Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 half marathon in 2017
2.54.02 beast finish
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 "
Wow 2:54:02, what an awesome finish JMac, crushed that 5th Ave climb and paced the race brilliantly!! Huge congrats!!
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"
Not bad for running with a stress fracture
5k: 20:32 (1/17) | HM: 1:34:37 (2/18) | FM: 3:31:37 (3/18)
Getting back into it
JMac - awesome.
Flavio - in IT, you need an infinite amount of time studying to keep up. By memory you're a Java developer? I think Java is very, very slowly dying. If I was a developer looking to improve my skills, I would learn:
- Some modern JavaScript Frameworks, e.g. React, Angular.
- Node.js
- Python (after the others)
Of course it takes a long time to truly get good at any of them.
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
Intl. correspondent
jmac - great job! You must be feeling on the moon after all the worry during past week.
Watson - there's still millions of legacy projects and many more being created every day on corporate and government using Java
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
Slight sidetrack as I know this is something we've discussed in the past re weight..
I was kinda interested as to what would happen weight-wise over the course of marathon training - not something I was focused on but I was curious to see how the increased mileage would impact it. Around Nov-Dec last year (i.e. half marathon PR time!) I was averaging 77-78kg (170lb). Through summer (Feb-Mar) that decreased to 76-77kg on similar mileage (I think mostly a function of stress with a particularly problematic project and the baby due in March). It stayed around 75-76kg pretty much all through winter and then dropped down a tick in Sept/Oct to 74.5-75kg (~165lb) where it seems to have stabilised. I think it's down to a reduction in body fat and also a reduction in some muscle mass due to reducing and changing my weights programme (now 2 days/week with upper/lower body split as opposed to 3 previously).
My wife thinks I need to put some weight back on (funny how women can get away with saying things like that to men but not vice versa!) but actually I'm pretty happy right now. Still enough strength to enjoy a good weights session, haven't sacrificed any raw speed (I don't think), and no doubt improved endurance due to not having to carry as much around the course. Hopefully that will benefit my times moving forward!
Mark - the lower weight will certainly help. every 1kg of weight loss = less one minute in the HM.
Provided you lost it by reducing body fat, not losing muscle mass.
Mark runners when fit will be pretty skinny its just the result of all that training as you know Im sure. I dont really like my upper body that I have developed since running as i have lost a lot of muscle. I was about 72kgs before running, got down to 66kgs during marathon cycles and presently sitting at 68kgs. At least doing some weights will help you preserve your arms somewhat.
Mark/Watson I have always tried to work smarter rather than longer and never looked back after going out on my own at 25. No more bosses or set times to drive to work etc and I could make more money in half the time. There is so much effort and money wasted on over heads and commuting etc.
Jmacs last 3kms in his marathon 3.51, 3.48, 3.42 thats what you call kicking a marathons butt !
Piwi I probably average ~50 hours a week. I could probably push harder and do more (thereby increasing my chances of partnership) but with the baby I've just been focused on doing enough at work without compromising my time spent with her. It's a tricky balance but at the end of the day I am not going to trade off work prospects for spending enough time with my family - it's not like I'm doing it tough to begin with anyway. Going out on my own is tough at the current stage, the PwC brand is a big draw for a lot of our clients.
Piwi / Flavio - A good part of it has been fat but there was definitely some muscle loss, mainly upper body though. I am not so fussed about arms but like to keep the chest and back strong (good for running). Judging by that track 3000m and some short distance TT's my speed has improved if anything.
JMac - It was really cool to follow you on the tracker for the marathon, wondering if your foot would give you any issues, and then realizing you were running like a champ and would hold really well all the way in. That was a great performance!
Mark - I used to be 82-83 kg, then from starting to train for my first race 2 years ago I dropped down to about 79. When I trained for my marathon I dropped a little bit more, down to about 76 from training and some slight modifications in my diet, and I've been there since. If/when I do a marathon again I will probably drop a couple kgs more, but probably not permanently. But the reduction in weight certainly helps for me. And my wife also tells me she doesn't want me to get any skinnier.
Regarding work I usually do 40 hrs a week, more if needed, but my office is flexible and I can move my hours around a bit as long as I get my work done. So once or twice a week I take a long lunch break and get my run in then.
I ran 29 miles this week, finished off by my long run today of 14.6 miles, with 10 of those being somewhere around MP, or maybe a little bit faster. I guess the long run being 50% of my weekly total isn't exactly conventional, but Legs still feel a bit heavy so I'm hoping the next two weeks of taper will loosen things up a bit.
Flavio - If you want to keep track of it you can put me down with a goal of 1:32:56 for the race November 19, Berkeley Half. I view the goal as a bit optimistic now, but I gotta aim for something right?
Oh, the Norwegian I mentioned earlier who is running about 60 miles a week (average, he seems to top out at close to 90) just set a PR in New York with 2:32:56, which actually was good enough to place 49th overall. Looked at his training and he runs his easy runs at 7:30-8:00/mile, but also seems to really hammer his workouts, including his long runs.
Rune - Your race was up on the board, I have updated your aim.
Everyone - I finally got around to get the table displaying on the first page. It's basically a table now, there are no issues editing the first post here.
It won't display embedded spreadsheet nor images. So I had to resort to the simplest solution.
Week 17 of the training and cannot believe that this is race week. Excited and nervous at the same time
Congrats JMAC!!
45 miles this week...I've been pretty lazy with actual workouts.
Key workouts:
- Did two 10 mile runs...one at 8:07 pace and the other at 7:29 pace.
- 8x200 anywhere from 5:20 pace to 4:51 pace with about 200-300m of jogging recovery. Was aiming for 10 reps but had to quit as I got stuck in a crazy downpour. Also, I miss running on the track where I'm so much quicker as I feel slow and sluggish on blacktop.
hearty congrats JMAc. Crushed it