Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 half marathon in 2017
I had a tempo interval run planned today. 18k, the plan was 3k warmup, 6k, 4k, 2k with 1k easy between and a km cool down. I changed plans on the fly. 2k warm up, 7k, 3k, 2k, with <km between intervals. I wanted to get up to 18 so I was going to throw in another interval of 1km at tempo then a cool down but nature called and I just happened to be running by my house. There was no way I was chancing it; I've learned my lesson from a past run. So I ended up 15.7km but with with some strong intervals (all close to 90 minute pace). I definitely could've added in that extra km for 13/18km at close to 90min HM pace but, man, when you gotta go, you gotta go.
Flavio - good job on getting back towards 60mpw. I was hoping to get up to 55ish to peak this week. I definitely have a new appreciation for this kind of mileage. I think getting to 60 after my half and before I start training for my next full will be the "off season" goal to really set a good base.
Personal Bests: 5k 19:43 (04/2017), 10k 43.24 (10/2016), Half 1:33:18 (10/2017), Full 3:32:47 (05/2017)2018 Targets: 5k: sub19, 10k: sub41, Half: sub90
Solid workout Blair. My morning runs are always planned via a toilet and thats after Ive been at home. I get a stage 2 after a few kms
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 "
Weather forecast is pretty good. Light winds, a few showers but occasional and light. Temp starting about 10 Celsius / 50 F maybe 15 Celsius / 59 F at the end.
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
Watson excellent cant get much better than that.
I want to get in on this and find a good race to officially do it next year. I ran a 1:49:49 25K a couple years back and was at a 6:56 pace at the 12 mile mark before the wheels came off....so I'd love to get another crack it. I think I need longer LONG runs and longer tempos to pull it off.
Intl. correspondent
Blair - great workout and good planning.
Watson - that seems like very good weather.
Brosendahl - welcome aboard. Please refer to page 1 rules and introduce yourself. Other than that, stick around, you will learn a lot from this bunch.
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
Sure thing Blair!
1. Bernie, 38, Male, 6-2, 162 lbs, Birmingham, MI USA. Started running seriously in 2010 in preparation for the Chicago Marathon in which I completely tanked. Found out I liked shorter, harder races a lot more so I focused on that for a few years. Typically averaged 40mpw for the past several years...if not less. All my PR's were set in my early to mid-30's. I did not run in high school or college.
PR's:
Mile: 4:57
5K: I've had a few 16:XX races on shorter courses. My only USATF-certified course was 17:32.
8K: 29:56
10K: 38:21
Half: 1:34:09
25K: 1:49:00
Work in Detroit, married with children.2. I'm not sure when my next half will be. I'm thinking of finding one in early 2018 because I'm not in great shape at the moment in order to run a good race. I plan on running the Chicago Marathon in 2018 and I'm aiming for 3:30. 3. Aiming for 50 miles this week, 60 miles next week, and 50 miles the following week. I have a 10K-ish race at the end of this month. I'm thinking I need to average 60 miles a week next year in order to get into the 16's for a 5K and run good races across the board.
RIP Milkman
Brosendahl (or are we just calling you bro? ): Welcome aboard! I can't believe you can run 17:30 in a 5k, but not 1:30 in a half. I realize it has a lot to do with endurance, but that's quite a drop off. However, you seem perfectly content with the shorter races! I think with just 50 mpw and a few long runs, you can easily secure a sub 1:30.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Blair - I had a bad case of nature calling on my run this past Sunday. It's especially frustrating when you're trying to hit a workout, but like you, I've learned my lesson to just accept it for what it is. Oh also, learned again not to eat a lot of spicy Chinese food the day before a hard workout.
Right now, I have absolutely dreadful endurance. In the past, I did a lot of 200m and 400m repeats with very little threshold work, along with long runs topping off at 10 miles. I often neglected threshold work. Mileage is fairly low as well, just under 40 mpw. I train like a 800m runner...which has little to do with half marathon training.
Looking back at some old logs from 2011, I did to a couple of 15-16 mile runs at 6:55 pace. It's too bad I did not race on that fitness. I also need to buy a Garmin to better track what I'm doing on those longer runs. I use a stopwatch for everything because I map my routes prior to running them.
Bro welcome. I ran about 17.30 5k couple years ago and 1.20 half. My training was around 60 mpw a tempo at half pace of 8k each week and solid long runs of about 15 miles or more. The shorter speed stuff is ok but not as important as the longer tempo and solid overall mileage. You have loads of untapped potential.
Bro - welcome. Yeah, you have a big endurance deficit which more miles plus longer tempos will help. You beat me by over 1 minute in the 5k, yet in the half I beat you by 8 minutes.
Bro - welcome. Kickass 5k times. Echoing the others (more experienced) posters, get your mileage up with some tempo runs and 1:30 should be a breeze. I hardly break 20 for 5k and am sniffing the 90 minute mark (likely low 90s for my next half-). I plan on running one more 5k this fall too, with the hopes of getting near that 19 minute mark, if not dipping below.
Jmac - I hear ya. For me it was spicy Arabic food. I work almost exlcusively with Arabic clients and they often bring out the food when I visit. I can never turn it down even knowing I have a workout run that evening or next day. I should learn but I don't
bro - welcome aboard again. Ditto to what others said, longer tempos/threshold runs will improve your half time, even at 40 miles a week.
You could start at 3x2 miles then over a few weeks evolve to 2x3 miles and work your way to 1x5 miles and 1x6 miles. This last one should be done 2 or 3 times tops, with the last one about 10 days before the race. Whatever pace you can hold on this workout should tell you your race pace. 4:14/km 6:50/mile should get you there.
Sam - how's training going on these days?
me - You guys will notice a graph icon next to our usernames, that takes you directly to our training log.
I'm yet to figure out how to embed a weekly here, I suppose it will be the old and trusted copy & paste.
Thanks for the warm responses! You guys are a friendly group and I'll definitely be leaning on the folks to help solve my distance/endurance problems.
Today was 13 miles at 7:35 pace.
This past Tuesday I did a bit of cutdown workout - 9x1000m with 1 minute standing rests at 6:13 pace. Started at 6:17 pace and tried to work down to 5:59. Didn't really hurt until the last two reps.
Might not be able to check in until next week...but Sunday's workout calls for 5 x (200-200-400) at a hard pace.