Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2018
Rune: there is a documentary on Youtube of a guy who tried to break 2:30 and got injured. Instead he went to Africa I guess Kenia to be precise. I spare you the details but he is a Brit. He mentioned the exact same thing you observed: during the first running boom in the 70-80s the top was wider. He said there was no Brit running below 2:20 today but there were like in average 30 during the first intense years.
And thats crazy if you think about the materials or lack of the same at the time. No GPS watches, shoes as heavy as boots, no headlamps, no dry fabric. Nothing. We are just not nuts enough I guess.
Jmac: So I will run the first hm 2018 in early June and then I have another one early September and the goal race end of September. I hope I can hold 40miles until June and my goal is 100-103 minutes. Would I have to be closer to 50miles to get closer to say 95min by September? Just want to get a first idea...
Piwi: you know what I tried the Boston 6 on today and they are great. But still run at 150 bucks here. There is a local marathon at the end of April and the new model comes out in May/June so I guess I will patiently wait. I currently have three pairs that I cycle and one needs to be replaced. But my shoe budget for this month is already depleted and I am afraid of my wife
Mark & Flavio: the Altras and Saucony Kinvara's are on my list for when I visit family in SFO later this year. Will ask Rune where to get the best deals.
HM: 1:47 (9/20) I FM: 3:53:11 (9/23)
2024 Goals: run a FM & HM + stay healthy!
Mick, I think you're right, we've grown soft over the years
JMac - According to this list, 44 edit: 86 when you count the non-record eligible races, Americans ran sub 2:20 in all of last year. I'm not sure what the total number was in 1984 but 36 did it in New York alone, so I imagine it being higher than that.
https://www.iaaf.org/records/toplists/road-running/marathon/outdoor/men/senior/2017?regionType=countries®ion=usa&drop=regular&fiftyPercentRule=regular&page=1&bestResultsOnly=true
5k: 20:32 (1/17) | HM: 1:34:37 (2/18) | FM: 3:31:37 (3/18)
Getting back into it
RIP Milkman
Look at the 1984 race, can you imagine this today where the leader stops multiple times???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1FEb6WF67s
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Jmac that restaurant sounds expensive....but I would go with the crayfish/lobster if they have it
Rune good observation. In fact Rod Dixons time which was our national record was only just beaten about 4 weeks ago by Jake Robertson. As Jmac said the elites will pick races where they can get in on the prize money so if its stacked already they will look else where. The top runners are faster now mainly due to the Africans competing much more than in the 80s but the average marathon time is way slower than in the 80s as the hobby joggers and bucket listers briefly train to run a full.
I looked at a local event here the Rotorua Marathon which had around 300 sub 3s in the early 80s out of only 3000 runners. Now they get around 40 sub 3s out of 2000 ! So many more events too and other sports to attract athletes away from running.
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 "
Also looked at Boston in 1983, which happened to have particularly good running weather (I need to stop this ). It looks like 76 American runners finished under 2:20.That's almost twice the total sub 2:20 runners from last year
Intl. correspondent
Rune - Fair enough, being a germanic language.
Piwi - I’m sure you mean manly feet right? Here’s a picture of them:
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
JMac - when we were in NY a few years ago my wife and I went to Public, which was one of Matt Lambert's previous restaurants. It was good, but probably not as good as I'd expected. The food was mostly pretty good but one pork dish was just absurdly over-salted (they actually apologised profusely for it too - clearly a mistake got made somewhere). I just had a look at the Musket Room's menu and it looks pretty impressive - the wine list is awesome too and there's some particularly good NZ Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir included (including a Rippon Vineyards Pinot Noir which is where my wife and I got married!).
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: Runway5 / National 5k Champs, 16:22, National Masters AG Champ!
Up next: Still working on that...
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
Flavio great feet but only 3 toes !
Mark i clearly have been missing out on top restaurants as dragging 4 noisy kids along doesnt go down too well ! We did go to Al Browns restaurant in Taupo once up by De Brett hotpools ( the mother in law had just inherited some money and paid ) and I had $30 fish and chips for lunch . We were very under dressed....
Mick bugger on the price. I used Wiggle.co.uk and they arrived on my door for 70 UK pound or $ 100 US dollar .Thats about top of what I pay. My wife scares me too
JamesD
Mick- I believe you said earlier that you were concerned about the Kinvara's low drop. You might want to try using them mainly for easy runs. I've had occasional Achilles trouble with low-drop shoes (especially some Brooks PureFlow models).. Going fast or long in low-drop shoes seems to put more strain on the Achilles, but the Kinvaras have been great on my easy runs.
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
MJ - don’t push mileage if you don’t have to. Often just consistency is more important than MPW. You may be able to hit PR after PR if you’re running 40 mpw if you haven’t done that kind of work before. I know I was able to get from 1:32 down to 1:23 by running fairly consisten mileage, just much more consistently.
Rune - you may be right, there could be more there. I know over on LetsRun they have this discussion often, but as usual it’s a trollfest. Also your discussion made me watch old YouTube videos of the 1981 NYC marathon (first broadcast). It’s really amazing if you have a chance, not only for old time footage, but there’s this 20 minute “investigative” section in the middle where they talk about the growing scandal in running: paying prize money! Also for you Kiwis, the woman who won and set the world record at the time was a Kiwi https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GUfkqhhmTHY
Piwi - it’s NYC, everything is expensive! Plus, it’s a Michelin-star restaurant, so they’re able to charge more. For the quality though, it’s actually really well priced.
