Sub 2:00 Half Marathon thread (Read 2396 times)

Fantastic job on the marathon miele! Really enjoyed your recap of the race. Everyone else - keep up the great work! I have a hard time keeping up with this thread but I'll try to pop in when I can.

I have only been out running once since the Thanksgiving half. I took a week break from running to let a minor injury from October heal up. It never hurt during the half and didn't hurt after the half, but I just wanted to make sure and give it some time. It was just a minor tear of some soft tissue where the IT band comes up to the illiac crest. That one is behind me but at the end of my "rest" week (I was cross training on the elliptical & stationary bike) I noticed some pain on the outside of my lower leg, going down to just above the ankle and next to the Achilles. That appears to be a peroneal muscle issue. I ran 6 miles last Sunday and it hurt a little during the run. The next day it was painful to walk so I have been taking this week off again from running. With some ice & self-massage it has gotten much better. I'm not sure why that came out of the blue during a rest week.

In other news I just signed up for my first marathon - the Savannah Rock 'n Roll Marathon. I'm giving myself nearly a year to train. I plan to do two 16-week training plans back-to-back leading up to the race. That leaves me with 12 weeks starting in January to slowly build up before I start the plans. Right now I have a 15K booked next month (Atlanta Hot Chocolate) and the Publix Half Marathon in late March. Probably will do a 5K in Feb to get a fast Peachtree qualifying time.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Tim

Just a quick pop in to let everyone know I'll be running a 4 mile cross country race tomorrow.  It's on the course that they hold the district and regional high school cross country races and the running club holds one race a year on the course.

It is supposed to be 4 miles but every time I've run it is ends up almost 1/4 mile long on the GPS and the times tend to reflect that.  It is also a fairly difficult course with 2 decent hills on each lap and you run 2 laps to finish the 4 mile race.

The Clydesdale course record is 28:47, which comes out to a 7:11 pace if it was actually 4 miles which would be a real possibility for me if it was actually 4 miles, but with the extra 1/4 mile or so I don't think I can beat it.   Last year I had a goal of 30:00 on this race thinking it was 4 miles, but I ended up running it in 32:03.  Per the GPS I ran a 7:42 pace, per the official 4 mile distance that comes out to a 8:01 pace.

I think I'm going to shoot for a sub 30:00 goal and try to run 7:15 pace per my GPS which should get me pretty close.

Hope everyone is getting uncovered from the snow and ice.  Today is supposed to be nice here, but race morning is going to be chilly tomorrow.  My son turns 7 tomorrow and he is going to run a 1 mile kids race that they have tomorrow, a couple of his friends are in town for his birthday so we signed them up too.  They are all pretty excited and it will be interesting to see if my son really tries to compete with his friends or if he will do his normal run a little while, walk a little while, rinse, repeat style that he does on these races typically.

Good running vibes to everyone.

"It's the most wonderful (and busy) time of the year!!!!!"

paden - I hope you had a great race.  It's a cross country course so does that mean off road?  That can be tricky if there is snow and/or ice.   Cant wait to hear how you did.

miele - congrats again on the race.  I will certainly look to you for advice when I start marathon training for the sub 4.  But we've got puh-lenty of time before THAT.  More importantly, I'm waiting for the "after-the-marathon-eating" report.  Please?

Simon - your after 60 times look pretty great to me!

Tim - congrats on deciding to run a marathon.  I'm not sure I could handle 2 16-week training plans in a row.  I would be too hyped to want to race after the first 16.

Heather - we welcome your hat and will encourage you however we can!

Wolfie - great running, as usual.   Where is the Marathon you are running?

Tara - feel better soon.    I have a feeling that 2014 will be good to you.

Hector -  my hands get cold, too, so I have a great pair of NorthFace mittens that I love.  Sometimes I will wear thin gloves under mittens, or just mittens with hand warmers inside.   I don't often wear gloves as my fingers never seem to get warm.    The trails here have been great with all of the snow.  It's like being a kid again, running through the snow!

Me -  running sporadically this time of year.  I am managing 10 milers on Saturday mornings, with two or three 5-8 milers during the week.  My next race isn't until the end of January (a 7 mile trail race) so I'm not stressing about any kind of training-type running, just enjoying it for what it is.

Finally a bit of time and an internet connection so I can try and catch up.

stever-  Congratulations on the black bar!  Two years will fly by.  With your HM time I think a sub-4 won't be any problem for you.  The question would be how much under 4.

Wolfy-  I don't think I took in enough liquids during the race.  Probably due to the cold.  Usually I finish the handheld by mile 18-20 but I still had about a quarter left when I tossed it at mile 23.  I didn't realize I wasn't taking in enough until I was ready to toss it and saw so much water left.  That was probably why I felt a bit queezy.  Oh well.  I only drink water, too, since I'm taking the gels.   Not too much longer till your race!

Tara-  So sorry you were sick.  What bad timing, too.  But, like you said, there will be other races.  2014 is just a couple of weeks away so I don't think you'll have to wait too long for a new PR (weather permitting, of course).

hector- How miserable.  I hate cold hands and feet.  Yes, mittens.  At least that's my plan of action.  And wool socks.  I hear they're really good.

