Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 half marathon in 2017
not bad for mile 25
I tried to link to my google photos gallery but maybe I have to change the properties of the photo to make it visible to people other than me. I guess choosing to not host photos here saves a lot of bandwidth.
It's easy to upload a photo to https://postimages.org/ and get the direct link to the image to pop in here.
I always use tinypic.com without a problem.
Ledlincoln/joann thankyou.
Flavio yeah its an all out downhill sprint. I still didnt quite beat my strava crown
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 "
Let's try again with the Santa run picture:
I also realized I gained 4 lbs since my HM so that might explain why I didn't quite have the right feeling at the 5k
5k: 20:32 (1/17) | HM: 1:34:37 (2/18) | FM: 3:31:37 (3/18)
Getting back into it
Rune nice photo you look as fit as hell.
Intl. correspondent
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
Flavio I gave up on that lol. Can you tell me what I did wrong to not get the photo up ?
Weekly SummaryMonday, Dec 04, 2017 thru Sunday, Dec 10, 2017
Not much running but I have also been surfing 4 days which is good fitness.
Piwi - I have no idea. I just clicked the image icon "Insert/Edit image" and pasted the URL. Maybe you inadvertently added a space or something like that.
Mark - I just saw your half, that's a brave effort on a warm day.
me - the year is coming to an end and we're soon headed to the unending end of year festivities.
So before we get to that let's talk about how 2017 was for each one of us.
This was a recovery year for me after a nasty chain of injuries kept me sidelined most of the second half of 2016.
I vowed to remain injury free and to seek professional help to ensure that.
I lost a lot of motivation and only raced 3 times so far:
a 11:19 3K in March
a 27:46 7K in July
a 5:09 1500m in July
I'm signed up for a 4 mile race that will happen on the next weekend. I'm not really sure how that will turn out.
I'm a little over 1000 miles for the year which will make an average of roughly 20 miles a week.
The bright side is that I finally had my gait analysis done and I'm now working with functional training to try to fix at least the low hanging fruit.
I'm doing a lot of squat and lunge related exercises and trying to improve a huge gap in strength between the right and the left side.
I've also been working a lot on core strength to ensure a more upright posture.
I've been doing some good progress on both ends.
It's unfortunate that I fell sick with the flu last week as I was in a very good momentum fitness wise.
I'm still hoping to run 4min/km pace at the 4 mile race (that's a 20 min 5K pace for you muricans).
For the new year I hope for a resolution of the most evident injury causing imbalances and a return to 2015 form.
Most of us are no longer 20 somethings so we have to balance the effects of aging with our so far short running careers, I can still see some PRs ahead provided I can go at least 3 months without injuries.
Assuming I can hit my target at the 4 mile race I will likely give it a shot at running a 90 minute half marathon solo as a time trial.
I'll probably have to do a very early start as the temperatures are on the rise
How were your years and what are your expectations for the new year to come?
Flavio thanks i tried the url pasted but didnt seem to work.
A solid year for you. I think most importantly is that you were able to keep running for parts of the year. PRs are not so important as enjoyment and general fitness.
I only raced once i think a 10k and have been going through mini cycles of motivation and back to fitness jogging. Im seeing a patern now where i train well in winter but cut back in summer. I dont enjoy racing anymore but do enjoy keeping fit with the odd tempo or strava segment to test myself. At the end of the day im in great shape for a nearly 50 year old and enjoying life and my hobbies.
You're on the right track. You need to copy the direct link from tinypic.com.
It's the difference between
[IMG]http://i65.tinypic.com/1497ckg.jpg[/IMG]
and
http://i65.tinypic.com/1497ckg.jpg
The latter works.
Hey all, I did 1:20:49 which was good for 5th in a pretty competitive field at the Omaha HM. RR tomorrow but basically it was really warm (19-20C) and close to 100% humidity, so I was pretty pleased with the result which is basically the same time as last year under much tougher conditions (and a much better paced race on my part).
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"
Mark great job.
Lincoln cheers got it finally
Mark - nice half.
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
JamesD
Mark - Great job. Always fun to see that you're better than you were a year ago.
