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

I changed my Strava over to KM just to see: you guys are right, it makes 5Ks much easier to understand the pacing. I do like thinking in miles though during the race: 3 is shorter than 5, so the pain is more bearable!

5K splits were:

3:40

3:38

3:34

3:28

3:23

Piwi - he did indeed, despite falling back around 7K he got in at 39:49.

Good job making the kiddo run for gaming time. If you outright forbid him it will never work.

3K a day will make him tired enough he does not need the game as much.

Watson - you are stringing along some nice consistent weeks.

Mark - to be honest despite the obvious waste of effort going around slower runners after 2K it was sparse enough that we could just cross in between then without doing a lot of zigzagging. Passing people is actually very fun!

MJ - my Max HR is 185, rest HR 60, 165 seems about the right effort for the middle of a 10k, anything above that and the paincave would start earlier than 9k causing a 4:05 km. Anyway, I probably could’ve gone sub 39, which is nice at 84kg. My previous time around this weight was a 39:59 at 83kg.

Steve - +1 don’t add tempo to easy runs. Hansons recommends adding strides, which is you pick up the pace for like 100m and then keep running easy for a few more minutes. You do like 4, 5 strides total within your easy run, just to keep the legs sharp. Even so, you might want to forget about this and just run easy. Leave the fast stuff for the workouts.

Jmac - once again congratz. You absolutely have a faster time in you, at the very least a 17:40.

5K is best logically divided into 5 blocks of 1km, since the race is 5km long.

But I get that if you train in miles, mile pace is easier to grasp.

Keen - if you generally hidrate well throughout the day you should be fine for runs up to 12 miles.

Granted 75F might be a lot warmer than you are used to (I don’t suffer as much in training runs around those temps).

me - I'll try to keep going with the easy miles, closing a sort of macro block. The highest priority now is to keep consistent and avoid injury.

Thanks Mark.

K Road is great at 6am!  Had an epic all nighter after the RWC final in 2011 and got home about 1pm...thankfully (almost) everyone was in good spirits that morning.

_{Jmac thats whats called a progression run 5k race  in all honesty if you even out those splits you will likely run near 17.30.}

_{Keen nice week. I feel sluggish on some runs too but heat really doesnt agree with me. You run early right ?} 

Flavio theres a 10k here in 3 weeks but it has a 3km section where you lose over 1 min. Im in 2 minds to do it as I will struggle to get sub 40. I have trouble motivating myself to run slow courses. What would you do ? 

Mark I had to google MAMIL too. Im pretty sure you wear lycra cycling pants....but you are not middle aged so its ok 

I actually think JMac paced pretty well, just a tad slow at the start.

Assuming a perfectly even 3rd km, JMac was 3.6% slower in the first half compared to the second.  I have read that 2% is pretty much ideal.  So if we assume 1.6% quicker first half, no difference second half, then that is 9s quicker with a 17:42.

I have paced much worse than 9s off.

Hi everybody!

Congratulations to Flavio (great job with the back to back sub-90 HM, sub-40 10k!), JMac for the 5K PR, and everybody else for what read like a very good week!!!

I am back from my Luxembourg nightmare... Funny you discussed the difficulty of going back to pain cave once you have a serious problem like collapsing... I think I had an actual panic attack this time around... never felt like that running! Overall, the race was probably the worst racing experience of my life.

In my favour, the course was much much more demanding than I anticipated. I completed the marathon, but with an awful time above 4 hours and a half. In fairness it was hell for everybody and I completed in the middle of the pack (without considering the many runners who did not complete).

but let's take a step back to the race report and write down some take away for the future...

Pre-race

I went to Luxembourg the day before, taking the opportunity to catch up with my cousin rather than focusing on a marathon. He is opening a restaurant, and I even gave a help there the day of the marathon (nothing physical, just discussion on planning and budgeting). Additionally, we arrived late at the start and I could not check in the post race kit (so I have a cold now!!!)

Race (start at 7 pm - not great as my typical run happens in the morning..) :

I knew it was going to be difficult, so I accepted to start slow with my cousin (who was running the HM and aimed for a 2h). I ran an easy first 10K in 55'. I was ok, but I knew that the first 30 K were simpler (on the map at least), so I didn't force from there. We separated from the half around 15K (my cousin was already gone by then), but around 18 Km, the unexpected troubles started! There were about 3 hilly kilometres that were not evident on the map, but were very evident while running on them. It was a series of about 150-300 mt. long hills (ups and downs) with no pauses in between. Just before the first half I got my first cramp, but I managed to relax and kept going without too much pain.

I passed the half in 1h 55'. I was ok physically and with the time given the difficult course. But the story changed in a couple of Km... the road took a very steep down hill, in the dark, in a valley near a river. It was dark, cold and damp and I started feeling dizzy.. and I started to worry. I had strong cramps around 25 to 28km and I struggled going on. Around 30 Km my eyes hit a wall. it was after crossing a bridge on the river. In from of me the hill and the city on top. between us a curvy trail up hill. I started running up, but ended up in a long walk up hill with cramps. However, I managed to relax and keep going.

I wanted to run, and I tried, but I felt dizzy and tired. I was sleepy (???). This was a new feeling. I managed to run and walk to 37 Km but I was in a sort of panic attack. I kept thinking that many have collapsed in London or other marathons and that didn't help (but my brain was focussed on it). I even started thinking I over-hydrated and I stopped in a restaurant to ask for salt...

At 40 km I almost fainted. I started running from one side to the other of the road. The time was not important anymore, but, for some reason, I had to finish! Both the 4h 15 and the 4 h 30 pacers passed me in the last 2 Km. I finished walking with a 4h35. I am not happy wth the time, but I did not want to drop out; I was there and wanted to bring the medal back home (that was the only thought that helped). Then I realised that many did not complete or finished after me and that with 3 hours you would got in the first 25! So, in the end, I am happy I didn't drop out.

AFTER RACE:

I was alone for about 30-45 minutes, waiting to find my cousin and others, with no change and no mobile phone in an unknown expo part of the city... another nightmare at midnight, after a marathon. I was cold, in the cold, lost ... probably the end I should have expected from this adventure...

Learning points:

FROM NOW ON, RACE DAY WILL BE MY DAY; I WILL NOT RACE IF I AM WITH SOMEBODY ELSE, I WILL JUST TRAVEL. THE BIGGEST MISTAKE WAS PROBABLY NOT CHECKING IN THE POST RACE KIT...

TRAINING NEEDS TO HAPPEN ON SIMILAR PROFILE AND CONDITION (I TRAIN ON FLAT ROAD AT 6 AM AND RACED ON A HILLY ROAD IN THE EVENING...).

I will follow your suggestions on training (the book I ordered arrived while I was in Luxembourg), and I will refocus on my annual goal, which was a sub90 half marathon.

I will get back running tomorrow or the day after and slowly get my mileage back

all best

Marco

Mark - LOL at the descriptions.

jmac  - I guess we found your pet peeve

Watson - thanks for the info on the 2% negative split

Marco - In the future you might want to consider dropping out instead.

There is long term damage to your structure, both physical and psychological.

A small fade around km 36 is fine. When you’re having cramps before 30km it’s time to save the day, lose the battle but not the war.

The fitness acquired during training for that race can be best used against another race

Other than that, your immune system is probably very low right now so take it easy on every aspect of your life

Your lessons learned look good, I'm sure you will bounce back for some good times in a few months.