Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2018
Cobra Commander Keen
Mark - Awesome race, buddy!You Kiwis really seem to have a lot of talent in a pretty small geographical area. I can't imagine there being a "B" group in a local 5k with the slowest being ~16:30. That "slow" time alone would win most races in the state.
Winter solstice - Bleh. I like my running in the dark. Now, if we could just get rid of standard time...
I'm so sick of getting sick! Just when I start getting back my run motivation the kiddos bring something else home and I get knocked down for a couple more zero mile days.
Sort of a tough tempo/rep run today. It didn't really hurt, but I just didn't have the speed/power to get to a point where anything could hurt. Hopefully next week, being a bit further out from getting sick and some better sleep (severely lacking lately), will help get me closer to where I should be. I don't see anything really changing with my running for the rest of the year, I so may type up a "Year in Review" post soon.
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
RIP Milkman
Keen - children are the death of training
Piwi - I am a huge fan! I don't have a particular team I follow though, so I tend to just watch games that I enjoy. I've had League Pass for a couple of years now if that helps prove my dedication
I can't believe you people with your darkness! Sign me up for 5 AM sunrise and 9 PM sunset every day please.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Mark great photo. Julian Oakley was 2nd. Hes a sub 4 miler Susan Devoys son from Tauranga. Michael Sutton who came 3rd in your race was a promising junior. I watched him run a 8.45 3000m when he was 16. Hes a local here too although I think is in Wellington now.
Jmac you have to have a team, it makes it so much more enjoyable to watch. I dont get the disloyalty and constant trading. How can you build team cultures on that. Give me a Dirk any day who stays loyal even taking huge pay cuts to allow other players to be bought.
Also if you have a team then when OKC play them we can give each other heaps
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 "
Year End Review
The beginning of this year for me was a disaster running-wise. After running the NYC Marathon in November 2017, I took a couple of weeks off. When I came back from that break, I noticed some really strange foot pains. It wasn't any of the usual suspects, but rather a pain on the top of my foot on the big toe. Eventually, it bothered me enough that I shut down my running as of Christmas 2017.
The year started with me going to the doctor and PT to figure out what was going on. Honestly, I'm not sure they ever really did know what happened. All images came back negative, and there are no real tendons in the area. I took a full 4 weeks off and saw some improvement. At that point, I did some math and figured out that I really needed to get started again if I ever wanted to hit my goal mileage for NYC 2018. So after 29 days off, I ran my first run of 2018 on January 24. It went okay, and so I progressed from there.
I was able to slowly build up to 40 MPW by March. I ran my first race of the year on April 7, and it was a DISASTER. I ran a 38:22, which was exactly my half marathon pace just a year earlier. I knew it was going to be a long road back, but that one hurt.
I continued to build up mileage with the idea of having a good base before starting marathon training. I finally hit some new PRs in the 5K and 10K with a 17:51 and 37:09 respectively. After that, my confidence was up and it was on to Marathon training.
As usual, I stuck with Jack Daniels. This old bastard has brought my training to a new level each cycle, and I wasn't going to give up on his ridiculous workouts that make you curse at him on a weekly basis. Last year, I used some of his workouts to get myself to 2:55, and the goal this year was to PR. I wanted to up my mileage from the 52 I ended up averaging last year, so I picked the 56-70 MPW plan.
The first few weeks of the plan were rough to say the least. With Kiwi Points constantly in the 70s, I was just having my ass handed to me in every workout. I ran a 5K in mid July that was worse than my new 5K PR, which wasn't very inspiring. The following week, while on vacation, I was a broken man from all of the humidity when I tried to do some runs at 11 am after drinking a wee bit too much the night before. I have never craved water so much in my life, I honestly thought of drinking stagnant water in a parking lot. That told me it was just too much and I took a few days off. After that, things took off. I put in some great weeks over the next 2 months, averaging 59 MPW over the remainder of the cycle. I hit a new 10K PR within a 10 miler in late September by running a 58:31. With that time, I knew that I could go for sub 2:50 for the marathon, which was my goal race for the year.
After an illness during my last week of training, I adjusted my taper to only 2 weeks. Then, it happened: the taper injury! I have yet to get through one without one, but this one was the most real out of all of them. I developed some bad metatarsalgia with 10 days to go. I couldn't run a step without pain in the bottom of my foot. However, with the thanks of Piwi here and Andres over on the sub 3 thread, I was told that I could run the race on it without issue, so I gave it a go at the NYCM on November 4.
