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

I don't mind an evening run but probably no later than 7pm.  One summer in Melbourne I'd get up around 5am and get my run done before work - it was great not having to worry about getting everything done and getting home to run, but when I get to lunchtime having been up for 7-8 hours the afternoon feels long.

Since I'm the official weather complainer...we got the cold southerly yesterday and last night running into the wind and sideways rain/sleet I did wonder if maybe the warm weather is better.  But by the end of the run I'd warmed up a bit and the rain had eased and I felt fantastic, which doesn't happen when it's a warm day so I'll limit my complaining to the first 10 minutes of the run.

I'm a maroon... Let's just leave it at that.  

I *might* have my brother riding along with me for the M-pace run tomorrow. 15M is still the goal, though I'm contemplating "just" 13 or 14.

Weather forecasters are confused around here - or more accurately more confused than usual. A couple days ago they were talking about the possibility of snow over the weekend, now they're saying to look for highs of ~80F/26.6C.

Hi guys, I'm in Hamburg and there's a 5K race tomorrow. They allow race day registration so I'll give it a shot.

Weather forecast is perfect at 5 degrees in communist units. This time I'll have no excuses 

Training has been a lot less than ideal, but I'd hope I can still run a sub 19.

Just got back home from an outing with my wife.

As I said I was very encouraged by my HM race today and hope it translates into a solid sub 3:25

Last week I had two pretty good workouts, a 9.5 miler and I finished the week on Sunday with a 20 mile long run with some added M pace and T pace over the last 8 miles, it felt good and I had some confidence I would do well in todays race after that.  Later Sunday night however my confidence was stripped after I woke up just before midnight puking....that went on all night and as a result I missed work Monday but started feeling better and managed a 6.5 mile easy run late Monday afternoon...still was not feeling great and was totally spent afterwards.

Tuesday the top of my right foot started hurting, it always tends to be sore, but I could feel it all day as I walked around the office, it remained sore all week up until I went to bed last night, so I ended up taking it pretty easy all week although I still logged about the same number of miles I usually have going into a Saturday.

Earlier in the week I reviewed the race route and the elevation changes and made what I thought would be a good plan going in.

I decided to "race it" but incorporated a MP and TP workout. I based my pace targets on the elevation changes and what I though I could do.

Pace Target were 2M +1T+1M+2T+1M+2T+1M+3.1T

I did all the usual pre race prep Friday picked up my packet and packed up my bags laid out my clothes stretched a little worked out my hamstrings and hip flexors and glutes, and hit the bed about 10:30 about an hour and a half later than I wanted to, but I fell asleep fast so I was not running the race in my head for hours before I fell asleep.

My alarm went off at 4:30 (hit snooze once) and got up about 4:35 ate a bagel and some water then went down and got some coffee and took care of some business jumped in the shower work my son up and we were out the door by 5:45 for the 50 minute drive to the race site.

Arrived about 6:35 and made the 5- minute walk froth car over to the starting area. The race begins and end at a local minor league ball field. Everything went well up until we were heading into the Stadium and we were and we were not allowed to take back packs inside as they had security set up and were screening everyone.

Got a few things out of the bag and left my son out side so I could use the bathroom again and grab some safety pins to affix my bib. I meet him back out side the stadium about 7 and started to change shoes and get prepped for the race. I was a little chilly about 48 or 49 degrees but not terrible, winds were calm and the rain had come and gone, so it turned out to be perfect weather.

got in a little warm up and then jumped in the corral for the start. I found the 3:20 pacer for the marathon as we were all starting together so I settled there with him.

national anthem and bang off we go....

1st mile was slight uphill over the first .4 then downhill came in a bit under MP target @ 7:25

2nd mile continued downhill through .45 and then went uphill the remainder again I came in under MP target @ 7:28

3rd mile I expected to be my fastest and I made a point to hold back here as it was all downhill and I didn't want to blow up target was between 6:55 and 7:05 I came in @ 6:57 right where I wanted to be

4th mile was rolling up and down with a slight uphill over the last .10 I was feeling pretty good at this point maintaining pace and finished in @ 7:33 agains my target of 7:35

miles 5 and 6 were rolling up the hillside and back down to the river bank, at this point I was still feeling pretty good but wanting my next MP to get here. mile 6 finished with a short but steep hill that was a bit taxing mile 5 came in @ 6:57 and 6 @ 7:19

Mile 7 I expected to be the slowest of all as there were a couple of short steep climbs up the roads from the riverbank. this was a MP mile and I came in @ 7:39 right on target.

