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

flavio80


Intl. correspondent

    Keen - I meant to comment to you re: protein. I’ve been working to increase my protein intake for a while now. I’ve tried a few things. Unfortunately I need to moderate consumption of dairy as it seems it’s no longer going down as easy as it used to which is a shame, there were some yoghurt products with a ton of protein in them. I also love greek yoghurt, I guess I’ll have to consume it in very moderate quantities, maybe a couple of spoons per week.

    There’s only so much meat you can chew on, so I guess I’ll do some more research on what else I can  add.

     

    DW - That race was so chaotic, it’s impossible to perform well having to weave through so many people. I reckon you’ve lost at least 10 seconds. Regardless, miles are fun!

     

    Steve - indeed, though at the time (1918) there was a certain event causing a lot more human mobility than usual heh.

    I’m still not confident I can complete the race. I know I have fitness to run very well up to maybe 36km, but I will not believe I can complete it until I have crossed the finish line without walking.

    It’s so amazing to see the starts, as a kid I could see them every night but I never paid too much attention. Last time I saw a full sky of starts was back in Bolivia in 2017 I reckon. I remember trying to take a picture but my phone’s camera was useless for that kind of photography heh.

     

    Zeb - downhill or uphill strides are just fine. I reckon I might have issues with true all out efforts cause I tend to tense up my neck and strain my face to reach max speed and that’s where the injury has roots on.

    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

    zebano


      Flavio interesting. I was asking as downhill running is what usually causes low back tightness for me.

       

      Dropping off my week and a brief RR (p.s. Keen we need a RR your strava didn't even pop up in my feed!!)

       

       

       

      Monday off  
      Tuesday 8.6 4xKM, 4x200 ... legs were tired but hit these just fine: 4:09, 04, 3:59, 49; 45, 43, 42, 41
      Wednesday 4.8 started coming down with a sinus infection
      Thursday 12.4 leg felt rough
      Friday 4.2 6 strides
      Saturday 12.2 WU + 15KM trail race... 
      Sunday 4.8 stupidly ran hills because I was at one of my favorite parks but bailed to the flat ground after 2 miles.

       

      46.8 miles

       

      Short RR: Felt relatively terrible Friday night with strong plans to cancel. Got up and took my son to the bus for his XC meet 2 hours away and decided to race. Ran my warmup and knew I didn't have a strong effort today. Started conservatively running miles 1-3 with a lady that I know I'm significantly faster than and then tried to speed up. Didn't really happen as the hills just kept rolling and there were a bunch of sandy spot. Kept passing people both in the 15k but also the 30 and 45k people that had started earlier. Around mile 5 I really noticed the heat and humidity and I just gave it what I had. The last mile was a section of trail I've never run before that was incredibly steep, those RDs are evil evil people. Finished 6th overall but 4th in my age group  about 90 seconds behind 3rd and thus missed receiving my very own brick. Fun race but brutal.

       

      p.s. my big race for the year got cancelled so I'm a bit up in the air with what to do next. I still have a Thanksgiving (Nov 25) turkey trot on the calendar but I'd like to get one more big race in. December has too much risk of snow so it really has to be November to have a shot at a PR. Early November features a race with both a 10k and a half that I'm considering but I'd really love something around the 20th to give me a few more weeks and just line up that peak fitness but that might be too much to ask. The 10k has 2 "hills" in it but only totals 102 feet of climb so not bad. The Half is a cheater course with 200 feet of net drop (172 feet of gain). Oh well I'll keep looking for now but I'm strongly inclined to either race the 10k or ask my coach to pace me.

      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

        DWave - That sure was a lot to put up with for a 1 mile! I enjoyed the RR, though, and well done.


        Kiwis - Sucks about the continuing lockdown business.


        James - Nice week. Our morning lows are right around that 68-70* point as well, and I'm rather enjoying it.


        Mark, Steve - Good weeks.


        Piwi - How's your back doing now? Here's to a speedy recovery.


        Watson - How're you feeling after your injuries and the lighter week?


        Flavio - Nice week, and I'm glad your neck is doing better. It has been a while (thankfully) but I've dealt with that same lack of range in turning my head as well. Certainly not fun. But how often do you really need to look to the side, anyway??
        How are you with eggs for protein? I've gotten to where I love them, but my issue with them is that they just have so much volume for the amount of calories I can't eat as much as I'd like.
        I'm actually trying to cut down a bit on dairy stuff as well - no digestive issues, it's just so easy to overeat the stuff. I suppose there are worse things a person could overeat, though.


