Sub-90 Minutes for the Half Marathon (2011) (Read 6744 times)

mandy -- well?  Whad a we got?

I know what I have to do now. 

On the other hand I know what I have to do *right now* and that is sleep :-)

1.32.16 - its almost a minute closer than it was 

 

Good race, very happy.  7th woman (out of maybe 700?) Worked hard and kept at it.

 

I know what I have to do now.  That 1.30 will be mine.

A PR and 7OA is certainly a good day's work. 

And, it's only February.

I know what I have to do now.  

Other than run faster, what are your thoughts on what you need to do?  Great job! Always need to be happy with a PR? Curious of your pacing the first 2 miles vs last 2 miles.

Mandy,

A few observations. I think you did 2 risky work outs the week before your half - an extremely long run at a solid pace and a 5K race 5 days before the half. The anaerobic component of a 5K without a lot of slower miles around it is a risk close to a half. This combined with an aggressive long run can tax your recovery abilities leading up to a half. With that being said, I thought you did very well in the half based on your 5K race time. You did better than what your 5K race predicts. This tells me you are very strong aerobically and need some stamina training vs a lot more tempo work.

A couple comments/suggestions. Weight/fat loss will be huge so this will help a lot.. Have you done critical velocity reps (CV)? http://peakrunningperformance.com/docs/Critical_Velocity.htm  For you this is around 10K effort pace or a pace you could race for 40-45 min.  Tempos runs are one dimensional and help you train at lactate threshold without stimulating V02 max. By increasing the intensity a bit, you can encourage a V02 max stimulus while continuing to enhance lactate threshold without creating distress. This is what CV reps do without eroding base. They are awesome. I respond beautifully to them and they have helped my 5K - half marathon race time tremendously even on my lower miles when I was healthy. I am slowly getting back to them.  I think they can help you. Do you also do some faster shorter reps like 100-200M faster reps. Some multi pace training into program would be beneficial for half marathon racing for YOU. You have the aerobic foundation but need some stamina stimulus with a touch of speed.  Suggestions  for work outs per week. Of course it is nice to have slow progression to the below.

• 6 X 3-4 min CV reps 200m rest/jog  plus 4 X 200m fast (800m-1mile pace).  http://www.therunzone.com/index.php?topic=1982.msg9828#msg9828 This workout could be done 2 weeks on and then throw in a  4-5 X 1mile    at half marathon pace w/ 2 min jog the other week  followed by 4 X 200M fast.
• Slow tempo (ST) miles (50-60 sec slower than 5K race pace) 4-6 miles this could be rotated weekly with 10 -12 X 1 min at 3-5K pace Fartleks w/ 1 min jog  to mix in another pace into your training
• comfortable long run ( 2min per mile slower than 5K race pace) with rolling hills but you probably don't need 30K plus long runs if you build up warm up and cooldown miles around the above 2 work outs. I would rather you drop the miles a bit in this long run and include 2-3 mile faster finish if feeling good.  ALL OTHER RUNS DURING THE WEEK ARE DONE VERY CONTROLLED OR SLOW IF NEED BE.

OR  if you want only 2 bigger work outs with quality, you can include faster running within your long run. I recommend this for many runners

• CV reps or half marathon paced reps or a ladder work out with CV reps and 1 min 3-5K paced reps and 4 X 200m at 1 mile pace
• Long run w/ rolling hills and/or  ST miles within it like 1-2 miles on 1-2 miles off, 3-5 in the middle perhaps with progression, 3-4 mile fast finish, 100m fast striders or  4 X 200m at end etc. Mix it up.  AGAIN ALL OTHER RUNS IN WEEK ARE VERY COMFORTABLE OR EASY.

Just some thoughts to get more multipace work in the plan to allow you to hold speed a bit longer in the half.

In other news, Lance (yes, that one) ran a 1:22 at the Austin Half today.  I guess he was compelled to run it now that it is known as the "Livestrong Marathon and Half".

1:22.

Ok, shit.  New target. I can't beat him on the bike, but I will put my chemically enhanced body against his in a half.

(I'm only somewhat serious at this point.  This implies a 10 minute shave from my current capabilities.)

I'm dopier.

L Train is up tomorrow.

This train runs on time, 1:29:22,  Way to go LT!!!!!