Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2018
Keen - nice RR and Gorilla Hill sounds like a lot of fun!! The wind and temperature would've made it tough in places and I still reckon in the right conditions you would go close to 1:25 based on your training.
JMac- nah, not really a specific workout, it was just chucking in some speedy stuff on the track for the hell of it, really, since I'd basically run hills the rest of the week. Nice week from you and it's good to see you've got the mileage back up fairly smoothly and quickly.
Rune - a local guy I know, Julian Ng, was in your town and decided on a whim to do the 'Urban Coyote' trail half marathon up in the hills around Sausalito. The hills looked brutal! Nice week and yeah although I probably sound like a broken record, "consistency is king!".
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"
Jmac those 1200s sound hardcore, you must be really fit to get them done. I will try my piddly 5 x 1000s tomorrow and will likely jump into a Parkrun 5k on saturday to see where Im at. Im quite motivated by my new age group which starts tomorrow
I see an 18 year old Kenyan ran central Park 10k race in 27.08 that is seriously good on what sounded like not an easy course. Did you read about that ? its on Letsrun.
Keen that was a good read. Thanks for posting it. Good news is it will be easy for you to PR next half marathon
Rune i do the same and look back at previous years training blocks to see the correlation between performance and times. I like to take about an 18 week average to get a good idea of base.
Mark please keep preaching consistency is king. i have been very guilty of some 3 month good blocks followed by 3 months of pathetic mileage over the last 4 years. At Taupo i had just put in a nice 3 month block to get back to what was probably 1.22-1.23 on a nicer day, and then I gave up again. I will try to keep it going this year.
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 "
Piwi - CONSISTENCY IS KING!!
Incidentally, I use Smashrun to track my training and volume. Lots of pretty graphs and very easy to drill down by month, year, trailing 90 days and 365 days, etc.
Mark stop preaching haha
check this interview out with Kiwi Zane Robertson
http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8792684
I'm gonna add it to my signature haha
Keen - nice RR. I think in good conditions, you are 1:25/1:26
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
Hi all! I hope it is not too late to join.
The 90' HM is indeed a goal I have dreamt about for a number years and it could be a concrete goal for this year, so I started reading this post and got very interested in all the discussion that is going on since the beginning of the year!
My name is Marco, I am 35 from Italy. I currently (and for the past 10 yeas) live in Belfast (Northern Ireland, UK).
I'm married with two 7 year old kids (yes twins!!! and yes a boy and a girl ).
Unlike some of you and many of my Italian friends, I am not that lucky with the weather, but I go used to the cold rainy UK, so I try to run as much as I can outside. I started running when I was 13 and ran until I was about 20, then I started to be (or feel) too busy, with university, work and life... so I stopped back in 2002/2003 at the top of my running performances (use to be able to run 800 mt. in 2'06'', 1000 in 2'40/45 and 1,500 in about 4'20''). Back then, I used to ran 10k in 40' and 15 k in 1h in between strong sessions of training... Now I struggle with 5K at those speeds...
10 years passed, I got lazy, busier and fatter (definitely fatter). I could not run to get a bus anymore and my blood pressure went sky high. so I could say that running saved my life when I got back into it in 2013. Now, 5 years on and more than 5,000 miles later, I can consider myself a fairly regular and decent (but not strong) runner.
I ran a few half marathons and brought my time back from 2h (ran in Belfast in 2013) to 1h34' 36'' in 2017 (still in Belfast).
I would love to get my marathon in a better shape as well, but my body and brain are not yet so convinced... I am currently at ~4h15 (any suggestion welcome )
My goal for 2018 were a sub-4 hrs (I know... not great but it's a start...) and a sub 90' half marathon. I will then see if I can do some more shorter races (5k sub19? 10k sub-40'?). unfortunately I just realised I did not select a simple marathon for my first objective of the year, in fact I am going to run Luxembourg on the 12th of May (all up and down with a 10 Km up hill at the end...) so I will be very happy for a PR. Once this is done I will speed up the training and prepare for a faster summer, I might race in park run or other events, but the main goal will be the Belfast half marathon in September. I will try the sub-90' there.
Outside of running I work at RTI helath solution, I am senior economist and so failry busy with work and travel...
Highlights (for me at least) of the winter training are:
- managed 100 miles every month in the last year
- good progression in mileage and speed done in 2018 (especially considering my travelling for work)
- Dec 100 miles, Jan 125 miles, Feb 135 miles, march 180 miles...
- managed 200 miles in April (with 1 week of travel in the US and 1 trip to Germany)
- managed 77 miles in 1 week and 23 miles in one long run
PRs since re-started in 2013:
5km: 19:43 (Belfast park run 9/17) | 10km: NA (I guess I shoudl try one )
HM: 1:34:36 (Belfast Half Marathon, Sept-17) | FM: 4:15:17 (Belfast city Marathon, May-17)
Up next: Luxembourg Marathon, 12 May 2018
5km: 19:43 (Belfast park run Sep-16) | 10km: 40:16 (Belfast Lagan side 10K Sep-18)
HM: 1:30:09 (Belfast city Half Marathon, September-18) | FM: 3:25:05 (official chip time Belfast city Marathon, May-19, marathon was 0.3/4 longer, original time 3:27:20 for 26.5/6...)
Upcoming races:
???