        Zebano - Nice week, and I enjoyed the RR. Props for sticking with that despite the sinus infection. Those will certainly drain your energy.
        Good luck finding a race you want to tackle before the weather really turns.


        RR incoming later as I get a chance to write it. Two weeks in a row of my highest mileage in nearly two years - the only speedwork was the 10k, though.

         

        Weekly for period: From: 09/06/2021 To 09/12/2021

        Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
        in ft
        09/06 6 geese & 2 owls 14.26 22.94 01:53:45 07:59 04:58 463
        09/06 3 vultures 5.05 8.13 00:43:36 08:38 05:22 207
        09/07 Nothing awake this morning 9.10 14.64 01:17:59 08:34 05:20 384
        09/08 Where have all the wildlife gone? 13.15 21.16 01:44:42 07:58 04:57 433
        09/08 1 sheriff 5.05 8.13 00:42:01 08:19 05:10 223
        09/09 Delightful weather, but still no wildlife 8.05 12.96 01:11:29 08:53 05:31 371
        09/10 1 heron & being dust bowled 7.50 12.07 01:02:42 08:22 05:12 243
        09/11 Warming up 2.37 3.81 00:17:59 07:35 04:43 23
        09/11 Pistol Pete 10k 6.22 10.00 00:38:36 06:12 03:52 89
        09/11 A belated "cool down" 4.25 6.84 00:37:32 08:50 05:29 220
        09/12 1 owl & 1 rabbit 17.05 27.44 02:25:58 08:34 05:19 509

        Total distance: 92.06mi

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

         

        Upcoming Races:

         

         

        CommanderKeen


        Cobra Commander Keen

          Pistol Pete 10k Race Report

           

          With several races being cancelled in the OKC metro area, I had to venture an hour north to find a small town still willing to hold a race - the Pistol Pete 10k, which is named for the town resident who became the inspiration for the Oklahoma State Univ. mascot.


          I showed up a solid hour before the start time, which gave me plenty of time to check out the first 2k of the course (out-and-back for 5k, double for the 10k) as a warm-up. The weather at the start (70F/21C, 12mph/19kmh S wind) felt better than I had anticipated, which was a nice surprise.


          The 5k and 10k started at the same time, and I lined up behind the only runner I recognized and quite a few of the HS/Jr. High XC/Track team members. I figured that most of the kids would go out too fast and that the start would be smoother if I let them go first and then passed them, rather than starting at the front and letting them pass me and then fade ahead of me.


          The gun went off and we almost immediately went around a corner to double-back in order to exit the parking lot and get out on the road. After the first 400m or so I had already passed quite a few of the XC kids who started ahead of me and we made a turn that sent us down a flat ~800m stretch that was directly into the wind.
          I had resolved to run a little easier for the first 3k or so, but by the first km I decided that I was feeling good enough and that the weather didn't seem all that bad so I picked up the effort a tad. I passed a few more kids before the course made another right-hand turn at the end of that flat 800m, finding a false flat with a small "hill" to end the 2nd km. Another right-hand turn took us down a tree-covered residential street (up to now there had largely just been empty fields) with a slight downhill to the turn-around. I counted 7 people ahead of me before the turn and passed two on the return uphill past 3k, then enjoyed the bit of downhill and eventual tailwind heading back to the start/finish.


          With ~100m to go before finishing my first lap I heard some huffing and puffing behind me as a HS kid was giving it a kick to the finish. I gave a thought toward outkicking him, but instead chose to maintain my effort, wave him on, and give some verbal encouragement. After all, even without beating him to the line he would still see this old dude going back out for a second lap...
          On the plus side, the race clock at the finish showed 19:15 as I approached the line, which was exactly 1/2 of my internal race goal.


          First 5k: 3:55, 3:56, 3:55, 3:48, 3:41


          Because of the race parking (using grass in a loop in-between the "exit" from the start and "entrance" to the finish") I only saw one guy ahead of me, which automatically had me thinking it was the one guy whose name I recognized before the race. I knew well before this that there was no way I could possibly catch up to him, so I resolved to maintain my effort at a minimum, and preferably increase it a bit.


