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

Running Problem


Problem Child

    Nice little walk to the finish/hotel. Close to the bus stops. Good choice. I will probably stay downtown as well. No real advantage of staying in Folsom unless I want to wait for the bus ride back to the hotel vs walk to my hotel. A mini fridge in room is nice. The Goverment rate is $239 but non-government is $221. Interesting.

    Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

    VDOT 53.37 

    5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

      Parkrun went pretty good. I jogged 2kms in from my motel. Had the next% shoes on for the first time in a 5k.

      I did parts of Darkwaves warmup with 3kms jog 800m@half pace and strides.

      It was cold but not bad. I ditched my beanie but wore gloves.

      They were using the alternative start which last time came up good at 5kms and if not it would be easy for me to shoot past the finish.

       

      Off we went and I settled into 4th after the first km. Pace felt about right but was over 3.40/km. I really need 3.35s to get under 18 mins. The tree cover screws with the pace showing on this course at times so I wasn't totally sure.

      Overtook 3rd place guy after 2kms. 1st and 2nd were way ahead. He tried to stay with me but I gapped him after halfway.

      3rd and 4th kms on my own. The shoes felt great nice and bouncy and I put the hammer down in the last km for a 3.33km.

      Coming into the finish it looked like I was going to get 5kms but when I got to the guy who hands you a token I had 4.97 so I quickly grabbed it and sprinted down the finishing shoot and just got to 5kms at the end 🙃

       

      Final time about 18.20. Really not alot of improvement for the fitness i feel I have gained recently but a solid hit out.

      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 "      

       

      CommanderKeen


      Cobra Commander Keen

        Piwi - Great job on the park run, especially for an older guy in orange! Maybe I can come close to this time Monday morning.

        5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22

         

        Upcoming Races:

         

         

        JamesD


        JamesD

          Nice parkrun, Piwi.  I imagine you could've gone even faster if you had someone to chase the last couple of km.

           

          Because my tempo times have been staying slow, I reduced my volume this week and tried some light speedwork to see if the hamstrings/glutes would handle it.  Results were mixed - the four 400s were woefully slow (~91 seconds when I averaged ~84 for a mile last year) but that wasn’t a surprise, and the glutes were sore but not worryingly so.  On the down side, I stopped my Friday tempo after 3 of the planned 4 miles because my right glute and hamstring were both starting to hurt.  Felt better after I stopped and during my cooldown, and they were ok during today’s treadmill recovery run.

           

          Sun - off

          Mon - 5 miles incl. 4x400 @ ~91 with ~1:40 rest, TDP 152

          Tues - 6.3 miles (1:12) very slow on treadmill

          Weds - 6.3 in park @ 8:41, TDP 148

          Thurs - off

          Fri - 7.7 in park including 3.1 @ ~7:01/mile, stopped w/sore hamstring/glute, TDP 151

          Sat - 9.9 (1:54) very slow on treadmill

           

          Total - 35.1 miles

          YTD average - 47.7 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

          Marky_Mark_17


            Piwi - good job on the parkrun effort.  I reckon you would go quicker next time as you were possibly a little conservative at the start.

             

            James - nice week, although bummer about the ongoing niggles.

             

            Me - had a bit of a lighter week this week.  Coach is back writing programmes again but to be honest I would've done the same thing after a couple of very solid weeks!  Had a couple of good back to back workouts with 1km repeats on Wed and longer hill efforts on Thurs.  Seem to have picked up a light cold today but hopefully nothing too serious, normally it's a pretty light start to the week so hopefully I can shake it quickly.  Four weeks until the next race so all going to plan that'll be 3 solid weeks of training plus a taper week.

             

            Weekly for period: From: 05/07/2021 To 11/07/2021

            Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
            in m
            06/07 That run where I preferred cold winter to wet, warm and windy winter 8.71 14.02 01:00:04 06:54 04:17 68
            07/07 That run where I got my name up alongside the big boys 9.95 16.01 01:01:14 06:09 03:49 39
            08/07 That run where you know coach is writing the programme again because hill repeats are back 8.98 14.45 00:58:04 06:28 04:01 158
            10/07 That run with the massive downpour just before I got out of bed 8.08 13.01 00:50:19 06:14 03:52 116
            11/07 That run where the playground water fountain was broken 😭 14.31 23.03 01:42:28 07:10 04:27 231

            Total distance: 80.52km

            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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

            Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

            "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

              Keen good luck i set the bar low for you . That was hilarious the guy on strava talking about the old guy in the orange shirt. I didn't click it was me at first.

               

              James good job getting in those miles with the niggles. One day I'm hoping to see a niggles free post from you 🙏

               

              Mark still a nice week for a lighter week. How are the new trail shoes ?

               

              Couple of thoughts on my 5k yesterday.

