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

Mark thats awesome. Would have been a strong easterly too ? I see Gene Rand ran the We Run The Night Half here last night for 3rd. Think he was about 1.20.

Commanderkeen signwriting is the job of putting your business graphics etc onto things usually with computer cut vinyl.

My week below. Rolled my ankle bad friday and was hurting later in the day so took painkillers but by saturday pain was gone. Took the weekend off though to let it heal....plus I had chores !

Weekly Summary
Monday, Mar 12, 2018 thru Sunday, Mar 18, 2018

Piwi- bummer about the ankle, but glad it seems to have come right quite quickly.  Yeah I see Gene did 1:19 flat, incredible considering he basically never tapers for anything less than a marathon and already had well over 100km under the belt for the week.

Steve - yeah I'm picking there will be a bigger field at Waterfront and probably some quite quick guys - talking to Stephen Lett after the race, he knows a few other guys that will probably do it so they are bound to be sharp (he is a former Auckland Marathon winner and still pretty bloody sharp).  I hope so because it actually helps a lot having some other guys to push you along and I've spent a lot of races running solo somewhere between the lead group and the rest.  My 3 quickest races I've always run at least half the race with others.

Mark - big congratulations on the PR.

Piwi - I hope the ankle is ok.

Steve - good week.

My race was a bit disappointing.  They had to modify the course, which made it even shorter.  So 21km was more like 20.3km.  Good thing I was a long, long way off a PR...

First 5km were good.

The next 2km were a little slow.  But a lot of the course is through vineyards, so some are dirt and some are long, slow grass.  So I wasn't too worried, as it was a slow section.

And then I just fell apart.  And from then on I was running 4:40-5:00/km pace.

Probably a combination of only having 2 medium long runs in the warmup, it being moderately warm, the grass really taking it out of me, and drinking quite a bit of alcohol the day before. And a lot of weaving through walkers who started a hour before - it is a school fundraiser in wine country, so some drink stations incl. wine tasting!

It was always a weekend away with the wife, with a race tacked on, so not super worried.  But would have liked to have done better.

Ran 1:33, which would have been 1:37/1:38 on a legit length cousco.

Mark - Congrats on the new PR! Amazing on that course too, interested in hearing the RR. I think we've been waiting for this breakout performance given your marathon base.

Waston - Bummer on the race, but obviously not a real goal race.

Piwi - Glad that your ankle already feels better! I keep forgetting to mention this, but I'm a big NBA fan. Don't root for any team though.

Steve - 6x1K is very difficult, good luck

Flavio - Already building up the excuses so you can get out of the Gaga outfit huh?

Me - First week with a true Q session. It was a bit too early to state earlier, but I think I'm officially back! It felt great to feel that soreness in my legs the next day after the 200m repeats. They weren't overly difficult (not meant to be), but felt great to be running at much faster speeds.

Guys good impressive performances this week. The pressure is on.

Flavio: I hope you pick one of the outfits from when she was weird, but not naked. I kind of don't want to see a 186lbs bear in a borat like costume without the mankini, no offense man. In any case: enjoy that week and the race. Hope you have some fun there.

On my side - my target for the +/- 90 minutes is in October. So I am doing two full 12+ weeks cycles of JD torture. I will run 2 run up hm races to bite off of my current PB of 113minutes. Way to go.

Right now I am on week 7 of Jack Daniels plan and next week I am going to start phase III which is the pain and suffering phase of that old bastards plans. I am certain he has never trained that hard himself. My quality workouts are faster than the last cycle back in fall of 2017. But the easy miles are slower. So I guess I am taking this aerobic build out very serious. I am currently at 5 workouts per week with 2xquality and 40 mpw. I plan to keep it this way and add one cycling workout to it, as soon as the weather gets better (it freaking started to snow again...).

So this week was:

This is in KM. My long run was a disaster. I got lost and had to climb some really steep stairs twice and climb and run down. All the while I had this vegan runner telling me through his audiobook how great it is to live off of salad only. So it really felt like 20k, not 13...

Steve that's lame. Whoever runs the 5k >20min has to post a pick of him/herself in a lady gaga pose. When you joined us you inherently accepted this. 

Coatesville Half Marathon 2018 - Race Report

Despite a lot of humid weather over the past 6 weeks, by the time the 7:30am start rolls around for the Coatesville Half Marathon, conditions are pretty good for this time of year with 15C, low humidity, and only a light easterly to deal with (which is a non-issue after the first 3km as the course runs mainly north-south).  It's cloudy too, which is good because it means it won't heat up super fast considering the race starts just after sunrise.  This isn't a goal race, but I've decided to go hard at it and see what happens - there's only 3 weeks until my goal race so not enough time to change up training, and I figure it'll be a good test of where I'm at.  The goal is to beat last year's time (1:20:54) but having not fully raced a HM in a while, I'm not quite sure how things will pan out.