          After exiting the parking lot I passed by a water stop on the right-hand side of the road, stocked with small bottles of water. I decided to grab one, mostly for psychological reasons, but fumbled grabbing one off the table. The bottle started slipping through my fingers, and my attempt to secure a grip on it only resulted in me throwing the bottle behind my back to the left. I reflexively stuck my left hand out and managed to cleanly snatch it out of the air (thank you, years of playing baseball growing up), which elicited a cry of "That was sick!" from one of the girls manning the water stop.


          I sipped a bit of water on the headwind stretch, trying to keep to the right side of the road (running the tangent) while avoiding running into the steady stream of oncoming runners and picking up the effort some.
          Immediately after making the turn down the residential street just past the 7k mark I saw the leader returning (wahoo, I'm hardly 800m behind him!). By this point I was growing tired of carrying my little bottle of water, but fortunately it seemed to be trash day and I was able to ditch the bottle in a trash bin by the side of the road. Just after this I see something that didn't compute immediately: a guy with lots of grey in his hair coming my way. I had only known of one guy ahead of me, but this man was clearly moving much too fast to be only running the 5k and the thought "who is this old guy who's smoking me?" passed through my mind.


          I have to swing a bit wide to go around the last walkers just before hitting my last turn-around and set about trying to catch up to the mystery old dude ahead of me. There are enough people coming to meet me as I go down the small hill that they are obscuring my view of where he might be and so I'm unable to tell at all if I'm making up any ground. At this point I'm starting to feel the tempterature getting to me, but think that it doesn't matter at this point - I'm going down a bit of a hill with a crosswind to cool me, then will turn and can use the tailwind for all but the last ~300m.


          The final 2k pass uneventfully, aside from my increasing huffing and puffing. Closing in on the finish line I see the clock ticking closer and closer to my goal and pick up the pace how I can and hit the line in 38:29.


          Second 5k: 3:52, 3:59, 3:55, 3:51, 3:38


          I'm pretty thrilled with my time after the race given the improvement over my only other 10k which, while a few years ago, was set on a perfectly cool, overcast day with zero wind during taper for a marathon. Unfortunately, I heard the RD mention afterwards that the course wasn't certified - the certified course wasn't available due to part of the road being torn up for replacement, which somewhat lessened my excitement.


          Kiwi Course or not, this was a great learning experience with regards to how hard I can push for this duration and see how my fitness has improved - while slower than my last (track) 5k TT would predict, that doesn't take in to account the hotter temperature and wind - and my average HR for this run was 3bpm faster than for that 5k TT.
          Given more favorable weather, from this result I do think I have an outside chance of PRing the half next month despite the hilliness of that course.

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

           

          Upcoming Races:

           

           

          zebano


            Great report Keen, but I for one, am disappointed it's not named after Pistol Pete Maravich! Quite impressive splits and I wish I'd been there to see the water bottle fumble & recovery.  You certainly have another PR if you race again in cooler weather!

             

            Also back 2 back 90 mile weeks is serious, you're gonna be well prepared for CIM.

             

            I will happily overeat all the cheese. It's simply one of life's most scrumptious foods and those eggs you mention are even better when cooked with cheese.

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

              Zeb nice job on a tough course. Hard to pace I bet. Is the brick a prize ?

               

              Keen awesome result. So we're you 3rd ? What was the winning time ?

              21c would be a killer for me but you would be more acclimatized.

              Back is still bad. It's a struggle to put shoes and socks on

              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


              JamesD

                Keen - Great race and RR.  So who was the old guy?  (If he turns out to be 10 years younger than me, don't bother saying.)

                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

                JMac11


                RIP Milkman

                  Keen - great race! Very well paced. What was the KP? I ran 70 with dew point in the upper 40s on Friday and it was amazing. But 70+70 is horrible. Anyway, it shows you're getting into good shape here for CIM. Even without weather, this puts you solidly in sub 3 territory. Regarding certified, see what other competitors were at. If everyone is showing 6.21 or longer, you're good.

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

                   

                   

                  watsonc123


                    Well raced Keen.  Check what others had re distance, did your watch hit 10km?

                    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

                    CommanderKeen


                    Cobra Commander Keen

                      Thanks, all!


                      Zebano - I would also quite happily overeat all the cheese (Muenster is the best). The problem is that I would not be happy with rolling downhill at CIM to a new marathon PR.

                       

                      Piwi - Yup, 3rd overall. The winning time was 34:50. His first 5k split (16:54) was 53 seconds ahead of the winning 5k time.