              I wore the next % which I thought would give me a free 10 secs but I was actually slower than my last 5k in November last year when I wore Takumi Sens.

              Running 5ks once or twice a year is not enough to run a good one. You need to get used to the burn.

              My 10k pace and 5k pace are 4 secs/km apart. Thats not good enough and I am settling for a " comfy " pace in-between when I should be pushing harder.

              My heart rate averaged 163 yesterday but was 173 in my last 5k, again a sign of not pushing enough.

              I'm getting older so vo2max is declining and possibly I'm training better to achieve same results.

              Will do another Parkrun in 2 weeks.

              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 "      

               

              watsonc123


                Mark and Piwi - nice weeks.

                 

                Piwi - nice race.

                 

                The road world record 10km was set last year in Takumi Sens.  I remember Darkwave really liking them for shorter races.

                 

                My week was good.  Saturday's run was SUPER HARD, the last two hills involved a lot of walking. It was the longest run I've done (if you count the walking parts as running) and the most elevation.  Biggest week elevation too, Saturday's run alone got me there.

                 

                My easy run today, suprisingly went pretty good.

                 

                Race is next Saturday.  Long term forecast is not great, between 10 and 14 Celsius, with strong northerlies and rain. Scary thing is that the race is 1.5 times what I did on Saturday.  Although food at the aid stations plus race day magic will hopefully help.

                 

                Weekly for period: From: 05/07/2021 To 11/07/2021

                Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
                in m
                05/07 Evening Run 2.92 4.70 00:25:06 08:36 05:20 15
                06/07 Evening Run - Incl. 20 * (1:00 Quickish & 1:00 Easy) Intervals 7.25 11.66 00:57:59 08:00 04:58 44
                07/07 Evening Run 4.35 7.00 00:36:27 08:23 05:12 24
                08/07 Evening Run - Steady Pace 3.0-13.0km 8.67 13.95 01:03:35 07:20 04:33 49
                09/07 Afternoon Run 3.17 5.10 00:24:39 07:47 04:50 0
                10/07 Lunch Run - Cannon Point & Birchville Dam 16.17 26.02 03:35:51 13:21 08:18 1268
                11/07 Afternoon Run 3.85 6.20 00:32:16 08:23 05:12 14

                Total distance: 74.63km

                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

                  RP that's crazy sounds like no one was hurt though

                  Zeb I have been through a couple but even living here I didn't know they were as prevalent as they are, again most are undetectable or perceived by most. we just had one here about 1 month ago at 2.6 magnitude center about in the center of the state I never felt it.

                  Keen that terrible about the reservation wtf...good luck on the time trial.

                  Piwi just an awesome run! I'm still planning on my 1 mile race I'll be lucky to break 6min for just 1 mile.  Good luck in 2 weeks

                  James nice week even though it was reduce a bit,  you have bene very consistent through the year so far.

                  Mark nice week as well coach seems to be progressing well and recovering.

                  Watson nice week good luck in your race next weekend

                   

                  My week will be over today getting ready to head out for my Sunday morning run hope to get right at 40 this week in anticipation of a lower volume next week while I'm on vacation.

                  I'm look to start more focus on prepping for my 1 mile race send of Aug.  I haven't signed up for it yet but hope to today to give me the kick in the pants I need to start proper training.

                  PR's

                  1m  5:38 (2018)

                  5k    19:59 (2019)

                  HM  1:33:56 (2018)

                  FM  3:23:07 (2018)

                  darkwave


                  Mother of Cats

                    42 miles running and 3 hours pool-running.
                    M: 1 hour pool-running and upper body weights/core.
                    Tu: 9 miles with 8 short hills (70-80 seconds up a 5% slope with 2:30-2:40 recovery) plus leg strengthwork.
                    W: 9 miles easy (9:37) plus drills and two strides
                    Th: 1 hour pool-running and streaming yoga.
                    F: 10 miles, including 6 Iwo Jima Memorial hills (~2 minutes hard up, jog, 25 second downhill stride, jog) plus leg strengthwork.
                    Sa: 7.5 miles very easy (9:46), drills and four strides, Upper body weights/core, and 3 miles very easy (9:23)
                    Su: 3.5 miles easy on treadmill (9:51), 60 minutes pool-running, and streaming yoga.

                     

                    Still staying low on the mileage. Added in some hills this week. Swapped some of my squats to box squats (basically you place a box behind you as you squat so your butt taps the box for a second at the bottom of the squat, and you relax enough to let the box hold about 50% of your weight. Then you power back up. Slightly more running relevant, since your glutes and hamstrings are a bit relaxed before firing back up, just like in a running stride.

                     

                    It was interesting to note that the hills were very aerobically challenging, but much easier on the legs than I was expecting.  I think that's the benefits of focusing on squats for a week or two first before adding in hills.