Pandora-  I'm in the Bay Area, CA.  We're truly wimps here.  Spoiled all year long by great weather then when the temp drops a little we start whining about it.  If I ever race in colder conditions than I'm used to again, I'll invest in some mittens and wool socks.  Maybe I'll even get a scary hunting camouflage face mask thingy, too, since that just sounds awesome.  And your secret is safe with us.

Jan-  Hiya!  How're you holding up in school?  You guys didn't sign up for the virtual HM race again this year, did you?  You probably would've mentioned it if you had.  Can you still cycle or is that over for the winter?

Tim-  Hope the aches and pains have gone away for good (although a 'minor tear' sounds kind of serious to me).  Two back-to-back training plans would suck the life out of me.  Are you planning a little break between the two?

Simon-  Are you thinking of running a marathon?  If you mentioned it already and I just forgot, sorry.  I do that sometimes.  Forget.  Like you said, not much to be done about aging.

Edith-  Oh, the post-race eating report?  I've got to get control of myself.  In the high mileage training weeks and into taper I found I was starving every couple of hours.  Normally I need to eat something every 3-4 hours anyway but it seemed like I had just eaten when my stomach would throw a hissy-fit and I'd have to eat again.  My stomach doesn't seem to recognize that the race is over and I'm not running like that anymore.  So, since I'm at my parents' now, I'm eating lots of cheesecake and snacking on all kinds of things that I usually don't keep around because, well, I apparently have no self-control.  I might need an intervention.  Glad you're enjoying your runs.  That's what it's all about.

2ft-  I hope the snow and ice disappeared in time for your race.  Have you decided on a specific marathon plan yet or are you going to make one up yourself?

Nathan-  How'd it go?  Sounds like a great birthday for your son.  Did he get competitive?  Oh, and thanks for tracking me.  I always enjoy reading other people's progress during a race.  It's a bit nerve-racking and exciting to see what's happening.  Also, from the perspective of the one being tracked, it's kind of nice to know there are people out there cheering you on and watching you.

Lurch-  Where are you?  How'd you do?

Zelanie-  I saw all the snow in Eugene and thought of you.  Did you get covered, too?

Welcome!!! to the new guys:

frank-  I've heard of the meniscus healing on its own without surgery.  I guess you just need a little patience.  On the bus to the start of the marathon I overheard a couple of guys talking and one said he was 63 and still getting PRs so no telling what you'll accomplish when you get back in the swing of things.

heather-  A lot of people here have gotten back into shape and are doing great.  You'll do just fine.

Sorry if I missed anyone.  I'm being totally lazy.  Tomorrow I might try a short run which will be my first since the race.  I'm in the South now so I'll have to deal with the stinking humidity again.  Ugh.  I'm eating too much cheesecake, doing too much of absolutely nothing and I'm enjoying every minute of it.  I think my brain needs a break just as much as my body.  I'm going to watch the Saints play a little later and that's about all I"m going to do today.  Stay warm, everybody!

blue-  Somehow I missed you completely!  I don't know how that happened.  What lousy racing conditions (again).  Is this the same one 2ft was planning on running?  I can't believe you ran that only 2 days after a tooth extraction.  That's.....impressive.  Great time all things considered and you didn't break anything!  Congratulations on a smart race and AG award!  So what flavor was the ice cream?

My race went well, except I didn't make my goal and lost to the 23 year old Clydesdale dude by 1 second.  That course must be hard because I don't do near as well on it as I expect each year.  I think I could have beat the 23 year old, but there were 5 of us that crossed the line within 3 seconds of each other and I got cut off going full speed right at the line and had to slow up.

Racing a person is a new thing for me and adds a lot of enjoyment to the race though.

Not the best picture, but here is the finish.  I'm on the left, with the camo and blue shorts the guy in the black jacket cut me off.  I should have started my kick earlier.  The 23 year old Clydesdale is in the gray shirt and black shorts on my right in the picture.

Official time ended up 30:14 for a 7:34 avg pace.  Last year my time on this race was 32:03 for a 8:01 avg pace so I'm still improving.  The course record on this one for the Clydesdale division is a 28:47, I'm curious to see how much my improvement slows down now that I've been running a couple years already.

The hill in the background is one of the ones you end up going up and down twice, the other hill is about the same elevation, but more gradual.

Conditions kind of sucked this year, 35 degrees and 20 mph wind.  I was toasty by the end of the race though.

I might get back to post more later, I'm headed out of town, but thought I would at least get this much posted.

Nathan

I'm a little sore today after yesterday's 8-mile run. But the level of pain is much less than after my last long run (which was just 6 miles). So the pain is slowly decreasing even with increased distance. Now I just need to slowly add in more frequent runs during the week and see how it responds.

Right now I have a one week break planned between training plans. I might need to rethink that and start the first plan earlier. I have three months before I need to start the first plan so I will think about moving the date up after I see how this latest pain progresses. I'll just concentrate on a slow mileage buildup over the next month and hopefully everything goes OK.

Tim-  Hope the aches and pains have gone away for good (although a 'minor tear' sounds kind of serious to me).  Two back-to-back training plans would suck the life out of me.  Are you planning a little break between the two?