I won't fully recap the race, since I did that in my race report, but I had a great race. I ran completely by feel, doing absolutely no math in my head to figure out pace or time. The last 10 miles of that race were the worst in my entire life, dealing with quads that gave out earlier than expected and stomach cramps that bothered me for 20 of 26. However, I was able to bring home a shiny new PR of 2:46!
Overall, I have to be happy with the year. I wonder what could have been if I didn't have such an awful 3 months after my 2017 NYCM, but the fact that I was able to get a new PR with such little winter training made me very happy.
PRs
5K - 17:51
10K - 36:21
Marathon - 2:46:17
Mileage
2016: 1281
2017: 1975
2018(est.): 2200
2019 Goals
Run a strong dictatorship democracy as thread leader
Avoid injuries, stay healthy, and learn to work through tough stretches where things aren't going well or you don't feel like running
BOTT (Balls on the Table), aka no more soft goals to make myself happy when I hit them. WE'RE GOING BIG FOR 2019
Marathon: 2:39:
Half: 1:16:
10K: 34:
5K: 16:
2018 in Review
The year started with a bit of a puzzle - how does one train with a weeks-old baby in the house? The answer? Running while everyone else in the house sleeps. Either early in the morning, or in the middle of the day while DW and DD3 slept.
I had decided not to run a marathon in the spring, but instead wanted to work on speed. Toward this end I went with my first structured plan - one from Daniels. Starting out I really enjoyed the focused feeling brought on by having a specific goal race and a solid plan to get there. I unfortunately didn't have a solid grasp on my capabilities at the time, so I started the plan off a little easy.
Early March and April brought a 15k and 10k - both new race distances for me. I ran both faster than my (admittedly conservative) VDOT indicated, which let me better update my training paces. Both of these races were in pretty good conditions - the 10k especially so given the typical weather for that race - the race is held in the middle of the day and usually 60-70*+, with a similarly high Kiwi Point. I really lucked out there.
My goal HM arrived with less-than-desirable conditions. Weather is usually a coinflip for this race. Due to the time of year (late April) it can either be really cold or the hottest day of the year - it definitely trended toward the latter. Despite warmer conditions than I had trained in all year I was able to eek out a 10 second PR. Despite the time being slower than I knew I was capable of, I was happy since this race was warm/humid and hilly, and my previous PR race was cool and flat.
I also partially credit handling the heat better than most I knew to a new training trick I discovered - running on the treadmill in the garage with all of the doors closed. Even in sub-freezing temperatures the lack of airflow quickly build up a lot of heat, allowing a limited amount of heat acclimation that would not ordinarily be possible. I'll certainly keep this in my back pocket for next year.
I turned my sights towards running a marathon (the first in 18 months by the time it would come around) and getting a PR and a BQ out of it. I lined up another Daniels plan and upped my already higher than ever mileage.
This training was more difficult than the HM training in the spring due to having a more accurate idea of my fitness and the Oklahoma summer. I was able to snag a small PR in two separate 5k races (early July and early September).
Early October rolled around and I lined up for a hilly (and this year hot and humid) HM that I have now run (and finished 2nd in) each of the three years it has been done. I had hoped to use this as something of a fitness test, but that certainly didn't pan out. I still enjoyed the race itself and the celebratory bratwurst afterward (don't judge, it's part of an Oktoberfest celebration).
Training progressed essentially flawlessly until my goal marathon in mid November, in which I accomplished my two main goals of a big PR and a BQ. This marathon was a massive learning experience for me. I chose a very attainable goal, which let me really focus on how the race distance feels and to futher hone nutrition and hydration plans. After this, however, things took a sudden downturn.
My motivation to run sharply decreased and I got sick twice - most recently just as my desire to run returned. My super-strech goal of 3,000 miles for the year went from "it's in the bag" to "I might get it, I might not" to "eh, probably not". My fitness has obviously taken a bigger post-marathon hit than I planned on, but I'm still in better shape than I was a year ago.
