Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon 2021 Edition
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.
Sorry! I was sure I responded to this but maybe I forgot to hit post and closed the page by accident.
Looks like Dunedin has changed their course yet again. The marathon covers similar ground as to previous but starts midway along the peninsula before going out and coming back. The elevation profile on the official website looks horrendous over the first half but it looks totally wrong to me... I know guys on Strava who run along here and I had the impression this was mostly pretty flat around the waterside. TBH you would know this area better than me.
The half course looks pretty quick. Almost totally flat with only a small climb up around Logan Park early on, plus a couple of small, short climbs later on. Aside from the fact they have done a weird double loop thing in the waterfront area around Fryatt St. down to the Kitchener St. reserve, it looks like a really decent course. This is not a bad thing as this was quite nice running and almost dead flat, just a tad repetitive is all.
It's definitely the fastest the Dunedin half course has been in recent years as they've chopped the Botanical Gardens out completely which means you don't cop either the hills through there which are short but quite steep, or the false flat up through the middle of town. Not entirely flat, but not far off either.
*edit: Plus the race is now sponsored by, and finishes at, a brewery. I mean, I liked the stadium finish inside Forsyth Barr but I think a brewery finish is entirely appropriate for Dunedin!
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"
Older guy in orange shirt here...
Watson that was a beast long/hill/trail run you did. Good primer for next weekend.
Steve Christchurch gave us amazing weather. Its actually pretty miserable back home now. Yeah I guess warmer weather would help in a 5k. The more excuses I have the better .
I think the cricket will be a nice distraction from running. I enjoy keeping my other hobbies going where possible.
We made it over to Akaroa and Lyttelton too.
Mark I was around 190 cadence for the race. I kept getting bad GPS readings through the trees showing 3.48/km which I knew was false so I kinda went by feel. In hindsight I should have forced a 3.35 pace till 3k and then tried to hang on.
Darkwave interesting on the Takumi Sens been as quick at Next % 5k and down. This is my gut feeling too for me.
Nice job on the new squat method.
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 "
Steve Christchurch gave us amazing weather. Its actually pretty miserable back home now. Yeah I guess warmer weather would help in a 5k. The more excuses I have the better . I think the cricket will be a nice distraction from running. I enjoy keeping my other hobbies going where possible. We made it over to Akaroa and Lyttelton too. Mark I was around 190 cadence for the race. I kept getting bad GPS readings through the trees showing 3.48/km which I knew was false so I kinda went by feel. In hindsight I should have forced a 3.35 pace till 3k and then tried to hang on.
Yeah there's a lot to be said in a 5k for going out and just seeing how long you can hang in for.
The planning for National Road Relays has already begun for us which is the famous Takahe to Akaroa course. You would've driven most of it on your trip.
Hot Weather Complainer
Mark - Yep the course looks mostly pretty fast, just a couple of trips over a bridge and that small rise around Logan Park, which I've run up 100 times when I lived there. Also, the brewery aspect is great. I would have liked to have finished at the stadium though. Just re-checking the date, it's actually a week after the gig. So I am now going to seriously look at it.
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 1:27:34
Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
I really enjoyed the event both times I did it. TBH I'd be down there again in a flash if not for the fact it's the weekend between national 10k road champs and national HM champs!
The other useful thing about the course is that even if the weather is shite (windy) you're never dealing with it for that long. The longest straight stretch of the course is no more than 2-3km by the looks of it.
Yep, and the threat of wind in Dunedin is less severe than Wellington, although a bad day is always possible. Hot weather is very unlikely - they usually get their week of summer sometime in February.
I've booked an AirBnB (fully refundable of course) and will enter before the next price rise. I feel much more excited about this than I was about the South Island Half. Exactly 2 months to get in the speed training rather than 3 weeks. I'm in a position where I can have a genuine crack at a PR, and even get to use the cheat shoes. This is the same day as the Cherry Blossom half in Hagley but give me a few minor hills, only 2 loops and a certified course over that any day.
Keen - Busy times for thread leader in these times of race cancellations. Please remove the South Island Half on August 1 and add Dunedin Half-marathon for September 12. Goal: PR.
In the interests of bunching the updates for Thread Boss, couple more for me too:
Sept 5 - National 10K Road Champs, goal: PB
Sept 19 - National Half Marathon Champs, goal: TBD
Oct 2 - National Road Relays, goal: Masters gold medal
Keen - put my aim as 5:15:00 for Saturday.
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
I think -2C is a little too cold for optimal. But only a slight effect, and a frost means normally zero wind.
DW nice week box squats sound tough.