miles 8 and 9 were planned TP Mile 8 came from below the waterfall and leveled out quickly above the falls and I was able to pick up the pace relatively easy though these two miles running on the trail next to the river. mile 8 @ 7:08 mile 9 @ 7:02

Mile 10 was my last MP and I was able to regroup and relax for the final push... came in here @ 7:30

Miles 11-13.1 were all planned to be T pace miles.  Mile 10 finished on a down hill and carried though the  irst part of mile 11 so I was able to take that moment and get up to tempo quickly... there was also another guy with me at this point who was keeping pace for awhile but I soon realized I had slowed down so I made the decision to pull away from him or risk settling at his pace. From here I was pretty much on my own relying on myself to maintain pace, I finally caught up to another guy who was fading at the end of mile 12 who gave me some needed encouragement to maintain pace as I went past him. It was actually very good timing as mile 13 proved to be the hardest to hold pace although it was not really steep it was none the less up hill from about 12.2 until the finish.  As I pushed up the final hill I started coming in contact with the 10k runners who were all starting to finish as well so I was gained a bit of motivation to push up the hill and pass them as well.. the final stretch was a slight downhill and into the stadium. we entered in the outfield down the first baseline and rounded the outfield on the warning track and finished coming down towards home plate... I made a final big push to catch another guy who entered the stadium just in from of me I caught and passed him along with some other 10k runners in the last 100 feet although I am not sure if he was running the half or the 10k but was going to pass him anyway. I finished Miles 11,12,13 in 6:55 ,6:55, 6:57.

My Mile splits were

1>> 7:25

2>> 7:28

3>> 6:57

4>> 7:33

5>> 6:59

6>> 7:19

7>> 7:39

8>> 7:08

9>> 7:02

10> 7:30

11> 6:55

12> 6:55

13> 6:57

.1> not sure as my garmin came up just a bit short of 13.1

I was extremely happy that I was able to maintain the last 3 miles at a sub 7 pace.

I finished 28th overall

2nd in my age group

and crushed my PR of 1:37:10 finishing with a chip time of 1:33:56

Auckland Half Marathon 2018 Race Report

Well that emergency poncho sure helped keep me dry before the start.  It was raining heavily overnight and still light rain just before the start, but that was a well-spent $2!  First time I've had to deal with rain at the start of this race, the last 3 years have been excellent weather.

Auckland is the biggest race in NZ, and had record entries this year of over 15,000 across the various distances.  Both the marathon and half had some of the strongest elite fields the race has seen in recent years, with the half having at least 5-6 runners at sub-1:10 pace.  Anyway I've just decided that Auckland is a race I'm pretty much always going to do because it's a bit special - in 2015 it was my first HM (1:27:16), a big PB in 2016 (1:18:20) and my first (only?) marathon in 2017 (2:57:16).

I didn't have any big goals this year other than to smash my course PB and have fun.  Based on the elite field and previous times I decided that sticking with the lead female was probably going to be a good option and I wanted the chance to work with other runners because I almost always get stuck in no-man's land.  A PB was not out of the question but probably not too likely on this course (and given a smaller taper compared to Dunedin) as it is definitely a lot hillier than Dunedin.

Didn't see a lot of runners I knew on the start, a few more doing the full this year I guess.  Anyway the rain stopped about 15 mins before the start and the weather was actually OK.  At 15C I would've liked it to be a bit colder but you can't complain.

Anyway, off we go, unsurprisingly the really fast guys are flying off already and after about 500m I am exactly where I planned to be, with a group of 6 runners including the 3 lead women and a couple of guys.  The first 6km is the toughest of the race with a lot of hills and I'd planned to sit around 3:40/km average and then pick it up from Hauraki Corner.

By the time we get around 4km in the group is down to 3, me, a triathlete guy who is doing his first half for a while, and Camille Buscomb, the lead female.  I'm surprised Olivia Burne, last year's winner, has dropped off but she must've been injured as it looked like she DNF'ed. Anyway Camille is a professional athlete, trains with a lot of fast Australians, and has been in very good form over 5,000m and shorter distances this year.  Down through Hauraki Corner and into Takapuna and I am feeling pretty good.  I think we dropped triathlete guy around this point.  There is a gradual uphill slog towards Smales Farm but knowing the busway is coming (flat and fast and with a slight tailwind today) is good motivation.

Anyway it turns out that one cool thing about running with the lead female is that she gets a lot more cheers than just some random guy who's well behind the lead bunch.  So that was pretty fun.  On to the busway and here is where I'd planned to pick it up to around low-3:30's to get some fast km's in before the Harbour Bridge.  Which is exactly what happens.  I'm working but still feeling pretty good.

