Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon 2021 Edition
RP damn nice mileage. I hate the heat too. Its 30c here right now. I'm glad I ran at 5.30am.
I find i can run fast tempos without much more effort than proper tempo pace. It all sucks a bit
Today's 6 x800m were fairly tough at 5k pace. Especially when I have to go to work after.
Darkwave I think you are been too hard on yourself.
21 miles at that pace is beastly.
Zebano nice week you are the resident triathlete here 😀
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 "
Problem Child
The mileage was a last minute thing. Saturday (22F....uhhh... -5ish C?) definately reminded me AGAIN about long runs on tired legs during marathon training. I guess it's a good thing to feel it NOW and tell myself it's just building up the leg strength for Boston training. It just kinda sucks feeling so dead. Sunday...well I really only wanted 4-5 and ended up feeling really good around 3.5, kind of wanting to ditch a guy and catch up with some other guys, and ended up slowing THOSE guys down to less than a 7:40 pace. We shall see how serious I am abou ta 5k training session. March 15ish is when the "race" would be. I guess I could call this a race since multiple people will be there, there is a packet pickup, and it will most likely be a marked/gps measured course.
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
James Lol good luck with the boredom, I think podcasts are the way to go on a treadmill but some people can watch TV.
Piwi Those runs were fast too! You're in great shape, but stopping 800m short? That's an amateur's move.
Yes, I've accepted the fact that I'm a dirty triathlete. I'm even shopping for used time trial bikes right now. Also, why suck at 1 sport when you can suck at 3?
Mark - Blazing. I'm amazed how fast you get on "low" mileage.
Steve - Thank you. I was lamenting the weather here but 95F is legit nasty.
Piwi Yeah he's an inch taller than me already. But still slower =) That's a good week from you, especially totaling 36min @ T! How were the back 2 back workouts?
DW That's a heck of a run in my book, maybe even more impressive as you didn't feel well but got it done anyways. You seem to always do your long runs as 1/3 easy 1/3 moderate 1/3 faster... how do you decide on paces for sections 2 and 3? If I had to guess I'd say the middle section is roughly aerobic threshold and the final third is roughly lactate threshold pace but scaled back due to distance?
Flavio Grass is nice. You should do some barefoot strides while you're there.
RP Stellar week were any of those planned harder runs or does the pace just vary by how your feeling?
1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)
James - Nice week, 50 miles i s solid. I really struggle running any distance on a treadmill but either listening to podcasts (running related helps) or watching running or other inspirational sports videos helps. I remember watching the first Nike Sub 2 documentary a couple of years ago during some treadmill sessions and it really helped.
Piwi - Really solid week! I want to be in as good shape as you when I grow up! And that tempo run is impressive!
Mark - Solid as well. If you are looking to buy a Fenix 6, look and see if you can get the Pro version. I can't remember off hand why I decided to go with that one over the regular 6 but I felt it was worth the upgrade. Edit: It looks like it only adds Music, maps, and WiFi according to DC Rainmaker, so now I'm not even sure. I have the map as one of my screens when I run but I've never been able to see anything on it while running because it's small on the screen
Steve - Good to hear the knee pain is getting better. Regarding heat, I almost felt like it was too hot when I went for my bike ride on Monday when it was 81F/27C, but that was probably just due to shock of having that temperature in January!
Flavio - Nice week for you too! I think I said it last week but I'm impressed how many people here are logging 50 mile/80 km weeks! And good to hear you figured out the broad jump, I've never thought about it before but you need to trust the landing to be able to do them well. OH, and once I start actually training for something I will probably pick up a Daniels program again.
Dwave - I'd say that long run is very impressive! And the same with your overall week. And no wonder the last 2 miles were hard, you sped up by a significant amount for those!
Z - 50 miles in the snow! I see you are doing some swimming on the side, which I try to do too, but I still don't have a pool to go to. In any case, I am a firm believer that good swimming workouts really can help your running (although I haven't been able to test it myself yet) since you can get in a lot of solid aerobic work with no extra load (and wear) on your legs.
RP - Impressive week! Btw, 19:44 is my 5k PR from HS so I think you need to beat that!
