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

flavio80


Intl. correspondent

    Refereeing for males is a very tough job, doubly so if it’s soccer, quadruply so if it's in South America.If the pro players act like that imagine what the wannabes do.

    For decades teams got away with explaining a bad performance by pointing out a mistake from the referee as the reason for their loss.

    And what makes the Red Wedding of Soccer (Germany 7x1 Brazil) even worse cause there’s absolutely nothing people can point to other than the asinine performance from the national team.

     

    Steve - tough break but you've got a diagnosis, which is always good. Since you’re so far from the next race I guess rest as much as you can.

     

    me - I went on a scouting mission today to run the course of a local race (San Silvester) which will happen on Dec 26th. it's a quite tough course and I didn't run it correctly as I missed one turn but I've got a good feeling about it. It's an evening race, I'm not a big fan but it sounds like a very fun race, so might run that as a fun race as well. I still got to convince the wife to run it, she hates evening races.

    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

      Shoutout to Keen on his fast 5k last night.

       

      Flavio I did my first night race this year and as a morning person it definitely did not feel good.

      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


        Congratulations to Keen.

         

        I have had races starting anywhere from 6:15am to 5:45pm.  I have never noticed the time of day to matter in itself - obviously the weather can be an issue in afternoon races.

        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


          Keen - congrats on the 5k result!  Excellent stuff particularly if conditions were as rubbish as you thought they were going to be!

           

          Flavio - the earliest race I've started was 6am, latest was 8:30pm, and I've had most times in between too.  I always thought evening races would be tougher given I normally train (and race) in the morning and I kinda like going to bed early but generally they've actually gone pretty well for me.  Getting the fuelling right was important - you don't want to be running on an empty stomach but you also don't want dinner to be bouncing around in there either.

          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"

          Marky_Mark_17


            Decent week in the bag for me.  Four workouts this week... from the way my legs felt on Sunday's long run that was probably one too many I'd say!

             

            Weekly for period: From: 22/11/2021 To 28/11/2021

            Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
            in m
            22/11 That run with the Hobby Pt recovery cruise 5.60 9.02 00:42:50 07:39 04:45 63
            23/11 That run where 100 days of lockdown ends at the red traffic light 9.33 15.01 01:02:04 06:39 04:08 98
            24/11 That run with an unprecedented quantity of track juice 8.29 13.35 00:50:54 06:08 03:49 99
            25/11 That run with all the hill sprints 7.46 12.01 00:52:21 07:01 04:22 163
            27/11 That run where it’s 4 weeks till Xmas 8.83 14.21 00:53:30 06:04 03:46 136
            28/11 That run with the cover versions playlist 15.58 25.07 01:51:44 07:10 04:27 262

            Total distance: 88.67km

            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

              Nice week Mark.  Four workouts is a lot, hope you have a slightly quieter week planned.

               

              me - Another slow build up week, obviously impacted by the Shingles.  I did still run, and running is pretty much the only time the pain is gone, apart from when I take codeine to help me sleep.  I tried to avoid it but just needed the sleep too much.  I got it early so hopefully the anti-virals quicken its departure.  I have been seeing some theoretical links between vaccines and Shingles in younger healthier people than is usual, and some data correlations but there is no definitive proof but even that doesn't fill me with joy after the week I've had.

               

              Weekly for period: From: 22/11/2021 To 28/11/2021

              Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
              in m
              22/11 Warm up 0.28 0.45 00:02:38 09:24 05:51 0
              22/11 Easy 10km 6.42 10.33 00:49:50 07:46 04:49 17
              24/11 Warm up 0.29 0.47 00:02:41 09:15 05:43 0
              24/11 12km incl. 2 x (4 x (400m @ 3:50-55/km, 60 secs recovery), 400 m easy) 7.60 12.23 00:56:45 07:28 04:38 14
              25/11 Recovery 4.02 6.47 00:34:53 08:41 05:23 10
              26/11 Warm up 0.29 0.47 00:02:46 09:32 05:53 0
              26/11 Easy 8km 5.05 8.13 00:40:03 07:56 04:56 12
              27/11 Warm up 0.28 0.45 00:02:48 10:00 06:13 0
              27/11 70 mins easy pace 8.89 14.30 01:10:46 07:58 04:57 15
              28/11 Recovery 4.05 6.52 00:35:38 08:48 05:28 10

              Total distance: 59.81km

              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

              watsonc123


                Mark - nice week.  As per Steve, four workouts is a lot.

                 

                Steve - don't push too much until you're better.

                 

                My week was OK, felt pretty tired.  I'm not sure if it has been residual from the half three weeks ago, or just general stress (work).

