Sub 1:30 Half Marathon 2021 Edition (Read 448 times)

 

Mark/Zebano thanks for the weights advice. Mark what weight are you lifting and what did you start with ?

 

So, bear in mind I used to do a lot more weights than I do now!

I would normally do a warm-up set of squats with the bar (20kg) and then 3 x 6 at 60kg.  Maybe a bit more weight if I'm feeling really good.  Deadlifts generally exactly the same.  I could probably push the weights a bit harder but I don't want the DOMS to mess with my running for the next 2 days.

I used to be able to get up to around 140kg on squats and at one point I could deadlift 200kg as a one-rep max.  I was always more conservative with the squats because, well, you can drop the weight easily enough when you're doing deadlifts!  Plus I was probably around 10kg heavier then.

140kg is a very good squat.

140 kgs!!! That's a heck of a squat. Could you dunk?  I've never exceed 285 for a deadlift and 245 for squat and I was heavier then. FWIW I got some goals from Jay Dicharry's book Running Rewired.

• Romanian Deadlift: 3x6: 2xBodyWeight
• Hip Thrust: 3x6 2xBW
• Split Squat: 6-rep goal is 1.3-1.5xBW
• High bar back squat: 3x6: 1.3-1.5xBW

That split squat goal seems a bit ambitious given the high bar goal but I'll give it a go regardless.

squats 140 kg is definitely impressive. I think "double your body weight" is always impressive. As much as I hate hills I'd hate leg day, but in that "oh it's time to put in work, this won't be fun, and we aren't going to enjoy it" type of way to reap the benefits later.

JMac You take stairs during marathon training? wow dude, I'm actually impressed. I work on the 4th floor and typically avoid them especialy after workouts. How is the daughter doing? She's 10 months right?

Zeb I'd say you did a good job on the long run if you're going by effort and backing off. If your sprint triathlon is this upcoming weekend I'm sure you're doomed for missing one workout 7 days before race day.

Marathon fatigue I think it is just natural to feel tired during training. Not like you're needing more sleep and can't carry yourself, but for me personally it's just a "yeah it feels like I've been running a lot more, and I've included harder workouts" since I don't really do speed work unless I'm training for a race. It's this weird "I'm kinda tired/worn out but I feel like I could do an 8 miler on lunch" feeling.

cicidas nope...don't think we have those in the desert. I think I recorded them in a tree in Broken Arrow, OK one summer. WE have Mormon Crickets though. No they don't ride bikes, and no they don't hand out literature. They just eat everything.

Piwi If you're going to start with squats just make sure you're going light. NO ONE likes doing heavy squats the day or two after them. It's always easier to add more weight at the next workout. There is a school of thought that low reps are for power/strength and high reps are for endurance/cardio. Much like a marathon pace and 1 mile pace. I think too many people start with body weight. You could probably do 45kg on a barbell (total weight) and judge from there how much weight is enough. If you are using dumbbells it gets expensive, and hard to find 45+kg weights.

Also I'm coachless. I use books and the wisdom from this forum/Strava. I considered it years ago, and sometimes wonder if I'd have gotten to where I am FASTER with a coach. I think it is 75% financial, 12.5% lack of research (previously they had in person trainings I couldn't make) and 12.5% "I enjoy doing this myself so I can claim all the glory" as to why I don't have a coach.

cfarr I sometimes make myself pull my shoulders down to relax my neck. I don't think the chiropractor will snap your neck, but if they do you get some time off from the chiropractor. I tried to treat my chiro appointments as a massage when I went. I haven't gone in years though. Maybe it would do some good, but ain't nobody got time for that.

5x1k seems to have gone well last night. I cherry picked number 5 to finish the workout. #4 was into the wind and instead of suffering I decided not to fight it. While I didn't FEEL a push behind me while running the last one, and the heart rate was at 180 (above the VO2 max goal) I think the workout went as intended and I hit the paces I was going for while also backing off the 6:00-6:13 initial paces. I guess I am in better shape than my March 5k time trial/PR so I have no reason NOT to go all out on Saturday.