The usual person that sings the national anthem on the start line isn't there, so a random runner volunteers, does a pretty impressive job and gets a big round of applause.  I'm feeling a little flat on the start line, with not quite the usual buzz of excitement, but I decide not to read too much in it.  The usual race director, Rob, isn't there, but MC Jason is and does a sterling job.  I'm in an antisocial mood after spending a lot of time talking to people the last couple of days so don't engage with anyone, other than cracking a couple of jokes with Jason.  Then the hooter goes and we're off.

The usual suspects from other local races are all in the lead group - Brad Luiten, Stephen Lett, Chris Trent, Matt Peach and Bob who always goes out fast and dies after 2km, along with another guy I've seen at a few races who has had some absolute stunners and some absolute shockers.  Defending champ Mark Boyce isn't there, nor is Rick Tombling who ran third last year but now lives in Wanaka.  The first couple of km's are into the wind, but usefully Bob is really tall so he's quite helpful to draft behind.  I've decided that I'll stick with the lead group if it feels manageable, and with the first 2km (mild uphill) at 3:43 and 3:54, it's definitely manageable.

The first big hill is around the 3km mark with the climb up to Ridge Rd - at around 50m it's probably the steepest climb of the race.  I'm feeling strong uphill and at this point a few runners drop off and it's just me, Steve and Chris.  Surprisingly Brad has also dropped back so I figure he is either injured or sick as normally he is toe-to-toe with Steve and the pace hasn't been super-fast so far.  Km 3 is slower at 4:10 but pretty quick for a climb that steep so I hope I don't regret it later.

The next few km's are rolling ups and downs, I stick pretty close to Steve and Chris the whole way along Ridge Road and after so many races run solo in no mans land between the lead group and the rest, it's actually nice to be running with some other guys.  We also see Anna McRae, Tim Morrison and a couple others out for a bike ride - all very good runners but unfortunately injured, but it's cool to see them here watching and supporting.  Steve is definitely the one pushing the pace but Chris and I are holding OK with him and km's 4 and 5 are 3:44 and 3:44, with km's 6 and 7 coming in quicker at 3:34 and 3:23 as we start to hit the downhill, maintained through km's 8 and 9 at 3:34 and 3:31.  The problem with the downhills is that because there is a turnaround at the 10.5km mark (it's not quite an out and back course, but almost), you know that every downhill enjoyed here is an uphill to be suffered later.  I take a gel at the 8km mark so I've got some extra gas for the climb.  The views up from the ridgeline are great and a nice distraction, it is very scenic course.

About the time we hit a sharper downhill at km 10 (3:24) I am thankful that my ITB has sorted itself out or it would be brutal right now.  Also, Steve is making a bit of a move, and with the nasty climb from km's 11-17 still to come, I decide not to match him.  Hell, the guy won the Auckland Marathon a few years ago.  He pulls out probably around a 15 second lead by the time we hit the turnaround and then we're into the toughest section of the race.

I've decided this is the part of the race that I'm really going to work.  It's a significant net uphill right to around 17km, from which point there are a few rollers and a big downhill to ride home.  This race isn't won or lost in the last 3km, it's won by the time you hit the 18km mark because after that there's a massive downhill that everyone gets to ride home.  At the turnaround I think we were averaging 3:42/km.  It's not lost on me that this is PB pace, but the toughest part of the race is still to come so it's way too early to contemplate that.

As we hit the 11km mark (3:49) I realise Chris is dropping off a bit.  Seeing other runners come up to the turnaround, a guy I don't know is in 4th, with Brad lagging a little in 5th probably a minute behind, and Matt Peach tailing him.  I've run a lot of hills in training so now is the time to knuckle down.

Well I guess that work paid off because my slowest km's through this point were km 12 (4:01/km, +33m elevation) and km 15 (4:02/km, +33m elevation) but still came at a very good clip.  The runners coming in the other direction provide great encouragement and support, a few are telling me I can catch Steve in 1st which I know I have little or no chance of doing, but hey I still appreciate it.  In between on the more rolling portions I actually gasped a couple of times when the splits for km's 13 and 14 came up at 3:36 and 3:28 respectively because although I was working, I didn't feel like I was working that hard.  I haven't really looked back to see where Chris is, but at the Wake Rd u-turn (~14km) I figure I figure I've nabbed at least 30 seconds on him, maybe more.   This is good from a series perspective as he's only one point behind me.  I think I took a second gel at this point as I was getting enthusiastic.  Also the climb back up from Wake Rd is the last particularly grinding one.  My HR has been steady in the high-170's but that's not surprising given the steady climb and stage of the race.

