Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2018
All of the runners Bro put up are 30 or younger. Traditionally recreational runners do better at the marathon as they hit late 30s and even in their 40s. I think this is due to more patience, mental toughness, and wisdom. Alot of people dont take up running till mid life crisis hits and are very motivated and dont have younger PBs to compare to.
Its very hard to speculate on the examples given. We dont know their running history etc. A runner with a 40 mpw base for 5 years will be in a different situation to a runner at 40mpw for 2 years.
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 "
Mark: nice RR thanks! I enjoyed the read. Too bad that Bob isnt racing anymore I guess the race was really an exceptional step forward in the mental sphere. Anyways and would have wished for prize money
Flavio: hows the job going?
Rune: no more time to post here?
HM: 1:47 (9/20) I FM: 3:53:11 (9/23)
2024 Goals: run a FM & HM + stay healthy!
Hot Weather Complainer
JMac - I'm still waiting on the stick to arrive...I think it's coming in from Mars
5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23
2024 Races:
Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024 1:29:55
Christchurch Half-Marathon April 21, 2024 1:27:34
Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
Bro / JMac / Keen- I'm pretty aligned with JMac here. Runner 1 is exactly what you'd expect from someone with natural speed but who's not really doing anything to build his endurance. Runner 2 is seriously impressive running a 2:56 off that sort of volume particularly given her shorter distance times indicates she's got speed but not mega-speed. Runner 3 is a bit more of an interesting one but could be wired a bit like me perhaps.
One point here - and I cannot emphasise this enough - is it's dangerous to focus on pace as a measure of effort.
Everyone on here knows that I work to heart rate rather than pace for training zones. Very few of my runs are over 7:00/mile, probably only if I'm doing hill reps or maybe an easier long run. But it's not uncommon for me to log 50 mile weeks without having a single run over 7:00/mile, and still have 80% of it at an 'easy' heart rate (<159bpm for me). This could be something like how Runner 3 operates as well. For whatever reason she's got naturally quick cadence (although that doesn't really seem to line up with her lack of top-end speed?).
And yeah - JMac is right. If I did another marathon I'd be shooting for at least 10-15 mins below my current PB, and I'm well aware that the key would be increasing my mileage, and rebalancing my effort such that there'd be a lot more slower easy runs. It's just not natural for me to run at lower than around 4:40/km / 7:30/mile but I've no doubt I'd do a lot more running at something like that pace.
Another question - how often do these runners get injured?
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"
Woohoo, lot's of fun going on in this thread! First of all, congrats to Mark and JMac for some outstanding races and RRs!
Bro - Good luck in your race. I suck compared to you but I might be aiming higher than you in my race in 3 weeks. Not sure though, depends what I feel like.
Steve - Good to see you are on your way back.
Piwi - 50 mile week! Woot!
Corey - Sounds like those zero-drop shoes were too much of a change for you. Good to see you're feeling better with the Brooks.
Keen - Good luck in your HM. And sorry to hear about your grandmother. Monster week though!
Mick - I'm back! Just had two really busy weeks at work with travel to Miami and Long Beach but now I get to stay home until I travel to Europe for the race (and I should be able to post more often here).
Mark - 16 years ago when I was first diagnosed with my Crohn's they took out a couple of feet of my small intestines. When I spoke to the surgeon afterwards he told me they took out my appendix as well, just casually as a side note, since they didn't like the way it looked . I don't know if I've noticed a difference ever since though.
JMac - I've thought about what you have said about the JD program and how it toughens you up a bit due to the brutal workouts, and I think yesterday was a good example. Yesterday wasn't my best day of training, and with 14 miles m-pace on the program (8+6, I did 10+4 because I wanted to do 10 to compare to the workout a buddy of mine had) I knew it would be a hard workout regardless. If anyone remembers back to March, I had an 11-mile m-pace workout on my program 2.5 weeks out from my race. That workout sucked, and I cut it short after 10 miles as I was completely gassed. Based on my HR, yesterday was very similar, but the big difference was that after the one mile at easy pace the program called for, I could bang out 4 more miles at m-pace. Those last 4 miles were not really controlled in any way, but my legs could do them. There is no way I could have done that back in March. Now I'm hoping my legs will be ready for that pace in 3 weeks.
Flavio - Regarding your Instagram, there are lots of pictures of food there. No wonder you are gaining
Regarding how people train and what works for them it's so hard to make comparisons. One of my friends from Norway who I will be running with in Amsterdam ran his fastest marathon so far in Paris when I ran my first one there in 2016. On 26 miles per week average for the last 17 weeks before the race, following a low mileage JD marathon program he ran 3:05, and had a 1:25 tuneup half a few weeks before. Last year he trained for a half marathon in the fall (with no training runs longer than 15 miles (and just a couple around that distance even), and ran right under 1:28. When a spot opened up in Berlin 3 weeks later (and he only got notice the week before the race when somebody he knew got injured), he said he'd do it. He followed the 3:15 pace group for 21-22 miles or so and decided he could speed up, and ran 3:13. None of his training points towards those times, but talent probably makes a big difference.
I finally had a decent week last week, although I will not recommend anyone try run intervals in the sun after two days of late nights at a conference. My m-pace workout yesterday was harder than I liked, but I'm hoping the last 3 weeks with no travel and taper will do me good.
Weekly SummaryMonday, Sep 24, 2018 thru Sunday, Sep 30, 2018
5k: 20:32 (1/17) | HM: 1:34:37 (2/18) | FM: 3:31:37 (3/18)
Getting back into it
Wow was quiet here for a few days and all of a sudden there's a lot to catch up on!!
