Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2018
Hot Weather Complainer
Jaime - That was a nice finish and I reckon the conditions easily cost you a minute. Steve - the Queenstown course is deceptively tough. While it's relatively flat, the trails are tougher work than the road and take quite a bit out. I had a pretty disappointing race there in 2016. It suspect it's a bit quicker now they've taken Marathon Hill out which was an absolute bugger but it's still much slower than the flat road courses like Christchurch or Huntly. 1:35 off light training and a stomach bug is pretty solid! I'm glad they've got road closures for the Waterfront Half Marathon otherwise it could get pretty crowded on the course with the multiple out-and-back sections. I reckon it could be quite a strong field and will probably attract most of the fast runners in the area that aren't doing Huntly on March 25 so I doubt I'll be up the front but hopefully not too far behind. Brad Luiten will definitely be there and probably Steven Lett too and they should both be around 1:16 on that course as well as probably a few others. I'd like to beat my PB or at least be sub-1:20 and there should be a few in that category - Chris Trent and probably Julian Ng too.
Jaime - That was a nice finish and I reckon the conditions easily cost you a minute.
Steve - the Queenstown course is deceptively tough. While it's relatively flat, the trails are tougher work than the road and take quite a bit out. I had a pretty disappointing race there in 2016. It suspect it's a bit quicker now they've taken Marathon Hill out which was an absolute bugger but it's still much slower than the flat road courses like Christchurch or Huntly. 1:35 off light training and a stomach bug is pretty solid!
I'm glad they've got road closures for the Waterfront Half Marathon otherwise it could get pretty crowded on the course with the multiple out-and-back sections. I reckon it could be quite a strong field and will probably attract most of the fast runners in the area that aren't doing Huntly on March 25 so I doubt I'll be up the front but hopefully not too far behind. Brad Luiten will definitely be there and probably Steven Lett too and they should both be around 1:16 on that course as well as probably a few others. I'd like to beat my PB or at least be sub-1:20 and there should be a few in that category - Chris Trent and probably Julian Ng too.
Yeah I think feeling better in Queenstown coincided with getting to the much better packed part of the trails around the airport and also no little up and downs which weren't too bad but felt bad with the state I was in. There was a guy vomiting next to the course about 5km in and he'd been there a while so must have been quite fast...that didn't help me much. Looking back though, while it's not in my top 5 times it may be my gutsiest race (I guess almost literally).
It will be nice if it's not too crowded or at least not enough to slow me down. The new Christchurch course has Hagley Park in the first 5km and it was very frustrating last year with people blocking the way. Hopefully there's plenty of separation with the 10km start and the finish line too because that starts at 9am and if I am on PBish pace, they'll be everywhere when I'm coming into the finish.
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
Cobra Commander Keen
Piwi - Thanks for the sports updates!
Rune - Bummer about the run. Better to get a sucky one out of the way now, though. Sorry, no input about swapping the tempo for a M pace run from me - I don't have the experience to suggest anything.
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
I have nerves sometimes the day before and early in the day which causes me to go to the toilet like 4, 5 times. But around 20 minutes before the race I start to have a deep focus in my mind where I reach a rare state of calmness and the anxiety is gone usually for the remainder of the race.
This x100. It's true for every nerve-racking event in my life. I'm always incredibly nervous in advance, but come the day of, the nerves just go away. I'm never nervous race morning and usually in the coral I'm about the calmest I've been in weeks. It's just like this sense of calm comes over me and I'm thinking "I'm ready to go, let's do this!" But the week before a goal race is usually a disaster.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Quick note to share some of the pictures of the race:
Me on the first mile:
Me closer to the finish
This shows the headwind between Km 3 and 8 (sorry, there are no flags and people near me is also wearing tighter clothing)
And the high tide on the way back (we were supposed to run closer to the wall and the road opened to traffic):
Intl. correspondent
Jaime - woah that was intense! And cold!
me - it looks like I'll have to find some elbow pads. Lately I have had to run with a waist-pack to carry my phone as I'm on call on my job.
Today it was too loose, so I wanted to adjust while running. I turned my upper body to the right and started fiddling with it, then tripped and fell LOL. Luckily since I was sideways I fell on my left butt and back somehow managing to not damage the phone and barely a scrape on my left elbow. I'm a lucky bastard.
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
Jaime: was wondering what you did with your hat and gloves but I guess you stuffed it into your tights? Your knee looks bulky.
Flavio: I have one of those arm bands that work well for me especially since I listen to audiobooks during the easy and long runs. But I hardly ever run fast enough to fall - I think I haven't fallen yet - so knock on wood!
I will end the week with 57k (35miles) and I plan to stay there for 3 weeks. By then I will be into a 6 week cycle of JDs phase 3. I hope to reach 40 mpw before my first of 3 halfs in early June but might have to postpone the next increase until Phase 4 which is more of a taper cycle. I love spring. Its warm and nice.