Cobra Commander Keen
Thanks, all! Gorilla Hill is lots of fun. Definitely very high-energy, and with more spectators along that stretch than anywhere else but the finish.
Steve - I certainly got nervous when my stomach started turning as well!
Mark - I'll have to check out Smashrun, that looks really interesting. I created an account at Runalyze years ago (looks similar with the pretty graphs and in-depth analysis) but haven't really used it yet since they don't currently have a way of automatically syncing runs from Garmin or Strava yet. Soon, hopefully, especially since they support running power.
Marco - Welcome! No rush on the 10k... I've been running for three years and ran my first less than a month ago!
Got up late today, but still managed almost 5 miles/8k. My work has a team steps competition that starts tomorrow. Given the general lack of physical activity by those at my work even some short runs should lead to a big advantage for my team!
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
Intl. correspondent
Piwi - I’m glad this fat lazy ass dude across the world motivated you (I think you said the same to somebody else some time ago).
Mark - that line of tired / not tired can change over time. Mine was around 100k per week, now it’s back to 80k.
Last but not least, CONSISTENCY IS KING!
Steve - today I learned what a stag party is. I’ve known it as bachelor party. It seems highly improper to do any kind of running during this time haha, except maybe streaking.
Jmac - thanks for the kind words. Sometimes I think you got my paces confused when you say that’s very fast. But then I remember you also come from metric land. Anyway, thanks for saying it’s fast, even though it’s tortoise like.
You’re already in beastly shape, go use that in a race.
Keen - great job, a PR is always a PR, never take it for granted. It’s amazing how much support this race has. Our local races have a few dozen people lined up at the finish line cheering for their own runners. The local folk only cares about the local marathon if it blocks their street. They will honk.
Rune - honestly I would not recommend you follow those exercises unattended, it seems a recipe for injury.
Marco - Benvenuto! Stick around, folks here are very friendly and will help a lot to achieve your goals.
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
RIP Milkman
Flavio - You are getting fast! All of us who have had inconsistent training (except you Mark, you bastard) have to keep in mind that times that seem slower than what we know we are capable of are still "fast" when considering where we are coming from. Also I laughed at your honking comment regarding races, so funny how different people respond to running. And trust me, with all you people operating in metric times, I'm starting to get a much better feel for converting in both directions! Good thing is Strava just converts all that stuff for us, it would be quite annoying if I kept seeing all these times in KM.
Marco - Welcome aboard! Always good to see new faces. You definitely have PRs all over the place in terms of capabilities, seems like you're more of a fast twitch guy?
Keen - Enjoyed the race report, seems like you have some real characters in OKC. I agree with others that you have that sub 1:26 in good conditions. It's always disappointing to miss your goal, but there's solace in knowing that a) you got a PR b) you can leverage this training for more PRs at shorter distances and c) you get a crack at breaking that PR again!
Piwi - He set an American course record! And not only that, but in Central Park, which is notoriously difficult to race in! Incredibly impressive for an 18 year old, this kid has a ton of potential and may be a name we start seeing more on the big stage.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
CONSISTENCY IS KING!!
Thanks for that reminder Mark! I know it all too well myself, but clearly my training suffered from inconsistency last year. Now, this week should be ok for me, but the next 2-3 weeks will be a struggle to keep the running up with a trip to Panama next week (might have to do a lot of treadmill running there, not sure if I want to run in high 80s and 100% humidity), and a trip to Norway the week after. My plan is to get at least 45 miles this week again, but then step down to 40 for those two weeks, not only because of the travel but also because I will be introducing some good sessions with Reps (per Jack Daniels), and I want to make sure the extra load is not too much.
Regarding that Trail HM, it looks brutal. There are lots of those around in the area here and I'll probably race one in June that I also did back in 2016 (https://www.strava.com/activities/599622965/overview) It's kind of fun since with those types of hills all pacing really goes out the window and the only thing you can do is run by feel (and maybe HR).
Marco - Welcome! Your HM PR is one second better than mine so on a relatively flat course I think you should be able to get to 3:25-3:30 on the full distance - with the proper training of course.
5k: 20:32 (1/17) | HM: 1:34:37 (2/18) | FM: 3:31:37 (3/18)
Getting back into it
Marco welcome. Those are some nice PRs from your younger days. Like Rune says if you are around 1.30 half you should comfortably go below 3.30 for the full. If you can stay consistent at 50 mpw you will see great things happen.
Flavio I had a stag party about 25 years ago...it was crazy, 30 drunk guys and a stripper. I had to escape later in the night.......
I did my VO2 workout today. I controlled it alot more than last week and it ended up slower but more sustainable...I wasnt dying
I think the pace was much more indicative of my current 5k race pace. Averaged 3.40/km for 5 reps.
Im resetting PRs today as I turn 50. It also marks 8 years of running for me. Havent PRed for 4 years though due to lack of CONSISTENCY !
Piwi - Happy birthday! Although most people dread turning 50, you get to celebrate a new AG (as Mark said on Strava) where you can crush those 54 year olds. 3:40 is a great pace for 1K if you were CONSISTENT with your pace. I love that your signature is empty, it's just waiting for new PRs!
Happy birthday PIWI
My workout last week. slowly getting back
Thankyou Arvind and JMAC.
Arvind nice mileage !
Jmac when you are 50 you are allowed to run VO2max at 10k pace