JMac- yeah I hear you, running that half at Omaha last year around 6 weeks after the marathon was precisely what blew my ITB up. Based on your 10-miler you'd be set for a big HM PB, 78 at least if not 77. January would be so touch and go with weather, though and I recall being in NYC in February and can't say it'd be a lot better. I do recall your Billy Bob reference haha, this particular Bob has more of an Eastern European thing going on but still!
It blows my mind how you can get such a big crowd to something like a 10-miler. The Devonport Half Marathon I did sold out across all distances (half, 10km, 5km, 2km kids dash), and that was 2,200!! Which probably makes it something like the third biggest race in Auckland.
Keen - awesome week and sounds like quality post-race meal lined up! I gotta say, even after my race I STILL wasn't that hungry, that only really got back to normal yesterday.
Strangely the appendix thing never really bothered me. I figured I'd never need to worry about getting appendicitis, and NZ has a pretty good public healthcare system so it didn't cost me anything. Made for a good story though.
Rune - nice week. When I had to make a toilet dash mid-run on Thursday I did think, man Rune is one tough cookie if he deals with this sort of thing on a regular basis! And good to see I'm not the only one subject to appendix theft haha.
Ha Mark, I've actually been ok stomach wise lately, but I had a stretch where it was no fun at all. At least I've gained some good knowledge about the local public restrooms, and which ones are good or not. It's also nice to always be prepared (I always bring a couple of sheets of paper towels on my runs, just in case, they hold up much better than toilet paper) for when the porta potties at race starts run out of paper .
Rune nice week. Your friend sounds very naturally talented although without more training he wont realise his potential. The old story training+talent= fast times
Mark isnt there something like 20-30 million people living in greater New York ? No wonder they get big numbers to races. Im embarrassed to say I ran 8kms this morning at an average of 5.44/km . It was recovery and my legs are tight and sore from previous days tempo and longruns. Of course my running fitness is down overall right now.
I tried my first tempo for a while yesterday. Nice low tide on the beach and i ran a 5km portion at sub 20 mins. I had to push harder than tempo pace though as i saw the 20 min barrier was possible
RIP Milkman
Rune - Good to hear from you. You're so right about the progression. I had to do something like 3x2 T work in the beginning of marathon training and I had to bail on the final 2. Now I'm running 4x2 and the final 2 is not that daunting (although still very hard). Keep this in mind in your marathon. For my last one, I was actually able to cut down by about 30 seconds in the last 2 miles because I said to myself "this is just like a Daniels long run with tempo at the end, you've got this." Little motivations like that can help a lot vs "oh my God I want to die I can't take another 2 miles of this"
Mark/Piwi - yeah they said it was in the top 5 for largest 10 milers in the country, which is not something I had expected. One thing with NYRR races though is there are a lot of people trying to run 9 races to qualify for the following year's marathon, which increases interest. I do think if I were to train for a half today, I would shoot for sub 78, which means Mark you will continue to be king of this thread until a young whippersnapper comes along and beats your time. Matt has a shot at it, but he's in college and won't have as much time to train, so maybe you're safe for a good 4 years
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
It's still more than two weeks out but I just got my bib # from Amsterdam. 2878, pink start corral.
Cobra Commander Keen
Mark - I may not be hungry after the race, but this is a German town (and Oktoberfest!) and I'll be darned if I skip out on some quality bratwurst and sauerkraut!
I should not have checked the forecast for my race this weekend. Start time is estimated to be 71F/21.6C, kiwi point 70F/21.1C, with a 10mph/16kph S wind (headwind the last 5k). I want last year's 40F/4.4C weather back!! That's far worse weather than my HM in April.
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
OKC Memorial 5k - April 27
Bun Run 5k - May 4
It would be so great to be in an Oktoberfest town post-race!
My hill run on Monday has smashed my legs, despite the slow pace. I feel like I've been for a run for the first time in months with the soreness in the quads and some in the shins. Must have used muscles I didn't know I had.
Intl. correspondent
jmac - awesome week!
Keen - I wanted to ask, did you notice any weight loss after these monster weeks?
bro - even a broken clock is right twice a day. Though there are some amongst us that are real exceptions, and every one should look for their optimal training, until one knows for sure one should stick to the bread and butter of training. There’s a reason all training plans have a lot of easy miles and a little of speed.
MJ - job is going well. How’s the avocado chocolate?
Rune - I don’t know what you’re talking about, food pictures are only 95% of my instagram feed
Mark - I’m sure you’re glad they took out the appendix right and not some other organ
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
Keen - Ugh, this race was supposed to tell us if you can go sub 3! The KP of 70 is brutal. I ran my 10 mile race last year in similar conditiosn (mid 70's during the race with dew points in the upper 60's) and I ran about 2-3 minutes slower than expected. I think if you can still go sub 1:30 in those conditions, you're looking good for your race.
Flavio - I know it wasn't directed at me, but I've lost a lot of weight recently. I was probably 155/70 during the winter when I had my foot issue. I am now down to 139/63, and that's still with me eating too much sugar in general. Running 60+ for a cycle really does ramp up the fire.
Steve - I remember my first 4 mile run after taking a few weeks off. Quads felt like I had run a marathon (I'm not exaggerating).
Jmac it must be so nice to be looking at sub 1.20 half now.
Rune exciting for you with that marathon looming.
Flavio you told Bro to stick to bread and butter training. Even your advice involves food
Keen yeah dont stress it. We have a Kiwi formula for hot races so if you run slower it wont matter.
My new Pegasus arrived and instantly they feel so much better and less jarring through my joints. I guess i let all my other shoes get pretty dead.