I'm in my base-building season, though it'll be interrupted at the end of the month when we go to Chile for two weeks to see my wife's family.
Sun - off
Mon - 8.3 miles moderate
Tues - 6.2 easy, stopping every half-mile for exercises
Weds - swam 20 minutes
Thurs - 9.3 slow
Fri - 6.2 easy, stopping sometimes for exercises but skipping the stops the last two miles because rain picked up
Sat - 6.2 moderate
Total - 36.2 miles
8-week average - 25 mpw
This has been a good year for me, even though I didn't show my fitness in my two main races. I'll finish the year averaging 25 mpw, up from 16 last year, so that's a big improvement. Except when I had knee trouble, vacation, and the flu in that order in June & July, I was very consistent, and I ran five days almost every week, up from three last year. My times on tempos, hills, and intervals were usually at least 10 sec/mile faster than last year's times, and I lowered my (post-1987) 5K PR by 40 seconds in April and could probably go faster now. Even lowered my half PR a little despite cramping & walking part of the way. Goals for 2018 are to stay healthy, to increase mileage again, to race cramp-free, to set more PRs, and to keep enjoying it.
Post-1987 PRs: Half 1:30:14 (2019); 10K 39:35 (2019); 5K 19:12 (2017); Mile 5:37.3 (2020)
'24 Goals: consistency, age-graded PRs, half < 1:32
Race Report, Omaha Half Marathon, 10 December 2017
This is the second running of the Omaha Half Marathon which was a new race last year. It's a flat course, but not without its challenges including a total of around 6km on the beach, trails and grass.
Summer has started early this year, and after a warm humid week I'm slightly dreading the race day weather. Despite the early start (7:30am) it's already ~19 degrees C (66F) and close to 100% humidity (and it got warmer as the race went on). My original plan was to try and hit a sub-1:20 for the year... during the week I revised that to beating last year's time (1:20:43) based on the forecast, and now I've basically just decided to go out and have fun, half-dreading that this will end up a bit of a mess because hot conditions are just not my thing (and planning to make the most of the generous allocation of 5 drink stations, which is a lot for a half!). I also added the slightly random goal of trying to run every kilometre under 4:00!
There is a strong field this year and hopes of a podium finish to match my 3rd place last year are fairly slim. But it's good to see events like this growing, as the organisers (Running Events) do run excellent events and have taken a few risks starting up new events like this. As well as Brad Luiten and Chris Trent (last year's 1st and 2nd place-getters), there is Stephen Lett (former national marathon champ) and a few others.
The hooter goes and off we go. My wife and daughter are just past the start line, unfortunately the hooter obviously scared the crap out of my 9-month old daughter, and she's just about to burst into tears as I run past! Anyway, pretty soon there is a lead group of 3, a second group of 4, and I am just a bit behind them. Brad is in the lead group and Chris is in the second group, they both tend to go out pretty quick so I decide not to try and catch them because I'll probably regret it later.
It's all pretty smooth until the 2km mark where we hit the annoying concrete pathway through the dunes for about 1.5km. It's just impossible to hit a rhythm on this part of the course as it twists up and down and around and up and down and basically you just want to get it over with! I was surprisingly looking forward to getting on to the beach, but then I kinda regretted it because there was a strong northerly headwind all the way along the beach, which conjured some unfortunate memories of the last 2km of the Orewa Beach Half. I pass a guy on the beach who has dropped off the second group, looks like he really went out too quickly and intentionally or otherwise he has slowed up. I also notice a random guy who I don't know has put some distance on the lead group. Getting off the beach sucks as it's about 50m, uphill in soft sand once you are off the harder sand where we were running. Anyway, that's done, thankfully. Back into the suburbs and with 6km down, I'm certainly having to work for it and not really enjoying it, but averaging probably about 3:53/km which is pretty good considering the most challenging part of the course is done (and every km has been under 4:00). I am probably 20-30 seconds behind the second group, and one guy keeps looking back, seems kinda odd so early in the race. Km 8 gave me a fright at 3:59.71 (JUST under 4:00) but I think the GPS got a bit lost in the trees because the next km is 3:42 so I guess it's corrected itself.
