Sub 1:30 half marathon in 2017 (Read 323 times)

Is is too early to jump in here for a 2018 race? I'm living in Germany and just registered for my next half (Berlin, April 2018).

I'll be reading the 2017 thread and since I just registered for that race, thought I might as well introduce myself.

I started running in January 2012, loved it, ran a few 10Ks and a couple of halfs. The first 2 years of running were awesome, but then motivation started to wane (and some extra pounds started to appear). Ran a marathon in 2015, but did not train that well, which led to the race not being that much fun. Eventually got injured (and generally tired), so ended up doing almost no running in 2016. Had a few good periods of running in 2017, but never as consistently as I would have liked, so I figured it was time to register for a race.

So I'm here now, with a goal in hand and hoping to get some extra motivation for the next few months.

My half-marathon PR is 1:30:09, in 2013. But those were the golden years, so I'd already be very happy to be able to do something like under-1:35 (or under-1:40) next spring.

My current plan is to basically ease into it, distance-wise, but run 4-5 days a week.  I'm doing something like 5k training for the next few weeks, I hope to run a couple of 5ks/10ks until December, and then do 14 weeks of half-marathon training in the new year.

Great to meet you all!

Flavio - yeah what Watson said.  The strap on my Garmin FR235 was about to break, I got a new one online and it was very easy to replace.  But nice DIY job all the same, and hey it is a good excuse to buy a new watch if you need one haha!

I have had my eye on the Garmin Fenix 5S for a while, looks awesome.  But I decided that might be my reward if I get my sub-3 in the Auckland Marathon at the end of the month!

Halfdecent - welcome!

For those speaking of Garmin issues - I've called their customer support twice now for issues with my strap (namely the buckle) and they are great at shipping out replacements for free.  The strap itself might be different but it's worth a shot.

My week was good.  My highest weekly mileage ever.  My tempo run intervals (for tempo intervals and cruise intervals) seem to be in the 4:15-4:25 range.  Because of the high mileage my legs were very sluggish today for my long run.  It took my about 13km to kind of find a groove.  Then the last 11 was easy at or under 5:00/km with similar effort.  Next week I plan to peak at around 90km max.  Since this mileage is quite high for me, I'm planning to follow some beginner's guides for tapering (I am kind of a beginner given it's only my 2nd half) and go 60% peak a week out and 40% peak the week of with same intensity.

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Yep nice week Blair and looks like you structured it well too.  With that sort of mileage you should be in good shape for the half.  I found 90km to be a pretty big step up from 80 personally so just listen to your body over the next week or so, but it is only a few more km so you should be all good.

Wow I've missed a lot on this forum! So glad this thread is doing well.

Flavio - Sucks about the watch. I've learned it's always worth it to call customer service (and sometimes complain). You'll be amazed at what they'll send you for free!

Halfdecent - Always good to see new faces, welcome. Your plan sounds good. Stick around for the rest of this year and post your weeklies so we can see your progress.

Blair - I'd be careful tapering that much. I agree you probably need to taper more than others given it's your highest mileage, but 60% cutback with 2 weeks to go might leave you feeling stale on race day. I generally do my last hard workout 10 days out. You can probably cut it to 75-80% of total peak mileage 2 weeks out and be completely fine without risk of feeling stale. 40% cutback before the race is probably okay. It's better to go very steep into your half tapers than a slow decrease of mileage.

Watson - Good week. Your Sunday run should help boost your confidence. Good luck with the taper this week, I've yet to have one where something didn't bother me throughout it.

Mark - Now that I track you on Strava, I see the ridiculous workouts you do. Have you decided to go for sub 2:50?

Piwi - I don't even look at the sub 3 Strava group, it's absurd what they're doing in mileage. Also, take some comfort: if they need 100 mpw to break 3, that just shows how much better of a runner you are 

Me - Good week overall as the temperatures and humidity plummeted on Thursday. We went from 91/33 temps and 65/18 dew point down to 62/17 temps and 41/5 dew points in a span of 24 hours. My run on Sunday felt phenomenal compared to how hard every run has been this summer. I was able to get my tempo runs down to around 6:00/3:45 which I haven't seen in about 4 months. I even had trouble keeping my easy runs slow enough. Temps will be climbing back up this week though so it was nice while it lasted.

Piwi - yeah, the inner red band started deteriorating and fall a couple of months ago. I was actually expecting it to tear at some point.

We got to stay away from the sub 3 thread else we will feel like ants.

halfdecent - It’s never too early. Willkommen! Welcome aboard. Make sure to post your weeklies and remember, the way there is part of the journey. You will learn so much from this crowd.

It’s a bit early for you to decide on a target pace. For now focus on doing smart training and avoiding injury.

Are you in the part that celebrates Oktoberfest or the one that hates those lazy lederhosen bastards LOL just kidding.

Watson - it is indeed, I plan on replacing the strap and then sell it. It’s about time I upgrade and the FR 235 is on sale for roughly USD 443 here.

Mark - the Fenix is a good looking fella, but at usd 1153 it’s a bit out of my league.

Blair - Unfortunately (or fortunately) I purchased this watch abroad and had a friend bring it to Brazil. In that case I feel like I’d need to ship it to the US to get it repaired.

I’m familiar with the customer service in the united states, it’s fabulous. I once bought an iPod Shuffle and it ripped apart when I tried to open it, due to the plastic adhesive. I went back to the store (bestbuy) and the clerk replaced it right then no questions asked. I was shocked at how easy it was.

My sister bought a camera and had it sent to a hotel where a friend of hers would pick it up.

Due to some mess the hotel clerk received the camera but didn’t register it properly or something, so my sister asked for a refund. She got it immediately, no questions asked. Then the camera showed up, so she asked them to charge again. They did. It works just like that.

Awesome week by the way.

Jmac - 6x1K wow that’s very impressive.

By the way, running on central park is like visiting Paris for shopping, it’s the ultimate cool running route.

Flavio - I do like running in Central Park, but man can it get crowded. There's also a surprising number of people who don't understand that you stay to the right when running. I've had my fair share of near run-ins because people are stubborn about running on the wrong side when I have no where to go. I used to move out of the way a lot, but after a while, it gets tiring zig zagging all over the place on every run because everybody feels like they can just run wherever they want and you need to move out of their way. It's fine when it's one person, it's not fine when you run into 10-15 of these people on every single run you do. /rant

Piwi - Yep, I'm in NYC (not Sydney as you always think ) Garmin is effectively useless in NYC unless you're in Central Park or near the water. It's often off by over a minute when I'm running in the streets, which is why I don't both with it anymore until I get in the park. Luckily it's exactly 1.00 miles from my apartment to the park, so I just tack on 2 miles to every run distance I have on my Garmin. And totally agree on mileage, I mean I tell myself I can run sub 2:30 if I ran 100 mpw. Since I'll never do that, nobody can call me out on my potential, right?