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

flavio80


Intl. correspondent

    Mark - One of the things I noticed watching sports in US TV channels is that the play by play guy and the analysts really dig into the statistics and numbers.

    It’s a very cerebral approach, let’s say. Where as the play by play guy in Brazil is all about emotion and they talk very, very little about the numbers.

     

    Zeb - I agree with your coach. Unless you’re training for a Strength competition and running just for some extra aerobic, of course.

    If you are training for a race and strength training is meant to supplement your running, then you need to do strength training just enough that it never impacts your workouts.

    Also, when you do more than what’s prescribed, you’re messing with the plan. The coach is scheduling the runs to have super compensation gains, some runs are stronger some are easier to let you rest.

    If you run further, you’re messing the rest period and as such you will not be as strong when you get to your workout.

    All that to say, don’t be a brat, follow the plan 😁

     

    RP - It seems to me that under doing a workout is always better than over doing it.

    One of the 1500m runners was removed from the Kenyan team because he lacked out of competition testing results. It kind of sucks, cause if you’re having trouble training properly due to malnutrition, lack of strength training and lack of proper coaching, then suddenly you find a sponsorship and can train well and finally get that fitness boost, but then you’re turned down for not enough tests, even though you’ve never tested positive.

    On the other hand, that is allowing Tim Cheruyot to run in the Olympics, which is great 💪

     

    Watson - shouldn’t we say IDEAL conditions? I mean, if you wanted something easy you’d run a flat half 😂

     

    James - I think you might benefit more from more 400 reps and a slower pace. I think 88 seconds is too fast for you and 1:35 is too little rest. 8x400 at 96 seconds with 2 min rests would be best IMHO.

     

    Piwi - Very nice tempo!

     

    Steve - big week, it looks like the marathon training is now allowing you to hit a new training block with a higher mileage.

     

    me - Big week. I'm approaching the red line, I've asked the coach for a similar or lower mileage next week.

    The long run today was tough, the last 30 minutes were especially difficult, the 20 miles per hour head winds certainly didn't help.

    Weekly for period: From: 12/07/2021 To 18/07/2021

    Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
    in m
    13/07 9 miles last 4 progression down to HMP 9.01 14.50 01:09:21 07:42 04:47 48
    14/07 Morning Run 9.50 15.29 01:17:18 08:08 05:03 76
    15/07 12x(2min@5k 1minE) + 6x(30s on + 20s off) 10.22 16.45 01:16:54 07:31 04:40 15
    16/07 Morning Run 9.01 14.49 01:12:28 08:03 05:00 161
    17/07 7mi + 4 hard strides 7.20 11.58 00:59:30 08:16 05:08 105
    18/07 Morning Run 20.01 32.20 02:37:53 07:53 04:54 38

    Total distance: 104.50km

    PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021

    Up next: no idea

    Tool to generate Strava weekly

    JamesD


    JamesD

       

       

      James - I think you might benefit more from more 400 reps and a slower pace. I think 88 seconds is too fast for you and 1:35 is too little rest. 8x400 at 96 seconds with 2 min rests would be best IMHO.

       

       

      Thanks, Flavio.  Normally I would agree with you, but I'm doing this to work on speed and not VO2 max and doing it this way because of my hamstring/glute trouble.  Because they still hurt at times, I haven't risked running anything faster than tempo pace (6:50-7:05/mile these days) since my injury last year.  My tempo runs have been getting slower, so I wanted to do something to work on speed.  I don't want to try going too fast, or I would do 200s.  For my first try I only wanted to do four and see how the hamstrings felt.  They were sore but no more so than after tempo runs, and the short recovery didn't seem to be a problem since there were so few.  I tried the same workout again a week later and was pleased that I averaged 3 seconds faster and that each one was a little faster.  I'm aiming for an October half, so I'm not planning on doing many more sets of 400s, maybe one more.  I want to emphasize tempo runs in this cycle, and if I do more track workouts, it'll be at longer distances (ideally 4 or 5x1200) with slower paces and longer rest to get more VO2 max work.

      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

      darkwave


      Mother of Cats

          if I do more track workouts, it'll be at longer distances (ideally 4 or 5x1200) with slower paces and longer rest to get more VO2 max work.

         

        1200s in an Atlanta summer?   Brave man.

         

        Flavio - fascinating observation on the differences in US and Brazillian sportscasting.

         

        Regarding the Kenyan athlete - I think that anyone who improves THAT quickly is suspicious, and exactly why that rule is in place.

         

        Watson - those photos were insane.  I agree with James that the race would have been stopped in the US.

         

        Piwi - glad the niggles have cleared.

         

        Steve - feeling better as you go in the workout is a good sign.

         

        Marky Mark- I hate it when the wind does that.  It's like the weather is cheating.