All in all, 2018 was a great year for me. New PRs in every distance from 5k to marathon - I never tried for any shorter distances, or those should have fallen as well. Looking forward, I plan on taking all I've learned from training in the past year and applying those towards new PRs in 2019 as well. I want to run some local races I haven't done before, and also plan on a new marathon for the spring as well. Summer will likely be "just" training and little to no racing, and fall plans are completely up in the air. I'm not sure if I want to focus on a HM again before (hopefully) getting into and running Botswana 2020, or perhaps run a new fall marathon. I've also heard talk of an informal Turkey Trot from OKC to Tulsa, which could be a "fun" ~100-110mi/161-177km run. Lots of time to decide there!
5k: 18:5410k: 38:56HM: 1:28:01M: 3:04:14
Mileage Progression
2015: 558 mi / 946 km2016: 1,913 mi / 3,078 km2017: 2,242 / 3,930 km2018: 2,980 - 3,000 mi / 4,795 - 4,828 km(estimated)
Sub-3 marathon and all the equivalent shorter distance PR's3,120 mi/5,021 km
???
Mark - awesome race. Given that 5000m and 5km are VERY similar distances, I would count as a 5km
PRs: 5km 18:43 (Dec 2015), 10km 39:59 (Sep 2020), half 1:26:16 (Sep 2016), full 3:09:28 (Jun 2015)
40+ PRs: 5km 19:31 (Oct 2020), 10km 39:59 (Sep 2020), half 1:29:39 (Jun 2018), full 3:13:55 (Sep 2022)
2023 PRs (hope to beat in 2024): 5km 20:34, 10km 41:37, half 1:32:32, full 3:21:05
2024 PRs: 5km 20:25
The world record for 5000m is 20 secs faster than the fastest road 5k so there is quite a difference.
I won't bother reviewing my year it was pretty terrible.
Keen - great recap! I’m assuming that 10K time was a typo though, otherwise, I”m going to say you are severely underperforming at longer distances
True, but we don't always get ideal road races. I bet none of your road races would be as quick as somewhere like Berlin. Also how many elite 5k road races are there compared to 5k track?
Intl. correspondent
Yesterday I had a realization. I've been puzzled by Jmac's comments about Jack Daniels training plans. He would always mention 2Q and 56-70 MPW. Well I have the book and there was no mention of that in there. I did notice that there were 2 workouts in the marathon training plan (Q1 and Q2), but nothing about miles per week.
And it was only yesterday that I finally noticed something... I have the wrong version of the book I have the 2nd version, which was published in 2005. Instead of the 3rd version published in 2013.
So I rushed to Amazon and got the 3rd version for Kindle. And there they are, all the training plans all you guys have been talking about.
So it got me thinking. Is Jack Daniels really that sadistic? Cause his plans got only 2 workouts per week. Pfitz and Hansons got 3 for instance.
I remember MickJogger talking about how Hansons was not as demanding leaving him unprepared. I wonder now if he was talking about the plan available in the book. Cause Hansons sell separate the more difficult plans. I happen to have a copy of their 60-85 MPW plan and it's nasty.
Hell, their predictor workout is 26K at marathon pace plus warm up and cool down.
I suddenly now view Jack Daniels in a much more positive light, as his plan with only 2 workouts per week might be just what my old body needs.
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
And my week is done. 80km 50 miles + 2x functional training.
Roughly 9 hours of exercise in total, extra 800 calories burned on average per day, and I'm still gaining weight, 87Kg this week
I've scheduled a nutritionist for the beginning of January to help me out with the cravings, it's getting out of control.
Hatulz / Flavio – yeah that was my intention all along, to show up and hijack the thread to an NBA topic. But with respect to all these folks who want to talk this “running” stuff, I’ll try to keep it under 40% basketball talk haha (but seriously I could talk it all day). I still lean heavily on protein, especially after quality or long runs. I should own stock in Greek yogurt (3 per day). Yeah nah on 60mpw + 3 quality. Unless those aren’t really good quality workouts, I think that’s a recipe for injury and/or burnout. And if they aren’t good quality workouts, that’s leaning more towards the “running kind of fast most of the time” regimen in my humble opinion…which gets you nowhere fast.
P. Kiwi/Flavio – as long as we’re tripping down memory lane, let’s throw in RunAcrossNatchez, Angel, Roadkill Racing, and hell even Radioactivegoop (numerous ejections and new screen names). Dude was extremely abrasive and offensive to people (funny most of the time), but he REALLY knew how to train. I miss all of them sometimes.
