Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 half marathon in 2017
RIP Milkman
Thanks for the stalking! If you're going to stalk me Flavio, you might as well start following me And yeah, the first half of the race actually had some pretty decent up hills although nothing too crazy. I'm glad it was that way though because that's what my marathon will have so it's good to race on a non-flat course. It also was a low 60's plus low 60's dew point kind of morning, so not perfect conditions.
Anyway, for the non-stalkers, I finished in 1:25:04. My watch came up a little short, but I checked some other Strava users and there were almost all over 13.1, so I think the course was legit (it's certified, but they definitely had some mile markers in the wrong place). Even if it was a little off, I would have been sub 1:26.
My plan was to do the whole thing at MP, but my pace kept creeping faster. I did try to hold back, but I eventually realized that if 10-15 seconds per mile felt as easy as it did, might as well keep going with it. There were certainly some stretches where I perceived effort was higher, especially after those hills, but it definitely didn't feel like I was racing. With one mile to go, I turned it into a bit of a MP+LT pace workout by running the last mile in 5:53 because I felt so good and was getting kind of bored of running just perceived marathon effort. Figured one mile at LT never killed anyone.
Either way, I'm super happy with how the run went. I was looking to just do something between 1:28 and 1:29.
I'm definitely not in 2:50 shape, but it made me very confident in my current pacing target of 2:55 to 3:00. Of course, you never know what will happen at the end of a full marathon, but it was definitely a confidence boost.
Taper time for me!
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Flavio I saw your 20km run excellent to see you get in a good longer run.
Jmac thats an excellent result and a fun way to run a half totally dominating it and still running 1.25 while feeling great.
My week below pretty poor with a few days missed with a throat/chest infection.
Weekly SummaryMonday, Oct 09, 2017 thru Sunday, Oct 15, 2017
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 "
JamesD
JMac - Sounds like it was a great race. Enjoy your taper! Thanks also for the advice on my race.
Me - Mixed feelings about today's 15K. I started out fine at what I thought was HM effort because of the weather & the many hills & JMac's advice. Didn't think I was going too fast, but got a cramp around mile 4 and had to back off a bit. Wasn't a side stitch, and not the lung/chest cramp I had when I went out too fast at last year's goal half, but a pain just below my lowest rib. The temperature & humidity didn't feel as bad as I had expected, maybe because we started in the dark and it was overcast even after daybreak, and others agreed that the conditions weren't bad. I had more caffeine & more beet juice before the race than I had in the past, but only around 100mg and two Beet-it shots, so I doubt that was it. I was plenty hydrated with Gatorade and didn't sweat excessively, so that probably wasn't it. Suppose I just went out too fast despite what it felt like.
After the 8%+ hill (I walked the last short block, but so did almost everyone), I felt a bit better and came in a little slower than tempo effort, easing past a 20x 5K guy for a 1:06:36 finish, or 7:09 pace. I wasn't all that tired, & my legs felt ok, just didn't feel like I could go much faster without aggravating the cramp. Finished 4th/104, behind the 18-minute 5K guys and ahead of the 19- and 20-minute ones, so I wasn't too far behind what I think is my fitness. The race also seemed to go by pretty quickly, which was a good sign. At least it was a good workout and good practice at pushing through discomfort. Hope when it's cooler & drier & flatter at my half in 5 weeks that'll help me not cramp up.
My week:
Sun - off
Mon - 5.2 miles easy weaving around puddles in the rain
Tues - 4.1 easy including 4 strides
Weds - off
Thurs - 2.8 including 1 mile @ 6:33. This was 9 seconds slower than my similar-effort mile before my April 5K, so maybe I'm not in as good a shape as I think, or maybe it was just the heat & humidity.
Fri - off
Sat - 15K race, 10.1 miles including w/up
Total - 22.2 miles
8-week average - 29 mpw
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
Intl. correspondent
jmac - thanks for the RR, it looks like it was a blast! I do follow you by the way, that’s how I stalked
Piwi - keep at it, we need you here. Are you looking at any potential race for the near future?
