding it.

The even better news is that I'm writing this in the airport frequent flyer lounge and they've just brought out sausage rolls and mini pies!  OK time for some eating haha bye guys.

Amazing race execution! Incredible negative split and very even it looks like you benefitted from running solo. What was the prize though?