                     

                    This week will have some miles at tempo effort tomorrow, and hopefully some hills this coming Saturday.  In between then I've got a colonoscopy and upper endoscopy scheduled for Wednesday morning, so the week days will be played by ear.

                     

                    Piwi - nice run. I'm guessing that grabbing the token cost you a few seconds. I've pretty much run identical times in Takumi Sens and Next %s at the 5K and mile distances. The main benefit of the Next % is that it's easier to find in my size.

                    James - I'm hoping the soreness continues to improve.

                    Watson - still plenty of time for the forecast to change.

                    CFarr - hope the run went well.
                    Mark - nice week - I hope you can shake the cold

                    Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.

                     

                    And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.

                    Marky_Mark_17


                      Piwi - I haven't tried the new trail shoes yet.  Will look to give them a go sometime this week.  Not a lot of good trails near me but could go up to Long Bay maybe.

                       

                      Personally I find the Next's give me a big boost even over shorter distances.  I am pretty high cadence which I suspect also plays into it.  Based on your 10k pace I'd say if you ran the same thing again in a week or two you would go better, it's just about getting used to 5k pain.  I've never tried the Takumi Sens though.

                       

                      Watson - I'm not surprised it was hard, some of those climbs look brutal.  Fingers crossed the weather improves for you.

                       

                      Corey - mile race sounds like fun... I've never run one (but Darkwave certainly has).

                       

                      Darkwave - I've done those squats a long time ago.  I can see how they'd be quite beneficial for running because the brief rest forces you muscles to re-engage as your power back up.

                      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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

                      Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

                      "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

                      darkwave


                      Mother of Cats

                         

                        Darkwave - I've done those squats a long time ago.  I can see how they'd be quite beneficial for running because the brief rest forces you muscles to re-engage as your power back up.

                         

                        You explained it much better than I did.  Smile

                        Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.

                         

                        And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.

                        SteveChCh


                        Hot Weather Complainer

                          Corey - Enjoy your break, and the lower volume.  Sounds like you've well and truly earned a break from work.

                           

                          watson - Nice week.  The elevation on that long run looks BRUTAL.  The race sounds like it will be a tough day out and getting to the finish line will be an achievement.  That weather will just add to the fun!  You just can't trust Wellington.

                           

                          piwi - Nice work on the race.  Although Saturday was not as cold as it has been, it still would have been about -2C (28F).  This is the weather that I've done my best halves in, but for a 5km I would imagine it would impact the early part of the race even with a darkwave warm up.  It wouldn't surprise me if you got a big breakthrough in 2 weeks.

                           

                          mark - Nice week.  Hopefully the cold doesn't get too bad.  There's quite a heavy cold going around here at the moment.

                           

                          James - Bummer about the on-going niggles, but I think you may have saved yourself worse by stopping.

                           

                          keen - That is very poor form from the hotel.  That 5km weather sounds pretty good, as long as the humidity doesn't go crazy.

                           

                          darkwave - Those box squats sound like a good idea.  I might try adding them to my strength exercises this week.  Hope those medical procedures go okay.

                           

                          me - Another lighter week after replacing Monday's run with the stationary bike because of knee concerns.  The good news is it seems to have paid off.  On Wednesday night I had an easy run with an older guy in orange and there were a couple of twinges but since then it's been completely fine.  A friend asked me a couple of months ago if I wanted to play some Super League indoor cricket, which I haven't played since I was 21 and I said yes, after the marathon (another chance to curse the postponement).  The opportunity came up on Friday so I played in a 15 run loss (but surprised myself by top scoring) however I discovered that a game of indoor cricket takes way more energy than I thought.  There's a lot of short sharp sprints and muscles used that don't get used in running (mainly when bowling*/throwing) so I pulled up VERY sore on Saturday and Sunday (not to mention the purple hands from wicket keeping*).  My long run was supposed to be 26km with 8 x 1km @ 4:00-05 pace but I soon worked out that any speed was completely out of the question with strains in both hamstrings and very low energy.  In the end I had to decide to shorten it too because I could feel the start of some cramp and I felt like I was working very hard.  22km @ easy ended up knocking me round much more than 42.2km did 2 weeks ago!

                           

                          They have asked me to play the rest of the season which is about 4 weeks plus finals (which look unlikely) and I enjoy it so I've said I'm in.  The downside to this choice is I can't realistically do the half in 3 weeks.  Perhaps I need Saturday to be recovery and Sunday to be my long run workout day.  I was already on the fence about this race and I think it's better to wait and be all in.  It may mean doing the tiny race in Hagley Park again, which measured 150 metres short...but if I have to run through the finish line again, so be it.