At the halfway point it looks like I am sitting just behind PB pace, it's anyone's guess though with the Harbour Bridge climb and also some flat fast stuff still to go.  The Bridge kind of approaches a bit ominously, it's around 50m elevation gain over 1km and mostly it's just a grind.  And then there's another niggly little hill straight after it.  Anyway on the way up the hill, all I could think was 'this isn't nearly as shit as that last hill in road relays', which was kind of funny.  I think Camille dropped back slightly here although probably only a few seconds, maybe just saving some gas for the end.

The last 5km are basically dead flat through Westhaven, and another useful thing about running with the lead female is that there's a specific dedicated motorbike that tells slow marathon runners to stay out of the way.   I'd passed someone just on the last downhill, it turns out he was a guy who beat me by around 20 seconds at Waterfront so that is another benchmark.  I figure I am probably sitting behind PB pace but we'll see what happens.  Camille has caught me back up which is helpful for both traffic management and cheers.

Coming up to the Tank Farm around km19 I'm definitely having to work hard and the breathing is getting pretty laboured.  The last couple km's were in the low-3:30's and the legs are just a bit tired, I think from all the hills in the early stages and the Harbour Bridge.  I haven't fully raced a HM course this hilly since Coatesville in March.  Km 20 comes up at 3:38 and I realise I'm just flagging a bit.  Camille is looking strong and around this point I encouraged her to use her speed and go win the thing.  Dunno if she heard me and I have no idea how far behind the second female was but she kicked up a gear.  I'm pretty glad she did because it would've been super awkward if she'd had some random guy crossing the tape at the same time as her, I already felt a bit bad for probably ruining all her photo's.

Anyway I'm just digging it in as we turn into Victoria Park, heard my parents cheering along the final stretch, saw Camille cross the line a few seconds ahead of me and then I'm over the line.  I'm definitely tired but not totally exhausted which is a good sign as that's how I've felt after all my best races.

Camille actually came over and thanked me shortly after.  I really appreciated the show of camaraderie and congratulated her on the win.  It's hard to know what to make of someone when it's just national athletics news and social media that you have to go on but I've definitely got a lot of respect for her now - she's got the ground announcer lining up for an interview and the first thing she does is actually thank some random guy for running the race with her.

Anyway official time was 1:16:29, 14th overall, and 1st male 35-39.  I'm actually pretty stoked with the AG result because in the past I have been chasing guys like Brad Luiten and Simon Mace at this race.  Probably means I'll have some random prize to collect too (I didn't hang around as I had to get back to daddy daycare as my wife is away!).  A little off PB, but still a course PB by almost 2 minutes and I'd forgotten slightly what a challenging course it is.  Pretty happy with the result and looking forward to going hard at Omaha to finish the year!

Great work Corey and Mark - both very impressive races and enjoyable RR's.  Mark, that Harbour Bridge climb is more brutal than you described I think!  Coming from someone who hasn't done the race....

I had a good solid week with some struggles in the heat:

Monday           70 mins incl. 3x(1,2,3)+6x1.  15.23km @ 4:42mins/km

Tuesday          Weights

Wednesday     70 mins incl. 3x5 mins tempo.  15.51km @ 4:44mins/km

Thursday         70 mins recovery  13.82km @ 5:05mins/km

Friday              Weights

Saturday          120 mins easy  25.02km @ 4:50mins/km

Sunday            Weights

Total:               69.58km

The speed sessions on Monday and Wednesday were changed midway through the run as I really started to struggle in warm conditions.  I listened to the advice on this thread and extended my long run to 2 hours.  I really really tried to go at 5 min/km pace or slower and just couldn't do it.  I felt like I was barely moving, but I'll take that as a good sign.  Legs have pulled up fine, and this week has some cooler weather early in the week which should help with my speed sessions.

What do you guys do about water/powerade on long runs?  Just carry it with you?  My girlfriend wasn't able to meet me at halfway on Saturday so I didn't take in any fluids.  It was only 17 degrees (C) so I got away with it but on a warm day I think I will suffer a bit.

Great racing Corey & Mark, congrats!!!

Steve wow impressive that "easy" run @17degrees without water??? Ha, you should get one of those hand bands that strap around the bottle. Very popular with the trail running community On a different note (I am not as quick as you): if slowing down is hard for you, maybe you dont run a lot at the very easy pace?

5:30m/km in the average is a mighty pace Piwi