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

Piwi - I always thought that re sleep but before the North Shore Half Marathon in 2016 I slept really badly for about a week (no idea why, I wasn't stressed about anything in particular), like 4 hours a night kind of thing.  Ended up hitting a good PB at the race.  Maybe it was just adrenaline, I dunno.

Steve - I was chatting to Brad at prizegiving and he mentioned the Melbourne race as well.  Would be awesome finishing in the MCG!

Me - after 13 races, including all my current PB's up to HM distance, it looks like it might be time to retire my beloved Mizuno Wave Hitogami 2's which are starting to look a bit beaten-up.  Sadly it looks like Mizuno has discontinued the Hitogami and the Wave Sonic is the replacement.  There are still pairs of the Wave Hitogami 4 floating around but I'm afraid lime green or 'clownfish' orange shoes just aren't really my gig (they might go well with a Gaga outfit though).  Blue or black is more my thing!

Interestingly the Sonic is 4mm drop whereas the Hitogami was 9mm.  I'm not really bothered by this because I run in Saucony shoes a lot which are quite low drop.

Steve/Mark I ran Melbourne marathon in 2014. Did the lap of Albert Park but unfortunately could not run in the MCG as they were re doing the track or something. I remember it been cold at the start under 10c and I was shivering. I got a preferred start which embarrassingly meant I started first with the elites so I had all these Kenyans around me . By the end of the race it was about 18c and later on got up to 26c. Very nice course and basically flat apart from one hill.

Mark I think some people cope with stress better than others. Sleep varies with some fine with 6 hours.  Your Lady Gaga goal is going to have to be 16.30 5k or faster ?

Piwi - my brother is one of those infuriating people that can quite happily get by on 4 hours a night.  I don't know how he does it.  I generally need ~8 hours a night.  Tend to average that across a week but sometimes a bit lower during the week (5am starts) and a bit higher on the weekend.  Haha good luck trying to keep up with those Kenyans!

Steve - I remember that year... the Rugby World Cup final was on at basically the same time as the Auckland Marathon.  A new crowd had bought the race rights earlier that year and discovered they were unfortunately stuck with the date!  They showed it live on a big screen in Devonport and it finished just before the HM started.  It was actually my very first HM and I was pretty nervous so I just listened to the commentary on my ipod while warming up.

Jaime: safe travels! Hope you adjust fast. Flying west bound is always a bit tougher I feel and I kind of try to trick it with Melatonin. Depending on how flexible your work hours are you could try to start shifting your bedtime towards Boston. But I guess the real deal is qualifying for it. Like getting into a very popular night club. Once you are in, you are in. Just enjoy. I am years and years away from it. So I am certainly wrong here

Piwi: I saw that as of right now we are in the top ten of the Strava 90min group!!! I am just beaten by some crazy Russian and his even crazier friend from India who finished a marathon yesterday????

Me: I thought this time I am immune against injury. Bloody hell I think I am developing calf pain. Something that bothers me while walking but not when I run. I checked the shin and its fine and doesnt hurt. I will Ice and foam roll tonight but if it does't go away I will have to rest as well and leave it up to Piwi to catch the Indian on Strava!

Keen - Once again, great race. I'm even more impressed given the mileage you put in for the week! One of the most exciting things is moving your VDOT up for workouts, it's such a feeling of accomplishment (even if it means some more mental and physical pain in each workout going forward!)

MJ - I am currently 59th in that group and very proud of my work. Also, the Kiwis have an unfair advantage, they're like 20 hours ahead of me in the US! With injuries, the general rule I've followed along with what my doctor says: if it doesn't hurt when running, you're good to go. I've had so many things that bother me that warm up after half a mile of running. Usually that just means it's some sort of soreness or niggle that isn't serious. Of course, if you go from taking half a mile warming up to needing 3 miles to get through it, then you may want to take some rest.

Me - Anybody ever get the feeling of pins and needles in their feet during a run? I got it yesterday, I felt like I was literally stepping on a pin in my shoe. It's not as bad today but definitely still there walking around. Seems like stretching the hamstring helps, but any other tips would be greatly appreciated.