Mark - That’s awesome! Such a small world sometimes. I also forgot to ask you something - do you still use a coach?
James - PureFlows are my favorite. I might be on my 10th pair at this point. They’re definitely not for everyone though!
Me - I completed my 10x400 workout today. Quad wasn’t perfect, but I got the workout done. I would say that means I can give my 10K a go on Saturday, but I’m getting more concerned about the weather. It’s not a huge race so I don’t know if they’ll run it if it’s snowing. Either way, won’t be great conditions. I’ll plan to run it though.
Jmac wow some great footage there. I was 12 when Alison Roe won New York. New Zealand distance running was pretty strong then considering we were only 3 million people. I saw your workout on Strava. Good to hear the quad wasnt too bad. I dont need to go to fancy restaurants as I catch alot of fish which tastes so good. last weekend I went out twice and got 5 snapper and a Trevally on friday and 4 more snapper on monday. I ate the Trevally sushimi style, raw with soy sauce and wasabi, so good.
James I tried Kinvara a few years ago. They were a lovely shoe, light and bouncy but cushioned. Unfortunately even on easy runs they gave me that burning sensation in my Plantar area.
My lower leg pain has suddenly gone yay ! Wore my new Bostons today, so comfortable.
Been afk for a while since I ran my first half marathon 3 weeks ago, so much to read! Too much to comment on all!
Rune - Awesome race report! Congrats on your marathon PR, despite the distance being way too long!
So, the day after my first half marathon I registered for my second one, which was this monday. The 3 weeks in between those two I only managed to get 1 badminton training in and 2 slow, easy runs (mainly because I wanted to take some rest and still experienced some shin issues).
I had absolutely no intentions of racing this half marathon fast. Plan was to start at around 5:00/km pace to end somewhere around 1:45, which would be 5 minutes above my fresh PR. First two kilometers went "easy" in 4:54 and 4:46. Then realized my legs felt fine, weather conditions were great, and decided I'd speed up. Picked up a steady pace of 4:35-4:40 min/km.
Somewhere halfway I was closing in on the 1:40 pacer. Decided to stay in that group until finish, to secure a time around 1:40. Sticked with the group for about 2 kilometers and then decided to go past them and pick up the pace. Terrible idea cause I ended up alone in a heavy head wind. Worked my way up to a guy in front of me and followed him, still keeping the pace between 4:35 and 4:40. Passed the guy at about 15 km and had to do the remainder of the race solo. Kept the pace going until km 18, then dropped to 5:00 for the last three kilometers.
Crossed the finish in 1:37:59 to run a personal best by almost two minutes! Satisfied!
My muscles are way less sore than after my first half marathon. Today, two days after, they still feel a bit sore, but waaaay better than three weeks ago. Also, shin problems seem to be completely gone. Will take another day or two rest just to be sure everything can recover. Plan for april is to start getting mileage up. Got some 10K races coming in May/June. Hopefully I can PR in one of those as well and break 42 minutes for 10K. July, I will be in Croatia on holiday. After that, I will probably spend the rest of the summer preparing for some smaller races (5K/10K) and hopefully crush my half marathon PR in fall of this year. See if 1:35 will be possible. I think it's within reach if I can get mileage up. Also decided to drop badminton, so I can fully focus on running from now!
Roxx - congratz, it's always very satisfying to finally drop a PR.
me - I was running slowly and feeling sorry for myself today (nearly tripped again on the left side) and my plantar fasciitis was back on the left foot, until a little after the turn around point some skinny fast guy passed me floating around easily. Right then I decided to follow him at a distance, the problem is he was super fast and was running 4:20/km up the hill but I stuck together for about 3km total and it was great to have some one to draft off, even if some 20 meters behind. Hopefully no side effects
Cobra Commander Keen
Piwi - Hooray for disappearing pain!
Roxx - Congrats on the HM PR!
Low drop shoes - I've never run in anything with greater than 4mm drop (Saucony Kinvara or Freedom), with my last ~1,400 miles in Altra Escalante's. I tried a pair of Hoka's at the LRS a couple weeks ago that had a 6mm drop and they just felt weird - like my calf and achilles weren't doing anything.
I found out that my employer is sponsoring my entry to my goal HM, along with maybe a couple dozen other folks across the FM, HM, 5k, and relay. This will be my 3rd time running the local spring race (2x FM, 1x HM) and I've never had to pay for it!
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
JamesD: yes now that you mention it - when I did workouts in the Hokas I felt my knee. But not during the easy runs! Thanks!
JMac: Ok I will see when 40mpw starts to be too little!
Flavio: there is the competition mode! Hope it doesnt hurt too much!
Piwi: you are a genius. Just went on wiggle myself and ordered a pair of the Bostons for 74 USD. Shipping is free to my country. I am very happy. The free shipping means I will have to wait for 10 days but who cares But which color did you get? I didnt see any pink nor purple for you...did you have to go with the manly navy blue this time ???