                           

                          I went to Maruia Springs with my partner on Saturday which is a great place with hot pools that are open 24 hours, a short walk from the room.  Definitely felt better in the legs after each dip but I was still so sore that getting in and out of the car was a big effort.  It's a good reminder of the struggles that some people have to deal with permanently.  I tried to do recovery there but the trail was deep mud or big rocks so I cut the lap short and did a full recovery jog at home.  The road there is very steep and was covered in black ice, with tight corners and a speed limit of 100km/h so that wasn't an option either if I wanted to live to tell the story.

                           

                          *Sorry Americans, I know you have no idea what I'm saying

                           

                          Weekly for period: From: 05/07/2021 To 11/07/2021

                          Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
                          in m
                          05/07 Stationary Bike 20.57 33.10 00:52:00 02:32 01:34 0
                          07/07 Warm up 0.32 0.52 00:03:04 09:35 05:54 0
                          07/07 Easy hour 7.50 12.07 01:00:43 08:06 05:02 5
                          08/07 Recovery 5.54 8.92 00:46:06 08:19 05:10 18
                          09/07 Warm up 0.29 0.46 00:02:49 09:43 06:07 0
                          09/07 Easy 8km 5.13 8.26 00:40:05 07:49 04:51 10
                          10/07 Warm up 0.29 0.47 00:02:44 09:26 05:49 0
                          10/07 Easy pace 13.73 22.09 01:50:16 08:02 05:00 28
                          11/07 Short recovery trot around the frozen forest/river trail before one last trip to the hot pools 1.04 1.67 00:12:38 12:09 07:34 31
                          11/07 Recovery 4.03 6.49 00:35:27 08:48 05:28 6

                          Total distance: 60.94km

                          5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23

                           

                          2024 Races:

                          Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024 1:29:55

                          Christchurch Half-Marathon April 21, 2024

                          Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024

                          Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024

                          JamesD


                          JamesD

                             

                             

                            ...me - ...A friend asked me a couple of months ago if I wanted to play some Super League indoor cricket, which I haven't played since I was 21 and I said yes, after the marathon (another chance to curse the postponement).  The opportunity came up on Friday so I played in a 15 run loss (but surprised myself by top scoring) however I discovered that a game of indoor cricket takes way more energy than I thought.  There's a lot of short sharp sprints and muscles used that don't get used in running (mainly when bowling*/throwing) so I pulled up VERY sore on Saturday and Sunday (not to mention the purple hands from wicket keeping*)....They have asked me to play the rest of the season which is about 4 weeks plus finals (which look unlikely) and I enjoy it so I've said I'm in....  

                             

                            *Sorry Americans, I know you have no idea what I'm saying

                             

                            (Looks on bookshelf, sees, "A History of West Indies Cricket" and "Beyond a Boundary," remembers meeting Indian and West Indies Test players, remembers getting a duck in what passed for a celebrity softball cricket match in Guyana, thinks, "Some of us do.")

                             

                            Sounds like fun.  Congrats on top scoring.  My knowledge is way out of date and I'm not familiar with indoor, though from what you said about your hands, I assume the balls are closer to real cricket balls than softball cricket balls.

                            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

                            Marky_Mark_17


                              Steve - yeah indoor cricket is pretty much the opposite of distance running... a lot of short, sharp, very explosive movements!  But if you enjoy it, then go for it.  There's no point pushing yourself for a race that your heart isn't totally into.  Good chance for a bit of a reset and then have a think about what might be next.

                               

                              James - indoor cricket is like a fast, crazy, manic version of cricket.  The game is played in an area not much bigger than the pitch itself, surrounded by a net.  You can get caught out off the side nets (or the rear one behind the wicketkeeper), but you can't get caught out off the straight net behind the bowler.  So the trick is basically playing straight as much as possible.

                              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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

                              Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

                              "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

                              SteveChCh


                              Hot Weather Complainer

                                James - Ha, very nice (except the duck).  Indoor is played with a ball slightly softer than an outdoor cricket ball but hard enough to hurt when it goes into your bare hands at pace many times.

                                 

                                Mark - Interesting - I've played my best when I play the side nets.  Play it late into the gap or hard into the ground and then high into the net to avoid a run out.  You can get caught off the back net if it hits the side net first so there isn't much room for error.  I've had short periods where playing the big shots to the back net has worked for me but eventually the game catches up with you.

                                 

                                Yep, agreed on the race.  Something would have to change in the next week for me to enter the South Island half.  Still looking for potential alternatives (I think you missed my query for your thoughts on Dunedin, which has yet another new course).  The date clashes with a gig I've been looking forward to for months though.

                                5km: 18:34 11/23 │ 10km: 39:10 8/23 │ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 │ M: 3:34:49 6/23

                                 

                                2024 Races:

                                Motorway Half Marathon February 25, 2024 1:29:55

                                Christchurch Half-Marathon April 21, 2024

                                Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024

                                Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024