I managed to stay consistent, get my runs in, and supplement with strength, a bike ride, and a swim. I'm aiming for a slight increase to 17 miles this week.
5k: 20:32 (1/17) | HM: 1:34:37 (2/18) | FM: 3:31:37 (3/18)
Getting back into it
Hot Weather Complainer
rune - Nice week of all round training. You're well on your way!
piwi - You are absolutely smashing it at the moment. Impressive tempo in the middle of a monster week. You're looking at some big results this year.
RP - Nice week. You're clearly capable of lowering that 5km PR significantly. I feel like complaining about heat in summer is a bit silly but I've got a reputation to uphold. We're lucky here in that we get hot days but because of the wind changes, usually get regular respite rather than a string of hot days. That's when it wears you down as I found in places like Australia and Texas and Florida.
zebano - Very nice week especially for one designated as recovery.
darkwave - A > 100km week including a very impressive workout! Even though you may not be feeling it yet, you must have some great fitness.
flavio - Solid week, and nice workouts.
James - Huge week and I hope the niggles disappear soon.
me - I'm ramping things back up again. Last night I waited until 7pm to run when it had cooled down a little but still felt it. I have felt very unfit in the last week despite it being a very short lay off and it wasn't like I did nothing. I also hoped my legs would feel fresh but I had tightness in both calves and my left quad. Hopefully it's just my body waking up and in a week I'll feel normal again. I've adjusted my easy pace down but even that didn't make me feel good. The positive is that I did start to feel better towards the end of the last two runs, around the one hour mark. Still minor pain but trending in the right direction.
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
zeb 100% run by feel. Even the one where I told a random observer "yeah and it's too fast" when he complimented me on my pace. I really don't know where this 8:00-8:10/mi (5:04/km) pace is coming from. I just go run by feel and do my seven miles and head for home.
Steve I hate the heat. Complain away. I'm REALLY good at it.
rune gee thanks for the goal. Pretty impressive 5k time. I don't think I ever ACTUALLY believed I'd break 20. Just gets way too painful way to quick and it's for way too long. The marathon long slow drip seems to be easier for me to manage. By that I mean block out again and again and again until it requires me negotiating with my body.
Almost skipped today due to some stuff I take the wrong way sometimes....and snow. Turns out I'm capable of running the same in ankle deep snow as I am no snow. By that I mean I can sandbag it just as hard. Surprisingly challenging to run in 4+ inches of snow for an hour.
RP - nice week. The fast thing... it's always been that way for me (until marathon training last year). I've had all sorts of fun chats about easy pace with people who told me I was doing it wrong. But I stick by heart rate zones and that has done the job for me. I think I just train better on more quality, less quantity.
Snow is hard but fun. Think of it as modified cross country training.
Steve - looks like some hot weather coming down your way. I felt slightly crap when I came back after that week off (I expected to feel great) but it was just rust and after a few runs I improved a lot. Don't read too much into it.
Rune - great to see you back into posting weeklies. Yeah I've ordered the 6 Pro. A few extra things in the Pro version but mostly that was because they only had the 6 Pro on the Airpoints store haha.
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"
I still remember when I did that race, 2nd year of HS I think. A buddy of mine and I signed up for a set of races where you got a trophy if you completed 3 out of the 4, including a couple of trail runs and the 5k and an 800m on a track (2:19.6). The 800m is still the only one I've raced btw, and it sucked more than anything I've ever raced (probably because I started way too hard). The 5k on the other hand was for me a virtual masterpiece where I ran a near perfect even pace, and caught a lot of people at the end because they had started too hard.
I also remember I was still pretty far back in the pack since my hometown has a pretty strong (for Norway) track club, but the area is also home to a lot of really strong cross country skiers (including multiple world and Olympic champions). As an example, my HS PE teacher represented Norway in the Olympics and raced word cup for a while in the Nordic Combined, with victories both in regular races and team event in the World Championships. And those guys have aerobic engines like nobody's business and run like maniacs.
I still have it as a goal to break that pesky 5k record btw. Just realized this spring is 30 years since I set it
Mark if the HR is right, it's hard to say the pace is too fast.