James - great race. At least in my experience anything above 50F is bad racing conditions.
me - my week is done at 64km 40miles with a 20K long run. Very satisfying.
I was once again yesterday browsing the race calendar for half marathons and there is one in my town in november, but it coincides with the baptism of my nephew, so it won't be an option. I probably will have to run a time trial.
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
Jmac - Great race. Well done.
JamesD - Man, those types of hills kill me in races. I've never done any proper hill training so I should definitely start, but there was a 7% grade hill about half a km followed by low grade slope the rest of the way to finish a two loop half that I did in February. It killed me. What a cruel way to end a run (and make us do it twice!). Well done regardless of the cramp and course.
Flavio - Any idea of the adjustments that Brent made for his treadmill workouts? Come first heavy snowfall (usually December) until about March, a lot of my running (certainly anything with speed) will likely have to be on a treadmill. The only thing I've ever come across to put the grade to 0.5 or 1% to make up for any type of wind, hills, etc you get with road running.
Question to all - how do you structure your week of the race for a half-marathon? And do you do any relatively hard days? I like the idea of two rest days. Several programs I see put two rest days on Thursday, Friday, followed by an easy 5k on Saturday morning then race day Sunday whereas I see some put two right before the race day. I am leaning the former. I'm trying to hit about 35km before race day, so 7-8 for my recovery run on Monday then I am thinking an easy 10-14 on both Tuesday and Wednesday with 5 on Saturday. On Tuesday I might throw in strides at the end or a couple km at race pace just for mental benefit.
Monday, Oct 09, 2017 thru Sunday, Oct 15, 2017
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
Hey all, on holiday this week in Noosa so might not be on here as much, it has been very wet so far so beach time is looking dubious until at least mid-week! Seems I can't escape the rain wherever I go at the moment! 2 weeks until the marathon now so I will not be going too hard on the running while I'm here.
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"
My 14th week of training last week. One more peak week and tapering begins
Piwi - Glad you're feeling better. Hopefully you're running more this week!
James - It's weird that it wasn't a stitch, yet right below your ribs. That's exactly where I get all my stitches (and even had 2 of them during my race on Saturday). My stitches are caused by many things, but I almost always get one during a race because of hard efforts or after water stations if I drink too much.
Blair - There's a guy over on the Sub 3 thread (Kram) who runs 16+ mile workouts on the treadmill, most of which include threshold or MP work. You may want to message him. Regarding the week of a half marathon, it looks fairly similar as a full marathon taper. I generally get in one more quality day 3 days before the race, but it's much less volume than my other workouts. I like doing 3x1 at LT with 2 minute rests. Usually, I'm running more like 3x2 at LT with 2 minute rests. Since a half is very close to your LT, it's a good final workout without tiring you out. For the other days, I always take off 2 days before the race, but make sure to run the day before the race. Something like 15-20 minutes is enough. It's almost like you're getting 2 days in a row off, but a shakeout jog the day before the race will keep your legs from getting stiff. Otherwise, your easy runs should be less than usual. For my last half, my easy runs were around 60 minutes, but I ran 45 minutes on Monday and 35 minutes on Wednesday for a Saturday race.
Me - I already documented my race, here was the rest of my final week before tapering.
(Apologies if this is a double post - computer is acting up)
JMac - It was a stitch, just not lower in my side where I sometimes get them. Even if I did go out too fast, four miles seems very early to cramp up - it couldn't have been that fast. Oh well, my goal half will have very different conditions & course, and I'll try to go out easier.
Blair - I used to take two days off before races (while running very low mileage, in the teens/week), but this year I've split the two off days with a very short tempo run, which I think keeps me from getting stale. For a Saturday race, I'll run my race warmup strides at the end of Tuesday's easy run, take Wednesday off, run a mile at tempo pace (plus warmup, strides, and cooldown, so about 3 miles total) on Thursday so I don't feel stale, and take Friday off before race day. As for a short easy run the day before the race, I might try that next year if I can increase my mpw. For now, I feel fresher for speedwork the day after an off day than I do the day after an easy run, and I assume the principle is similar.
