Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2018
Quick intro
- 40 years old male. Just turned 40, so old man PRs here we come!
- married, two girls aged 6 and 10
- I live in greater Wellington, New Zealand
- First name is Chris
Been running since 2011. Been reasonably consistent apart from a few injuries, plus a few periods where life got in the way.
2015 and 2016 were very good training years. Lots of 60-60 mile weeks, with a few 70-79 mile weeks.
I've ran around a dozen halfs. My best time was 1:26:16, coming in September 2016. In June 2015, I went sub 1:30 for the first time after several 1:31 races.
Have ran two marathons, the first in June 2015. Paced poorly and ran 3:09, with a 1:30/1:39 split, Could have managed 3:06 that day with better pacing.
Last October I ran my second marathon. I'd had an moderately good 3 months training up to then, but had a left hip and left knee injury. I was originally aiming for sub 3, but I ditched that aim due to the injury (and not quite enough volume) and ran 3:16.
2017 was a very disrupted training year. Early in the year I spent a lot of time studying for a professional exam. And since my marathon I've been super busy selling a house, settling a section to buy, sorting out a rental whilst we build. The section we've bought settles 16 January, due to it being a large development, the timelines have been up in the air for a long time. So planning has been a little difficult with regards to a hobby (running). This 2018 year should be much easier as late January we sell our house and move into a rental, and then November/December (fingers crossed) we move into our house. So it means I can get a September/October races as my 'A' race for the year.
I only raced one half in 2017, being a 1:30:06 time, which I was pretty happy with, it would have been sub 1:30 but the pacer was off. I ditched him with 4km to go, but couldn't quite catch-up 40 seconds.
The good news about my minimal training over the last 2 months is that my left knee is so much better.
My first half of the year will be 18 March, Round The Vines in Wairarapa, New Zealand. I don't know my aim right now, but I'm hoping to sneak sub 1:30. And then later in the year, go for 1:25.
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
KK - welcome and great to see a new member on the thread! (you are the first for 2018)
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"
English Villian
Thank you for the welcomes
Intl. correspondent
...
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
Flavio thats really funny but probably quite common. Strava competition is real ! Imagine if you are both there at the same time !
Rune those brothers are amazing. That Jakob is going to be great to watch. I googled your ailment. Nice that you do so well with it and keep really fit.
Kk welcome. The English have a good club system and membership. The majority of runners here do their own thing but with facebook etc you can hook up with other runners easily. Im in two facebook running groups. One where im the slowest and one where im the fastest. I need an inbetween group lol.
Dont count on me for motivation sorry as i mostly run for fitness only now
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 "
Hi, everyone,
KK, welcome! This thread will keep you accountable and people is very supportive
Here is my intro
Jaime, male, 45, married with 3 children (17,13,3)
I work in the telecom industry.
Originally from Medellín, Colombia... Living in Montreal, Canada for 12 years now
Running from 2010 to 2014 (groin injury) and resumed in 2017.
Favorite distance: Half Marathon. I suffer too much in shorter distances and have issues to prepare longer races.
Goals for 2018:
Boston Marathon where I want to get under 3:10
I'm planning a tune up half which will probably be Hampton Half on March 4th where I plan to go under 1h30 or PR (1:28:31)
Current status: Frozen! as is the whole country
I got a good 9 weeks streak of running 72Km on average, just to prepare for a marathon plan, then I injured my back in the gym while doing leg press (this story of improving ground contact time, injury prevention, etc.. oh well)... Anyway, I managed to run 22Km the week I injured and 50km last week, taking only 7 days off. My back still bothers me but not for running
This week I'm being lazy with many excuses, hesitating to go outside (temps below -20 C)...
Kk - Welcome. I have found beinhmg here keeps me accountable and motivated. Also everyone is friendly and offer unique perspectives.
Jaime - I hear you on this deep freeze we are getting. I can't even go on my 20 minute walks on lunch break. I have been treadmill running. Tomorrow will be my first long run on a treadmill in some time. -30 celsius with windchill is not doable!
My feet and ankle have been flaring up after runs. No real pain but a concerning discomfort given that I had injuries in those areas previously. I am keeping all my runs very easy and focusing on base building. The last week (no tempo or vo2 work) the feet and ankles are a bit better.