Coming along the causeway to Point Wells, I get passed by Stephen Lett and another guy in a blue singlet. Obviously he has decided to start out easy and pick it up. Just as I am starting to really dislike the humidity, some light moisture starts to form in the air... then promptly stops. So yeah - it was definitely close to 100% humidity! Through the orchard trail (there were actually people in the fields picking fruit too!) and on to the reserve at Point Wells, the grass is soft and spongy here and quite hard work, but I pass a guy who seems to be tiring a bit. Back on the sealed road, and there's a turnaround here where I can see the lead runner has pulled out a decent lead of maybe a minute over another guy I don't know, followed by Brad, followed by Chris. All the groups have broken up now, and I go past a guy in a blue singlet. He says "nice pacing!". I said "we'll see, I hope I'm not cooked by the finish". At this point I figure I am probably in 7th spot.
Around this point I looked at my watch and realised with 15km down, my HR is still in the high-160's, and I'm actually feeling pretty good. The km splits have been holding very consistently in the low 3:50's. Last year around this point I was starting to battle with my HR being 8-10bpm higher and the last 3-4km I was just hanging on. We come back through the orchard, at this point there are lots of runners heading back in the other direction, including a pair of identical twins running together (haven't seen that before), and the support from the other runners is also a bit of a boost. When we hit the causeway at 17km, I can see the guy ahead of me (who passed me with Stephen earlier) is starting to tire, and I am feeling good, so I decide to give it a bit of a nudge. "It's hard, but it sure isn't marathon hard" I tell myself, realising that doing a marathon has clearly done my running endurance a world of good. I don't think I'll be quite as quick as last year, but I won't be too far off. I pass him going up the causeway, then coming back towards the beach there is a huge cheer from a cafe as the runners go past.
There is an old guy who tells me that 5th place is 20-30 seconds on me. After I get through another short, but annoying, concrete pathway through the dunes, I realise it is Chris, and I am gaining on him. Now, because this is a 5-race series, there is actually quite a strong incentive for me to pass him (the series points are cumulative, based on the number of runners you finish ahead of in each race), particularly given I also ran him down in race 1 of the series at Devonport. With 1.5km to go, I am feeling a little tired and kinda hot but I have definitely got a bit left in the tank so decide to give it a crack. The last section is basically dead flat and mostly straight. Sure enough, I haul him in with about 1km to go, he compliments me on my pacing too. I spent most of last season chasing him unsuccessfully so it's nice to know that Devonport wasn't a fluke! I push harder to try and seal the deal, and my last km was actually the fastest of the race at 3:30. I see my wife and daughter at the finish line and realise I've run just 6 seconds slower than last year's time - 1:20:49 this year, which is 5th place.
Although it would've been nice to bag a sub-1:20 for the year, or even just to beat my time from last year, I'm actually really happy with the race. I ran fractionally slower, but from my race management and pacing in hot, humid conditions, I kinda feel that I'm a significantly better runner than I was 12 months ago, where I almost invariably faded in the last 2-3km of most half marathons. I know that if temps had been 5 degrees cooler, I would've been close to PB as well, but you can't choose the weather. Also I ran every km under 4:00 haha so I did tick that random goal off.
Also, really weird thing I noticed about my HM times this year - they are incredibly close to each other! Of course this is largely coincidence given how varied the courses were, but still kinda funny.
Coatesville HM (March) (really hilly): 1:20:54, 4th
Orewa Beach HM (April) (flat, but horribly windy): 1:20:32, 4th
North Shore HM (September) (hilly, and I was sick): 1:20:57, 6th
Devonport HM (September) pretty hilly, good conditions, held back a bit): 1:21:13, 6th
Omaha HM (December) (flat, but not fast - hot and humid): 1:20:49, 5th
Anyway next year I will be having a good crack at the Waterfront Half Marathon in early April, which is flat and fast (as long as it is not windy) and might be a legit crack at a new HM PR if I can stay fit and healthy.