All - Do you need to take it easy on your heart/lungs for a few days after a race or just your legs? I've always understood that the advice to avoid hard running for a few days after a race is to allow the legs to recover and that the heart/lungs recover quickly. Since this will be an easy week after last Saturday's 15K, I plan to swim twice before easy runs to get some extra cardio benefit. (My swims are almost entirely arms-only crawls that work my arms & heart/lungs but not my legs.) When I swam this morning, I felt weaker than usual (lungs/heart, not arms), and my form deteriorated a lot near the end. If you do need to wait a few days before resuming full cardio workouts, is there a rule of thumb like the "one day for every mile raced before resuming quality running" rule?
JMac11 is just killing it. Congrats!and Arvind with a killer mileage week.So I finally started using a Garmin. I never used one before, so I started borrowing my wife's for outdoor runs. I got in 50 miles last week with a 13 mile run at 7:13 pace. Last two miles were at 6:41 and 6:34. Tried a 3-4 mile tempo run on Sunday which was a total bust. Went through the first mile at 6:19-ish and "LOST SATELLITE CONNECTION" about a tenth of mile into mile 2. Really pissed off as it was going really well. I ended up stopping my watch and just running home.
Going to try a 3 x 2 mile workout on the road tomorrow afternoon. Aiming for 6:20 pace.
James - Never heard anything about recovering heart/lungs. Regarding the stitch, I can actually get them in the first half mile if it's food or drink related, i.e. I had too much to eat too close to my run. Funny enough, I get them on different sides. The food/drink one is on the left, and the working too hard is on the right. Did you drink/eat more than usual, or perhaps too close to the race?
Bro - Is it an older model? my old Garmin used to do that, but the one I bought this year is amazing with the connection, both initial and maintaining it. Also, 3x2 is my bread and butter, love that workout although some days it can be mentally taxing.
It is. It's a Garmin 110. I've ran with it about 5 or 6 times and never had an issue until Sunday. I just ordered another 110 since I liked that one a lot...so am I going to have problems from with connections with a "New" old model?
I'm sure it'll be somewhat better, but you're going to have the same issues, yes. I actually used to run with a 110 until the beginning of this year and I am SO glad I upgraded. The newer models have such superior GPS connection compared to the old ones, plus a bunch of additional features that make life easier. I'll also add that the battery life is night and day, even though the newer models have more features that you would think would drain battery faster. Even a refurbished newer model is much better than a brand new old model.
JMac - I ate my usual small bowl of cereal & half a banana at my usual 2-1/2 hours before the race, so I doubt that was it.
As for liquids, I drank a lot of Gatorade the day before, but I always do that. Drank two shots (total ~5 oz.) of Beet-It concentrated beet juice 90 minutes before the race when I usually have one shot. Beet juice usually causes a little stomach queasiness for about half an hour, and it didn't feel any different with two shots than with one.
I also ate a package of caffeinated jellybeans 45 mintues before the race, but I always do that too. I did chase it with ~6 oz of a caffeinated sports drink instead of water, so my total amount of caffeine was about 100mg instead of 50mg, but that doesn't seem like that much. I had used the drink before my last several long runs without any problems.
I guess I could cut back to one shot of beet juice & go back to chasing the beans with water rather than sports drink. That's probably safer than risking more cramps for a relatively small performance boost.
That's odd, sounds like nothing was too different. As I said, I get stitches every race due to both water intake during the race and just general fatigue, so I've learned all the tricks of the trade to get rid of them while running. Make sure you have a good routine down of how to get them out if this is something you think you may encounter again, as once the cat is out of the bag, it generally won't go away without you taking active steps to fix it.