Steve Nice week, that indoor cricket sounds like it can take a toll on you body, not sure I understand how to play the game though. Hope you recovery goes well.
for me I end up with the biggest week I have had in several months thanks to getting in a 5th run due to the holiday getting just a bit over 41 miles in.
Had a pretty good run yesterday as well and got a few quick strides in
PR's
1m 5:38 (2018)
5k 19:59 (2019)
HM 1:33:56 (2018)
FM 3:23:07 (2018)
Congrats Old Guy in Orange Shirt That's a pretty quick 5k even if you sandbagged it. Does that earn you a JMac Sac? I do agree that you need to practice racing a 5k a few times to really get it right so I'm looking forward to the next attempt. All signs point to 17x. Interesting about the Takumi Sens. I wonder if that applies to other flats as well?
Steve How's the knee? Hopefully it's better so you can crush these next two months and PB at your half.
Watson Good luck on Saturday!
CFarr Excellent week!
Since everyone else is updating their Fall schedules I'm going to need to do the same :0
Alright, I had a down week because I'm on Antibiotics. I did no lifting, no crosstraining and mostly just chilled except for Saturday's run where the legs were feeling good and I allowed myself a moderate effort. Oddly enough my 12 week average is ticking up because I'm dropping off the weeks that were lost due to plantar fasciitis. The best part of this week is probably how much sleep I got!
M: 25 min easy
T: 35 min with a bunch of strides (unhappy coach as he wanted me at 20 minutes and no intensity)
W: 30 min ez
Th: 30 min ez
F: 40 min ez + 6 strides
S: 40 min moderate
S: 50 min ez + strides.
4h 36m / 31 miles
1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)
Problem Child
dwave box squats sound like how I started in Physical Education courses doing squats. It prevents you from going too low and allows a progressive increase in the weight. Just don't jump into full squats using the same weight.
To those with canceled races....bummer. It's been way too long since I've entered an actual race. The only ONE I've done was a "virtural" race organized (officially unoffically) online back in March, oh and that recent 5k I seemed to do OKAY at (PR, but I wanted more) so I hope you're able to keep that passion for running in there.
Cricket....thats the sport combining baseball, golfing, and lacrosse, right? Run back and forth between two posts and you can hit the ball (I'm sure it has a special name like Golden Snitch) in any of about 300 degrees of field of play.
My week:
abbreviated slightly just because I missed a run. The heat is KILLING me and now being in the office means I'm not running pancake flat courses and cherry picking the time of day to run. I have a 4.5, 6.5 and 8.0 mile run. I THOUGHT I'd do the 8.0 one day back but the effort required just wasn't going to be good for an overall run. I missed a day because I had no one to go with and got a little chatty with a coworker. Respectable week for some. I still expect more. Unsure why I missed a Thursday TRX workout. I DID feel great after the ONE I did, but two days later I could feel the soreness. I'm also all of a sudden REALLY tired around 7pm. Maybe I'm getting old, or maybe my body isn't ready for the abuse marathon training is going to bring. The first 5 mile tempo run should be fun...I'm just going to use that late May/Early June 5k pace as a training start.
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
Mark thats a nice race schedule you have coming up.
Steve excellent on the Dunedin half. This should keep you motivated 💪
Zeb its good to have rivals they really push you to train hard. I've got a couple here. One that pisses me off cos he's older and way faster off half my mileage
I didn't exactly sandbag as I couldn't talk properly at the end. I need to not talk to people as soon as I finish a 5k as I sound drunk 🙃
Corey nice mile TT on strava today. And excellent week too.
RP I get tired about 8pm and go off to bed. Then I wake at 5am which allows an early run before work.
Keen nice 5000m today. Like mine not quite what you hoped but still very decent when you think about it.
Intl. correspondent
Keen - You Piwi and myself will continue to battle for the 5k crown throughout the year haha. Great job on that time trial!
Piwi - Awesome job at the park run. We’ve spoken before on how 5ks take a bit to get used to the pain. I’m certain you can run faster, though now you need to be careful not to go to the well to often.
Watson - good luck on your race!
Corey - Mile training is awesome. Awesome job at the time trial, 5:44 is a great place to start. Now with the strength work and the fast repeats you will chip away quite a few seconds from that.
For comparison, when I started 1500m training I ran a 5:16, then when I finally ran the time trial I ran 4:54.
Darkwave - I’ve done those box squats and they’re excellent.
Steve - Leaving us for cricket LOL
me - Getting there. Body seems to be adapting to the training.
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
1.3 more KM Flavio!! That MP + 30 sec run is impressive. I love that your coach has you doing hill sprints in marathon training.