HM: 1:47 (9/20) I FM: 3:53:11 (9/23)
2024 Goals: run a FM & HM + stay healthy!
Hehe, Mick, you should apply for a detective job.
I put the gloves behind, kept by the waist tie and they remained there, but the hat was on that side and kept going down, that stressed me a bit, but it stopped at knee level and didn't bother me at all
Jaime you are the old guy in the middle photo right........ at least you didnt put your gloves down the front of your tights to make you look well endowed . Thats surf looks like it was pumping to break over the road. Great photos.
Flavio they have this modern technology in NZ called a pocket to put your phone in. I got lucky and even got 2 in my running shorts haha. I usually carry my phone as I run my own business and am always on call. Only time I dont is during workouts which I havent done for months.
I wear slightly more bulky shorts when carrying my phone rather than thin flimsy running shorts.
Keen you will be glued to the Tv later to watch OKC vs The Spurs .........never mind I will let you know the result !
My week
Weekly SummaryMonday, Mar 05, 2018 thru Sunday, Mar 11, 2018
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 "
JamesD
Jaime - Wow! Great picture. I've run through some serious storms, but never raced in any.
My week made me feel like I'm in limbo. Knee is sometimes worse, sometimes not so bad - not bad enough for me to see the doctor but not improving quickly enough to increase mileage like I want. At the same time, I'm getting in a decent 30-ish miles per week and seem to be improving my aerobic shape some. My total looks low this week, but that's just because I switched my off/swimming days from Wednesday and Sunday-of-next-week to Tuesday and Saturday, so I ran four days this week.
Sun - off, knee hurt some
Mon - 6.2 miles easy-to-moderate, knee hurt some
Tues - raining hard when it was time to run, so I moved my off/swimming day forward from Weds. 21 minutes swimming
Weds -6.2 easy, knee not so bad
Thurs - 6.2 easy
Fri - 6.2 easy
Sat - 22 minutes swimming
Total - 24.8 miles
YTD Average - 28 mpw
Post-1987 PRs: Half 1:30:14 (2019); 10K 39:35 (2019); 5K 19:12 (2017); Mile 5:37.3 (2020)
'24 Goals: consistency, age-graded PRs, half < 1:32
Piwi/Mick - short pockets are not an option with a One Plus 3T, the phone is too big. Also neither armbands nor pockets are viable due to living in a major metropolitan area in Brazil. There’re nearly one hundred armed robberies per day just in my town, the majority aiming at robbing phones.
That’s why I use the waistpack which is very discreet and minimal, it looks like a money belt and I can conceal it under my t-shirt.
Piwi - that’s a lot of miles for a hobby jogger
Also, we need to have a look at Jaime's next race pictures to see whether he implements your suggestion of tucking stuff in the front
James - good job being conservative, consistency is best.
all - it looks like we lost the board ladies again
me - 45 miles in 6h30 + 2 hours of functional training. This is the point where I last crashed, so hopefully I can take the ship over the wave and onto 50 miles a week
Jamie - nice photos.
James - good luck with the knee.
Piwi - another good hobby week.
My week was good. Tuesdays intervals were good, as was Thursday's tempo. And then started a taper. On Thursday, my 8km of tempo was sub 1:30 pace, and given my history of racing better than my training paces, I'm pretty sure I'm at worst 1:29 for this Sunday. I'll race by feel, start out at around 4:20/km pace and then slightly speed up and see where it gets me.
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
Another good solid week with a much better weekend run in slightly cooler conditions.
Monday 60 mins with Staircase intervals 1,2,3,4,3,2,1,2,3,4 with 1 min recovery in between.
Wednesday 60 mins with 3x10 mins tempo
Saturday 90 mins with 4km race pace/tempo.
2 weights sessions and a bike session to see the week out. 3 big training weeks left before a lighter last week and I'm feeling like I'm on track for a decent race. If I can stay on track then 1:30 is about par, a PB I guess comes down to how the day goes and every second I can steal.
Do you find that works? I've had a few people say you need to race at an even pace for the whole race. I'd love to work out the optimal scenario of seconds sacrificed in the first half and then gained back plus interest in the second half.
Steve - Assuming flat surface, no wind etc., I think you can comfortably be 30 seconds behind at the 5k mark, and more than make it back. My half PR was a negative split, although admittedly the course was probably slightly quicker naturally in the second half of it.
https://www.strava.com/activities/707959230
Have you ever heard someone state that they made a mistake of going out too slow?
Steve if you are totally in tune with your fitness then a target pace split evenly is good but most of us cant control adrenalin and excitement and go out too fast. Weekly mileage over 50 mpw gives the fitness needed to hold pace in the last 6kms of a half.
Watson sounds like a good plan and a less painfull way to run a good half !
Flavio ah right that phone is huge. Ive got a Samsung J5 which isnt too bad. Thats some serious crime. We probably only have one armed holdup a week in the whole country and it makes national news !