I emailed the RD asking about waves since they're mentioned on the website, and also because COVID 19 blah blah blah. The reply was pretty much "yeah I should think about that and talk to our timer because there is a hard left hand turn really early in the race to cross a bridge." uhhhh yeah dude it's Saturday. Might want to figure this out before Friday at 10pm. At least the turn around is clearly marked with a cement wall.

RP good job on the 5x1k. Look forward to your result on the 5k this weekend.

I'm going very light on the weight, have no choice as don't have more weight 

Flavio thanks is once per week enough for a strength session ?

Funny on you and your brother. My son is looking for a part time job. He's been going to the gym for about 3 months and starting to get some muscle. I remember my mother talking about my oldest brother been terrible to her and he left home at 16. Must be a gene on my side 

Sorry for my lack of posting. Still in a base building / random workout here and there phase, so not as dedicated. That will change come July/August. Still planning on running this socially distanced 5K next week that will be more like a time trial. Can't complain though, first "race" since February 2020.

RP - daughter is good, thank you for asking. She's just learned to pull up, so now the fun begins where I can't leave her for more than 5 seconds without worrying what trouble she is getting herself into.

Piwi - the more we learn about genetics, the more we learn that environment doesn't matter as much as we think. Both a cool and horrifying thing to feel as a parent.

Mark - your squat ability explains a lot of your running talent across different distances.

 

 

Piwi - the more we learn about genetics, the more we learn that environment doesn't matter as much as we think. Both a cool and horrifying thing to feel as a parent.

  

Ohh good luck with the daughter. That time is super cute but also super time consuming. I listened to a TED talk about this the other day. Parenting just doesn't matter the way we think it does but genetics also doesn't mean your kids are going to be exactly like you or each other too. Fairly fascinating subject if a bit depressing.

JMac - Good to see you checking in, and good luck with your daughter.  Luckily you have superb top end speed.

RP - Nice 5x1km workout.  I think you're in good shape for an impressive result in the 5km.

Some pretty impressive squat stats.  These days I use a couple of 12kg dumbbells when I do squats but when I lived in Melbourne and belonged to a gym I got some decent numbers - I have pretty big legs and I'm quite short and stocky...just a pity I hate doing weights so much!

Halfway through my biggest week of training - the running is going well but more external stress due to the on-going saga of Mum's health and stubborn nature.  2 falls over the weekend, 2 ambulance visits and 2 refusals to go to hospital.  A GP visit on Tuesday led to him sending her to hospital as he suspected she'd had a stroke or had a brain bleed (she was way more cognitively impaired than usual, was unable to even understand how to plug in her phone to charge it).  Her GP has said I should invoke power of attorney if she tries to go home again.  After 2 nights in hospital she's improved and is retaining information better and is less confused, so I've stopped confusing her with Joe Biden for now.  Overall this is good news I think, I feel less stressed going to sleep each night she's in proper care knowing I'm likely to sleep through the night.  She has a St John alarm around her neck but didn't push it the second night so froze on the bathroom floor for 6 hours before her home carer arrived in the morning - this is the level of stubborn I'm dealing with!  Anyway, the point of all that is to apologise in advance if I'm a bit absent although I'm going to try to keep things normal where I can.

I had my midweek medium-long run yesterday - a strongish headwind for the second half gave me some good practice doing MP into a wind.  I actually held the pace better with the wind and lifted my effort a bit too much into the wind and ended up 5-10 seconds per km too fast.  The positive was a 22km run, which not long ago was my weekend long run, felt very comfortable.  4.5 weeks until race day which is creeping up on me very quickly!  That must mean I'm not too beaten up yet.  I've got some concerns about Covid outbreaks with what is going on in Australia (we have an NZ-Australia bubble at the moment).  One thing is for sure, if anything impacts the race I will not be doing a time trial or continuing indefinite marathon training as Mark did last year!  And for now I'm thinking getting to Melbourne for the half in October is down to about 20%.  Even if I can get there, if the risk of getting stuck there is still too high I probably won't take my chances.