Piwi – same or more hours of work, but much less on manual labor. I’m almost exclusively in managerial, scheduling/planning, inventory, office work nowadays. I can’t blame Jmac for not having a team. Putting 2 and 2 together, looks like he’s from the NYC area so not much to choose from hehehe (j/k Jmac)
Jmac – near Cleveland here, and I’m right with you – let’s keep daylight savings time year round. Most of the running routes I enjoy are not well lit. Nice year end review, love the BOTT approach to next year. No more screwing around, time to get serious again.
Commander – nice to meet you, I don’t believe we’ve crossed paths. Old forumer here looking for some redemption. I can relate to being sick at the worst times. Two teenage daughters now, but years ago there was some kind of bug going around seemingly 365 days per year in my household. Nice year end review as well.
I’ve pounded a few cups of coffee, and ready for a long run with some hills perhaps. Not looking forward to heavy snow/cold which is right around the corner any day I’m sure.
Jmac congratulations on a stellar year. You moved up several levels this year and are a great contributor and positive motivator. You and Mark are both extremely knowledgeable around running things related now.
Keen great job by you too achieving the BQ. I've enjoyed learning about the animals around OKC !
DJ JMAC was trash talking OKC on last years efforts and a 0-4 start didn't help my cause but we are having the last laugh.
I'm sure yeah/nah is a KIWI expression!
JMac and Keen - great years.
Re old timers - it would be great to get Brent Hanson and Underslept Dad back.
Race Report - Bays Night of 5's 5000m (B Race)
Look, I'm not sure how much there is to write about a 5000m track race but I'll try. We ran around the same track 12.5x so not a lot to report on the course front.
Conditions were pretty good, albeit some wind around which was really only noticeable on one corner of the track. It was a big field of ~20 so there were actually two staggered start lines. I recognised a few athletes, including Adam Gallagher who I ran most of the National Road Race Champs 10k with, and Robert Tang.
The race was webcast on Athletics NZ Facebook page so there was a short intro of each of the runners. The gun goes and we're off. For the first couple of laps it was one big train of runners before splitting off into two groups - the really fast guys, and the rest. I notice that some of my club mates and other local runners I know are just past the bridge over the track (just before the finish line and next to the DJ, yes there was a DJ on lane 5 of the track) and get some good cheers from them as well as my wife and family. I actually felt pretty lucky to have such great support from both family and friends.
Anyway the first km split comes up at 2:58, I know my spikes are quick but they're not that quick so this was an early sign the GPS was reading long. There is a group of 5 with me, Robert, Adam and a couple other guys, including a blond guy and one Japanese guy who every 30 seconds broke into gasps like he was really struggling (it was pretty off putting but he kept it up all race) and another group just behind us. I'm feeling pretty good and like I could nudge the pace a bit more but I also know that the last km is going to suck if I over do it.
Kms 2 and 3 were also around the 3:00 mark but obviously read long. There is now a reasonable gap between the lead bunch, and the second bunch (me), and a third bunch. Around the 3000m mark a few guys drop off our group including Adam and Robert so now it's just 3 of us. I'm the one pushing the pace here and leading the group now and still feeling really good. The lap count is down to 5 remaining (I'm working off this rather than my inaccurate GPS for distance) and I figure I'll give it a nudge at 2 laps if I'm still feeling strong.
Which is exactly what I did, 800m to go so I kick it up a little, the other 2 guys stick with me. Then there's 400m to go and I figure I may as well just really go for it, so I push a bit harder. The race clock is reading almost bang on 15:00 at the start of that last lap so I figure I will be close to, but not under, 16:00.
Coming on to the home straight, Japanese guy fades a little, blonde guy has a decent finishing kick, but another Japanese guy absolutely boosts past all of us out of nowhere. It was actually quite impressive to watch. I'm not sucking in the air as much as I'd expected but my legs are pumping as hard as they can so in hindsight I reckon maybe I could've nudged the pace a little earlier.
Across the finish line and my watch is 16:02, official was 16:03. Pretty stoked with that for a first ever 5000m race and there's every chance with a bit more practice I could go under 16:00. I realise I've definitely got a lot to learn about race strategy for these track races but it's a really fun and satisfying way to finish the year. Even more so because when I catch up with Mark Boyce and Dan Shaw later, I realise that my time is ~20 seconds faster than they ran last year - and both of those guys are runners I really look up to (and in Mark's case, have spent a lot of time unsuccessfully chasing!!).
(amusingly - my GPS was 5.4km so that was a LONG way off!)
Official time: 16:03.09
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"