        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.

        darkwave


        Mother of Cats

          My week

           

          51 miles running, 1:50 hours pool-running, and 500 yards swimming.
          M: 10 miles, including a track workout of 2x1600m at tempo effort with 3:00 recovery, and 2x200m at mile effort with full recovery in 6:38, 6:33, 42, and 42. Followed with leg strengthwork.
          T: 7 miles very easy on treadmill (9:38) and streaming yoga.
          W: Off (getting scoped out)
          Th: 80 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core.
          F: 7 miles easy (9:48), drills and 4 hill strides, streaming yoga, and 3 miles very easy on treadmill (9:40)
          Sa: 12 miles, including 8 Iwo Jima hill repeats (~2 minutes up, 90 second jog, 25 seconds downhill stride, 80 second jog). Followed with leg strengthwork, 500 yards recovery swimming, and 30 minutes pool-running.
          Su: 12 miles easy (9:38) plus drills and then streaming yoga

           

          Played a bit on the track on Monday, upper endoscopy/colonoscopy on Wednesday, and then hills on Saturday.    Got my barbell squat up to 120 pounds after the hills, so that was nice.   Also did some barbell bridges at 190 pounds (5 sets of 5 reps) - so I'm getting closer to where I was on those also.

           

          Strengthwise I'm actually feeling very good; it's my cardiovascular fitness that seems to be lagging (which admittedly could be in part because it's hot and humid right now, though this feels like more than that).  Time to check my iron again, especially since I had to go off of the iron supplements to prep for the colonoscopy.

           

          Colononscopy/upper endoscopy was fun as always (since this group is mostly men over 40, I'm guessing we're all familiar with the process).  I've decided that I hate the clear liquids diet part of the prep much more than the "drink this nasty stuff" part.  There's something about not being able to eat anything solid that puts me in a really bad headspace.  Hopefully I'm now done with that for another 2 years.   They didn't find anything awful, but did note some inflammation in the large intestine and stomach, so I'm waiting on biopsy results for that stuff now.

          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.

          JamesD


          JamesD

            darkwave - Sorry to hear that "drink this nasty stuff" is still part of the process, as that's the part I found most unpleasant.  I read a few years ago, in the Atlantic of all places, that a new protocol was starting to be used that didn't involve the drinking, but maybe it's not in widespread use yet.

            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

            zebano


              Kent Farrington is impressive, that looks like the type of stuff my PT dreams I could do (unstable balance work).

               

              LOL Steve not sticking to the pace will get you every time.

              @RP I totally agree with your assessment of last two feeling hard but only losing a second or two but I absolutely love what my coach has done lately. For something like 8x400 he'll start me off at 5k pace for the first 2, 3k pace for the next two, mile for the next 3 and tell me to try and rip the last one. The progression makes the workout easier overall and almost ensures you finish faster than you started.

               

              Piwi you've been so solid for months now, get out in front of those injuries! Careful with the weights.

               

              Watson I'm looking forward to the race report but 2:3x with that elevation profile is solid. Congrats. That picture of the river crossing from Piwi looks quite epic. If I ever get over to NZ, I'll have to time it to coincide with that race.

               

              Steve Good workouts and week, how much of a workout is Cricket? I used to play tennis, racquetball and pickup basketball and any of those would absolutely decimate my ability to do a workout.

               

              Mark Glad the cold went away so fast. Your coach really loves the hill repeats huh?

               

              Piwi Yeah I know coach is right but he was keeping me at 20 minute runs until the sinus infection was gone and that is painfully short. =)

               

              DW Ugg, I hope the scope went well. Liquid diets sound absolutely terrible. I'm a big enough wimp I whine when they say fast for 12 hours before your blood draw. Congrats on getting the strength back so quickly.

              1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)

              zebano


                My week was a lot of fun. I actually did 8x400, 4x200 twice though with different pace goals.

                 

                M: rest

                T: 8x400, 4x200 goal of working from 88->84 and nailed it, ripped the final one in 82. + squat day

                W: 40 min ez -- overdid the squats on Tuesday and legs were quite sore.

                Th: 12.3 mile long run. Brutal humidity. Started fast and quickly backed way off. The singletrac at the end was muddy and fun with some new downed trees to hurdle/wade through.

                F: 40 min ez

                S: Sprinted around at my kids Triathlon then 45 minutes not ez in some crazy humidity. Bleh

                Su: 2x4x400 in 86, 4x200 in 83. Was supposed to be a strength workout but coach changed it when I got an opportunity to race a mile next Tuesday. Was off pace the whole time but not by much. Ran everything in 88-86 and nailed the 200s.

                 

                44 miles

                 

                This week will be a lot of volume with a mile race on Tuesday but no other intensity as I'm going on vacation. I'm trying to decide between flats (Vanish-R) and super shoes (Endorphin Pro) for the road mile.

                1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)

                CommanderKeen


                Cobra Commander Keen

                  Quick-ish drive-by:

                   

                  DWave - Glad the 'scopes didn't show anything too bad.

                   

                  Watson - Crazy race conditions!

                   

                  Flavio - Great week with a killer LR.