Keen: wow week. why are you doing doubles now?

Jmac: thanks for the advice. I think I will rest for a day if it doesnt get better by tomorrow. I dont feel it while running but after running. And it has gotten a bit worse today...Tomorrow would have been my JD workout and I dont want to put that kind of pounding on it. So I will take a day off and see if I can get back by Thursday. Bummer; first real hickup this year.

Congratulations on the race! Great time. No gaga!

The Redbud Classic is "the" spring tune-up race for the OKC Memorial Half/full Marathons in the area, but before this year I had never run it.

The running races are all on Sunday, with bike derby's on Saturday- all of Saturday's events were cancelled due to a freak (but not bad) snowstorm. Weather was nearly perfect, especially since the race starts at 2pm - overcast, mid-40's, but with a 12-15 mph south wind (typical for this time of year). The wind would be at our backs for about the first 1.25 mi, then a headwind from mile 3.3-3.8 and the last ~.6 miles.

In the days before the race I looked up the finishing times for the past 3 years and saw that only once (2015) had there been more than a handful of people sub-40, with maybe 9-10 in 2015. Seeing this, and having a (VDOT predicted) 39:20 in mind, I lined up just behind the people who looked faster than me. I was a bit unsure of what my pace should be as this was untapered and at the end of my biggest week in about a year, but at the same time I knew I was more fit than a month before at the 15k. In the end I decided to stick with the VDOT equivalent and make adjustments as I needed to.

The race starts off uphill, and as planned everyone ahead of me stayed there (for the time being) and no one passed me off the line. As things settled down I occasionally checked my watch and saw that my pace was a little faster than goal. Output from Stryd was right in line with what I thought I could sustain and the pace felt doable. These two things, and that the 15k that led to my current VDOT was finished with plenty of gas in the tank, led me to just go with the pace rather than slow down.

Mile 1 in 6:18, and the leaders were no where in sight by this point, but I was slowly catching up to the runner directly ahead of me. I passed him at about mile 1.5 and set my sights on the next person ahead of me.

Mile 2 was 6:20, which I mostly attribute to losing the tailwind since the effort felt the same. I passed runner #2 at about mile 2.5 and saw that the next person was well ahead of me at this point. From here the (slight) all uphill nature of the course turns to more easy rollers with an overall slight downhill for the rest of the race (maybe 50-60' net elevation loss to the end).

Mile 3: 6:18, Mile 4: 6:18. These miles are pretty uneventful, though my calves start to feel a bit tight. While I've never run these exact roads before, I have gone through the general neighborhood many times. I focus on running the tangents as best as I can from what I remember of the course map and what I can see of the runners ahead of me. Those ahead of me look to mostly be running along the curve of the road rather than the shortest line, and they slowly come back to me.

At about mile 4.25 I've caught up with the next runner, but it takes another 1/4 mile for me to pass him. I take the shortest route around a corner (between a badly parked golf cart and the curb) while he goes around the cart and don't see him again. Here the 5k and 10k courses converge, but the road is clear enough that I don't have to run a bad line.

Mile 5: 6:16. A short 1/4 mile uphill begins at mile 5 where the 5k and 10k courses diverge again, and while I can see the runner ahead of me (~100 yards) it doesn't look like I'll be able to catch him as he is holding on strong. At this point my calves are either feeling better or I'm just unaware that they're still bothering me and I'm feeling good enough that I know I should be able to come in ahead of goal and that I can increase my effort some.

I use the slight downhill ahead of me to increase pace and manage to overtake the only runner I can see in front of me. Mile 6: 6:06. I pour on everthing I can and cross the line in 38:56, 5:41 /mi pace for the last .23 mile my watch records after mile 6.

I finished with a bit left in the tank, but nowhere near as much as I did in my previous 15k. I'm absolutely thrilled with my time, even splits, and (taken with a grain of salt) notice that my watch gives me credit for not just the 10k PR (which matches chip time) but also a 1 second 5k PR. All in all, this leaves me super-phyched for my upcoming HM. I'm finding out that running this middle-ish distance stuff to be lots of fun, plus I finally get to fill out my sig line!