                      James - The results don't break out age specifically, but the "old guy" is in the 40-44 age bracket. Seeing him during the race and talking to him some afterwards I wouldn't have guessed he was that young.


                      JMac - KP was about 125 at the start, so not bad at all compared to even two weeks ago. The midday doubles I've been doing a couple times per week certainly helped with being used to the conditions.
                      I used Stryd for distance (was pretty bang-on manually lapping at km markers), but everyone else I saw on Strava had GPS distances of 6.25-28mi.

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

                       

                      Upcoming Races:

                       

                       

                      Marky_Mark_17


                        Zebano - bummer that you were a bit short on gas but running races in short succession like that is always tough going.

                         

                        Keen - excellent job on the 10k, particularly given conditions were OK but certainly not optimal.  Heh I'm visualising that water bottle stunt you pulled too, sounds cool.  It's always tricky when they start the 5k and the 10k at the same time as it's hard to tell who your real competition is unless you know most of the runners there (which it sounds like you may have done!).  Your pacing looks very solid and you had enough left for a nice quick finish too so you should be stoked with the race execution.  Well done.

                        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 that distance looks fine. kiwi certified would have been 9.85kms or 6.12 miles

                          I hope that "old" guy doesnt read these forums . When you are over 50 early 40s will seem like a dream age.

                           

                          Mark forgot to say sorry I feel for you in level 4 as it sucks. Its clear we cant avoid this virus. Lets hope we have enough vaccinated before we get a big spread. Numbers are trending up fast. 60% have had one dose now. I cant talk my wife or oldest son into getting it so they will probably end up catching it.

                          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 "      

                           

                          Marky_Mark_17


                            Piwi - thanks, it is what it is I guess, it's just annoying that part of the problem now seems to be people not isolating when they should have been (just like last year's Aug/Sept lockdown...) i.e. if everyone behaved we would've been out of this sooner.  TBH I'm getting kinda sick of my home office, I'm annoyed the National Champs window got canned, and I'm overdue a visit to my osteopath, but that's about the worst of it.  I don't know how I'd react if this dragged on and took out my next goal race in early November though, probably not well tbh.

                             

                            The thing about vaccination is that it not only does it materially reduce your chances of catching Covid, it also reduces the severity of the symptoms if you do still catch it, and reduces the chance you'll pass it on.  Plus, I think vaccination is likely to become almost essential for overseas travel, and there's a possibility we may go down the path of some countries (e.g. France and Italy) in terms of limiting access to certain activities for those who aren't vaccinated.

                            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"

                              James Nice Week I agree with the you about the temps in the mornings it feels really good,  it's still a bit warm in the evenings though expecting highs above 90/32 again this week. sorry to hear about your legs being sore.

                              Mark nice week hopefully the lockdown ends soon!

                              Piwi sorry to hear about your back that really sucks hope nothing serious!

                              Watson nice job meeting your goal hope all gets better soon!

                              Flavio nice week Glad you are recovering and able to put in the miles nice WO too.

                              Steve nice week sorry about the canceled race, nice video too, man he really made that last stroke at the right moment to give him the win amazing photo finish.  My wife and I were planning on going to a dark sky location in early August but unfortunately had to change plans with so much going on.  It's nice so many location are trying to meet the standards. It really is amazing what you can see without all of the "artificial" light around.

                              DW nice week I'll take a minute and read your RR in the AM

                              Zebano nice job on the race despite not feeling well

                              Keen nice week again, and great race report, nice job on the race, great time you are in great shape now.

                               

                              fortunately I got in a run on Monday, since I missed my normal Saturday run.  I was able to get in a double digit run on Sunday to finish off the week with just over 25 miles mostly easy paces.

                              Weekly for period: From: 09/06/2021 To 09/12/2021

                              Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
                              in ft
                              09/06 Morning Run 4.02 6.46 00:30:40 07:38 04:45 0
                              09/07 Afternoon Run 5.01 8.06 00:47:32 09:29 05:54 59
                              09/09 Evening Run 5.26 8.46 00:43:46 08:19 05:10 72
                              09/12 Morning Run 11.05 17.78 01:38:50 08:57 05:34 295

                              Total distance: 25.33mi

                              PR's

                              1m  5:38 (2018)

                              5k    19:59 (2019)

                              HM  1:33:56 (2018)

                              FM  3:23:07 (2018)

                              watsonc123


                                And the odds that the vaccine itself will have significant negative effects is very low.

                                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