                   

                   

                  Somewhat lesser week after the TT, partially recovery-ish, and partially as I'll be gone to Galveston on a beach vacation for a few days starting tomorrow and we're using this as a mini recovery phase before starting up training for CIM in a couple weeks.

                   

                   

                  Weekly for period: From: 07/12/2021 To 07/18/2021

                  Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
                  in ft
                  07/12 Warming up 3.83 6.16 00:29:35 07:43 04:48 20
                  07/12 Solo 5k time trial 3.14 5.05 00:18:24 05:52 03:39 135
                  07/12 2 rabbits 6.30 10.14 00:53:25 08:29 05:16 233
                  07/12 Too much daylight 4.26 6.85 00:36:44 08:37 05:22 177
                  07/13 2 hawks 5.05 8.13 00:43:33 08:37 05:21 148
                  07/14 4 hawks 9.05 14.57 01:17:23 08:33 05:19 400
                  07/15 2 herons & 1 hawk 10.10 16.26 01:25:57 08:31 05:17 449
                  07/16 5 deer (5 strides), 2 hawks, & a sliver of a rainbow 11.05 17.79 01:33:27 08:27 05:15 472
                  07/17 4 rabbits, 2 deer (2 strides), & 1 hawk 16.01 25.76 02:16:16 08:31 05:17 607
                  07/18 2 does (2 strides) 2 bucks in velvet (2 strides), 2 squishy roads, & 1 red coyote 4.51 7.25 00:38:08 08:27 05:16 226

                  Total distance: 73.30mi

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

                   

                  Upcoming Races:

                   

                   

                  watsonc123


                    Zebano - the river would normally be much lighter than that.

                     

                    RR will appear soon.

                    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

                    Marky_Mark_17


                      Flavio - great work, another big week.  Sounds like I wasn't the only one to suffer through a windy long run this week.  Sounds like you are well and truly into the marathon training grind now.

                       

                      Darkwave - ugh on the liquid diet, you'll be glad to be past that I'm sure.

                       

                      Keen - I know I've said it before, but it still amuses me that your 'somewhat lesser week' exceeds my largest week all year!

                       

                      Zebano - yeah, she really does love the hill repeats.  I don't, but I tell myself they're good for me.  Like vegetables.  Anyways good week.  As for shoe choice, I personally really like the Next% even for shorter stuff, but haven't tried the Endorphins so can't comment on them.

                       

                      Me - will give the new Salomon S/Lab Pulsars a go tomorrow morning I think, I should be able to get a mix of road and trail in there but will need to remember my headlamp!

                      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"

                      zebano


                        Had a disappointing TT today. Went into telling myself I was going to "cruise" the first quarter, "push" the second quarter, "fight" the third and finish hard. I got quarters 1 & 3 done decently but Q2 was 4 seconds slow and I didn't close that hard either. 5:45 exactly the same as I ran in February (to be fair, that was pre-Plantar Fasciitis). Oh well, it's just a mile so I can try again shortly but it's a strange mix of "hey I executed decently" versus I didn't really give a race effort.

                        1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)

                          Flavio nice you cracked the 100km mark. When do you go back to Europe ?

                          Long runs are my nemesis but lately I run with others. Was solo on Sunday but bumped into a mate early on so we ran together. He is smoking fast though but luckily was running very easy.

                           

                          Zeb nice job on the mile. I'd imagine they take a bit of practice. Your mate smoked his one.

                           

                          DW I'm not a fan of that area of my body been prodded  but sometimes its got to be done !

                          My squat is at 80lbs right now. I still don't have a rack so getting it up there is hard.

                           

                          Keen enjoy your holiday. Was that a stroller run today?

                           

                          Mark let us know how a dedicated trail shoe feels over the rough stuff.

                          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 "      

                           

                          JMac11


                          RIP Milkman

                            Zebano - I've only done one mile TT and it went exactly as you described. I just got lazy in the 2nd lap. I think a lot of people do because they're so worried about pushing too hard too early that they just don't realize how hard they need to run a mile.

                             

                            The good thing is miles are easy recovery so you can take a crack at it weekly.

                            5K: 16:37 (11/20)  |  10K: 34:49 (10/19)  |  HM: 1:14:57 (5/22)  |  FM: 2:36:31 (12/19) 

                             

                             

                            Marky_Mark_17


                              Piwi - tested them out this morning, they were pretty cool, tbh.  Was on the road to start and they were a little firm for the first few km before softening up a little.  Exceptionally light, and they have a rocker sole that definitely propels you through each step.  They have a relatively high stack but no carbon fibre plate, so you get a bit of bounce relative to a normal shoe, but not nearly as much as the VF's.  They really excelled going up hills (on and off road) and although they have pretty minimal lugs, the grip still held up well on a few greasy downhill sections.

                               

                              They'll definitely be my shoe for the race in a couple weeks.  I could risk the VF but honestly, 21k of gravel will shred them.

                              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"

                              watsonc123


                                I don't think you'd be risking the VF's at all.  It's pretty much a certainty they'd be chewed up.

                                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