Personal Bests: 5k 19:43 (04/2017), 10k 43.24 (10/2016), Half 1:33:18 (10/2017), Full 3:32:47 (05/2017)2018 Targets: 5k: sub19, 10k: sub41, Half: sub90
Flavio thats really funny but probably quite common. Strava competition is real ! Imagine if you are both there at the same time ! Rune those brothers are amazing. That Jakob is going to be great to watch. I googled your ailment. Nice that you do so well with it and keep really fit. Kk welcome. The English have a good club system and membership. The majority of runners here do their own thing but with facebook etc you can hook up with other runners easily. Im in two facebook running groups. One where im the slowest and one where im the fastest. I need an inbetween group lol. Dont count on me for motivation sorry as i mostly run for fitness only now
Hey!
yes, we do have a really good club system, I guess it's much easier here as we are so small geographically. I've been a member of a club for a number of years now,
Light week for me at just 41km (actually my second lightest of the year, only beaten by marathon recovery week!). The ITB keeps flaring up just as it seems to be coming right, have tried rest, massaging specific areas, stretching, foam rolling and a few other things which have all shown brief improvements but not sustained. It's not getting worse, but it isn't getting better either. My osteo thought the ITB issues were a symptom, and something else (hamstring spasms) were causing the problem so maybe there is something else that is not resolved. I've still got one or two other things to try, so I'll give them a crack before seeing her either this week or next week. It's frustrating and I'm hoping I can figure it out soon!
M: unscheduled rest day
T: weights
W: 10.1km w/ 2km tempo efforts
Th: 14.5km
F: 6.7km
S: weights
S: 10.1km
Total: 41.4km
Also - ended the year at 3,612km. That was way up on 2016 where I did 2,686km (admittedly with some injury-enforced time off).
Mark - good luck with the ITB.
Hi to all the familiar names, from 2017.
My week was the biggest since my October marathon. My left knee is so-so, I managed my runs ok, but it's definitely noticeable. A few runs were with my kids on their bikes, so pace for these was a bit slower. Will be interesting to see whether I can get in another good 11 weeks before my first 2018 half.
Next week will be 50km / 31 miles, assuming my knee handles it. There will be some non-easy runs in there too.
I've been doing almost exclusively easy mileage the last 10 days but my feet are still just feeling off. I'm taking an extra rest day this week. Today would have been some hill repeats and likely would've gotten me back up to 50mpw (45-50 mostly easy is my goal for four to five weeks of base training). I will take today off as a "listen to your body" to avoid potential injury. The only things that have changed recently is, with the cold weather, I have not been doing my regular 10 minute ice water soak for my feet after every run. I'm usually a bit too cold to do so after coming in from -5 to -15 weather. I've aso been doing a heavy amount of treadmill running. I'm not sure if my form is different on the tm, if I am not used to the surface, or (like the weather) that it is at the gym so I can't do my foot ice bath right after, but that could be something to consider. Hopefully two rest days (Sunday is usually hills with Monday my standard rest day) will do the trick. Next week, it would be nice to get up around 75km again.
Mark - Hope you get your IT band issue figured out. It's no fun to be injured.
Blair - I'm happy I don't have to deal with those temperatures.
Watson - Good to have you back.
Flavio - Wants me check and see if there are any good segments around here that I have a shot at. I have to KOMs, and both happen to be in Norway. I got one under dubious circumstances when I ran with a buddy of mine who wanted to see if he could get the record. I was on his heels most of the time, but dropped 10 feet back at the end. When we compared efforts afterwards Strava had registered me with a 2 second better time than him for some reason
I ended up having my longest week ever to end 2017 (you can easily tell I've never been a high mileage guy). The week would have been shorter but last week's long run was postponed until Monday, so I really had 2 long runs this week. My legs feel kind of tired all the time since I've run at least 3 miles every day in December, but they really feel good when I'm out running. Ended the year at 1,300 miles, which is a slight increase from last year. Our dog also logged 18 miles with me this week and she is very happy about getting to go out running so often.
Weekly SummaryMonday, Dec 25, 2017 thru Sunday, Dec 31, 2017
5k: 20:32 (1/17) | HM: 1:34:37 (2/18) | FM: 3:31:37 (3/18)
Getting back into it
Rune - nice week! Haha as for that KOM, maybe a bit of errant GPS measurement was your friend.
Blair - hope the feet are feeling better soon. I find the TM to generally be easier on the body than road running, but it could be that your form is altering a little. Nice week despite that.
Watson - hope that knee is coming right.
All this segment talk got me exploring on Strava. There is a well known walking trail around these parts where I first started running. It's about 3.35km and I know it inside out. I've never gone full out as it's not ideal for speed intervals (although I've done some LT tempo runs there) but I took a peak and I'm already sitting at 8th on the list. 1st place is do-able. That might be a goal for next summer