I'm still really putting in the work and had been feeling strong but by km 15 I'm starting to feel the hills and having to fight for it and the two things keeping me going are firstly the fact that I'm still not far off PB pace (3:44/km vs. 3:42/km), and secondly the fact that I know the big downhill is not far away.  Those hills were hard but surprisingly I managed to keep the pace right up although I'm glad we're pretty much through it now.  Km 16 is a bit more uphill (3:56), then we hit a couple more rolling sections as we turn down Glenmore Road for the last 4 km.  And you know what?  I battled through the uphill and right now I'm actually feeling like my legs are a bit tired but I've got enough there for a good burn home.  I remember my average pace at this point was sitting around 3:44/km, meaning I was looking like a sub-1:20, or quicker based on the downhill.  I think the 17km mark came up around 1:03:30, at this point I'm not really up to detailed mental arithmetic so I resort to my lazy 'use 4:00/km and knock a bit off'.  That would get me to something a bit under 1:19:30 - and running a sub-1:20 on this course is well and truly a massive carrot.  And then I realise that's pretty conservative because I'll probably pick up some more through the downhill.  The course is certified at HM distance and my watch has been pretty much right on the km markers, so course measurement shouldn't be an issue either.

Km 18 is the last of the rollers, with a few twists and turns through the trees and the top of the hill and it comes up at 3:44.  We've just gone past 1:07, and once we're through the trees you can see down to the valley and the glorious downhill that awaits.  My lazy maths tells me at this point 'something a bit less than 1:19' might be a go.  And then I remember that there's a big gain to be had on the downhill and OH S%$T A PB IS ON THE CARDS.

Now, a lot of things went through my head at this point.  It's the 4th race in the 5-race series.  It's not the goal race - that's in 3 weeks time.  I'm not gonna catch Steve.  Chris, in 3rd, is not gonna catch me.  But Coatesville is kind of a special race.  I missed it altogether in 2016 after breaking my toe.  Last year, I really surprised myself with a well-run race for 1:20:54 - considering our daughter had been born 3 days earlier and I basically just thought about her and my wife most of the race.  That PB of 1:18:20 that I set in October 2016... I haven't been within 2 minutes of it since.  And here's an opportunity to roll it, on a bloody hard course, with my wife and daughter waiting at the finish line after we've had a really fun first birthday party for her yesterday.  I actually got a little bit teary-eyed!

So yeah, at that point I pretty much just dropped the hammer and went for broke.  Tilt forward, don't break at the waist, embrace gravity, stride out, and BOOM DOWN THE HILL WE GO.  Km 19 is 3:38, a small roller here, but it's a good start considering I know the best is yet to come.  The watch is showing 3:43/km as average pace and I know if I can hit 3:42/km that's PB pace.  I can only see Steve occasionally around the corners as he has probably has 40 seconds on me.

Km 20 is -38m elevation, a good grade for downhill running and I pretty much just raced down here.  Honestly I'd love to see a video of this because I felt like I was absolutely hurtling along, much like when I've been trying to hit top speed on a snowboard and I'm riding a very fine line between speed and just losing it altogether.  It's the fastest of the race at 3:18 and there's still another quick section before we hit the flat for the last 500m or so.  We've just gone past 1:14, so we are into PB territory now with 1.1km to go.  The downhill evens out here slightly and is probably even quicker than the steeper stuff that precedes it.  We turn off the road onto a trail that runs around the outside of the pony club.  I'm a little conscious of not wanting to lose my footing but the surface is pretty reliable.  As we approach a couple of tight turns leading to the finish line, the watch ticks past 1:17.  I KNOW there's less than a minute to the finish line at this point, and I'm giving it pretty much everything and feeling actually incredibly good.  The final turn is on to the home straight, about 50m to go, I didn't even see the final km split pop up on my watch because I was just focused on sprinting to the finish.  I had enough to go almost full sprint at this point, I can see my wife and daughter behind the finish line and as I charge over the line I can see the official race clock at well under 1:18.  I'm so stoked I just want to jump around and I give my wife and daughter a big hug.  "Holy s%$t" says my wife because she knows I wasn't expecting to be anywhere near that quick on this course.  My daughter doesn't have actual words yet but she seems entertained by my wet, sweaty hair!

My watch was at 1:17:46, but official time was 1:17:44.  40-odd seconds behind first and a good 2 minutes ahead of 3rd place.  A new PB by 36 seconds on a course that, if you'd told me it's a PB course, I would've laughed at you.  I have a chat to Steve and congratulate him on the win, he's impressed when I tell him it was a big PB which is real praise coming from such a talented and experienced runner.

And here's the thing - I have no idea how it happened.  I've had a good training block since getting back from holiday, but not out-of-this-world good.  It's a tough course, conditions were reasonably good but ideally could have been a little cooler.  I guess I just had a really good day and you've gotta enjoy those because sometimes you have bad days out there on the course too for whatever reason - like Brad, who unfortunately was battling back and ITB issues so I really felt for him because that last downhill would've been absolute hell on a tight ITB.  Maybe I'm just one of those weirdo's that really enjoys tough courses for whatever reason too!

Anyway there's now 3 weeks till the goal race, Waterfront Half Marathon, but I feel like I can just go and enjoy that and have fun knowing that I've got a good PB in the bag already.  3 weeks is enough time to be well recovered and maybe put a few finishing touches on, given the Waterfront course is dead flat and almost the complete opposite of Coatesville but not enough to make any big training gains.