Rune You ran 19:44 without being on a XC team or anything? Nice! The 800 is a special kind of pain, I rather miss it and I've only ever raced it twice. I'm not sure that swimming helps my running much but I feel like it helps my recoveries a ton. I just feel better after getting in the pool.
RP same comment about the 800 applies to the 5k. Take the pain and hold on, it's over quickly.
Cobra Commander Keen
Piwi - Great week, especially that hobby jogging you did while spectating the tri.
Mark - Good week, but too bad that the HRM in your watch is acting up.
Flavio - Nice solution to the jump problem! And, naturally, I approve of the Daniels T run.
Zebano - Strong week as well, lots of variety there.
Rune - Love seeing the consistency and supplementary work!
I'm really liking where my training is settling in right now. My wife has started running with some other women a couple times per week (one of which lives right down the road) so I'm hitting the treadmill a time or two per week now so I can start my run andbe home with the kiddos if she isn't back from her run.
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
OKC Memorial 5k - April 27
Bun Run 5k - May 4
Wow CK, that's a HUGE week. Have you decided on a race? Can you add for me:
Christchurch Half-Marathon April 11. Goal: 1:35 (MP - 10 secs per km). Tempo run, not goal race.
Wellington Marathon June 27. Goal: Sub 3:20.
Queenstown Half-Marathon November 20. Goal TBD
Mark - Good, I was worried I'd lost everything but I'm sure it will come back quickly.
Z - Thanks, I was pretty active in HS, including boxing and other things where I spent some time running (rarely more than 10-15 high intensity though), so it certainly must have helped back then. The twice a year Copper's test in HS was always some sort of goal. Plus youth, it always counts for a lot. Regarding swimming, at the distances and efforts I do at the moment I don't think it does a ton (but it's after all an extra 30 minutes of aerobic work every week so it certainly doesn't hurt), but it keeps me going so I can be ready one pools open up again. But I think when I can throw in some real swim workouts, 60-90 minutes total time, with varied and high effort paces, I think it can help a lot.
Keen - Monster week! Looking forward to seeing how fast you can run when races start up again.
With rain in the forecast for the rest of the week it looks like I will do a run again today. I'm ok running in the rain but prefer to avoid it. I know the dog will be happy that we'll be going out again though.
Steve - Thanks! I have the chart updated with those races. I have a HM (state HM championship, actually) on March 13. I'll likely run a 5k (race or TT) a few weeks out from that. Right now there aren't any real 5ks scheduled nearby, but I know of at least one that *should* come on the schedule that would likely work.
Rune - I'm looking forward to seeing how fast I can run as well! I doubt I can get back to PR condition that fast (my planned race is flatter than my PR race, which will certainly help), but we'll see. I feel largely the same as you about the rain, but there are certainly different ranges of temperatures that I find running in the rain more favorable than others.
Data-centric stuff - While I'm not 100% married to it, I base lots of my (externally validated) training efforts on Stryd. They've added a feature to their app that essentially predicts the power/time in which one can run certain distances based on comparisons to a power duration curve and how fast one typically runs at different places on that curve - and this updates each time one "shows" their algorithm that you can hold a pace/power for longer than has been done before. I've been taking screenshots of the predicted finish time and power target each time this changes (which is coupled with days until the race and how many watts per kg I can put out at ~10k effort) to keep track of it and compare it to my final result. If anyone is remotely as interested in seeing how this all turns out I'll post the screenshots later.
Keen good to see our mileage leader back in form 😀
Rune thats a good 800m time. I've never given the 800 a crack.
Zebano my 15 yr old son is only 5'3. He's always been short. I think he might make my dizzying height of 5'8
Steve just over a week till I come down. Staying on Tuam St. Keen for a run with you even an afternoon one if suits better. Will be there next Thursday and Friday.
Some really nice weeks. Especially the hobby jogger Piwi doing 99km!
Steve - Wellington is a good event. You'll want a mild southerly, as the final 8km of a marathon into the northerly will be rather hard.
Next Monday I have my next physio, which will hopefully have a "back to sport" assessment which should mean I can cut back my shoulder work, and actually do a bit more running. Suffice to say, my 21 February 6.5km race will not be breaking any records.
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