                 

                Weekly for period: From: 22/11/2021 To 28/11/2021

                Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
                in m
                22/11 Evening Run 4.37 7.02 00:40:50 09:21 05:49 9
                23/11 Evening Run 4.38 7.04 00:36:15 08:17 05:09 9
                24/11 Evening Run - Incl. 25 * (1:00 Quickish & 1:00 Easy) Intervals 8.75 14.08 01:03:21 07:14 04:30 20
                25/11 Afternoon Run 4.40 7.08 00:36:16 08:15 05:07 9
                26/11 Afternoon Run 8.31 13.37 01:11:18 08:35 05:20 24
                28/11 Afternoon Run - Incl. 2 x Riverstone Hill 11.15 17.93 01:30:58 08:10 05:04 319

                Total distance: 66.52km

                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

                flavio80


                Intl. correspondent

                  Watson - That’s interesting, I am definitely more tired at the end of the day. Poorly lit streets also compound the problem.

                   

                  Steve - Hang in there, now it’s the time to rest extra, one of these days you feel like sleeping in, do so. Take all the sleep you can have.

                   

                  DW - Are you feeling better?

                   

                  Marco - Are you still reading this board? How's life ?

                   

                  me - I've crossed the 20 mile mark for the week, that's a victory, a lot more elevation than usual too. Strength training was very smooth this week, way better than previous weeks. That run on Thursday also felt very smooth, better than anything in the last couple of months.

                  I've kind of lost all of my endurance post marathon, last few weeks have been:

                  0, 12, 27, 12, 28, 27, 34

                  The bulk of the back issues are now mostly gone, this week the PT started working on my plantar fascia to try and release some of the tension going on with my calves. My feet are very inflexible, almost like a brick, perhaps she can work the tendons and make it a bit more flexible.

                   

                  On other news, I'm almost crossing 3200km for the year, which is 600km/400 miles more than any previous year.

                   

                  Also, Portugal is currently lording over the other European countries with comparatively much lower covid hospitalisations and deaths. I hope that trends continues, so the races can keep happening 😎

                  Weekly for period: From: 22/11/2021 To 28/11/2021

                  Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
                  in m
                  23/11 Morning Run 3.11 5.01 00:25:11 08:06 05:02 63
                  25/11 Morning Run 6.96 11.20 00:56:03 08:03 05:00 155
                  27/11 Scouting the course of the San Silvestre 10k race 6.91 11.13 00:54:22 07:52 04:53 179
                  28/11 Morning Run 4.16 6.70 00:33:25 08:02 04:59 94

                  Total distance: 34.03km

                  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

                    Looking forward to the Turkey Trot RRs.  Best of luck to all the CIMers.

                     

                    I didn’t do as well this week, as my hamstring/glute tightened some near the end of my easy efforts Wednesday and Thursday.  I stopped one lap/set early each day (13 & 6 minutes) out of caution.  I had lengthened my treadmill jogging intervals from 6 to 7 minutes on Sunday & Monday, and that tiny increase may have been too much.  I guess I’ll have to be even more cautious about getting back to normal efforts.  This is the third time since 2018 I’ve had hamstring trouble of one sort or another, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m ever going to be able to get back to consistent hard efforts.  On the positive side, I’m maintaining decent aerobic fitness even if I can’t go fast for now.  Also, my longtime goal of averaging 40 mpw for a year is in sight. 

                     

                    Sun - 9.4 miles very slow on treadmill (109 minutes) + 0:40 walk breaks after each 7:00

                    Mon - 9.7 very slow on TM (112 minutes) + 0:40 walk breaks/7

                    Tues - 15 minutes swimming

                    Weds - 6.0 in park @ 8:26 + 0:50 walk breaks after each 1.5 miles, felt L glute tighter

                    Thurs - 8.8 very slow on TM (108 minutes) + 0:40 walk breaks/6, felt glute

                    Fri - 8.8 very slow on TM (108 minutes) + 0:40 walk breaks/6, glute not bad

                    Sat - 15 minutes swimming

                     

                    Total - 42.7 miles

                    YTD average - 41.7 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

                    darkwave


                    Mother of Cats

                      (always amused when I post midday on Sunday, and I'm running behind...)

                       

                      Marky_Mark - 4 workouts in 7 days is a lot.  I'm not at all surprised that your legs are feeling it.

                       

                      Steve - I hope that the shingles passes quickly.

                       

                      Watson- as I recall, you said it takes a long time for you to recover from a half, so this would be consistent, correct?

                       

                      Flavio- I'm glad you are making progress.  Hopefully the feet loosen up to match the back.

                       

                      James - I'm sorry you're still fighting the hamstring/glute war.   At least, as you note, you're preserving some aerobic fitness.

                       

                      Evening races - I'm not a fan for logistical reasons - a) it sucks to sit around all day and wait for the race; b) it takes some effort to eat (and digest) correctly for an evening race; c) evening races always screw up my sleep that night.

                      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.

                      watsonc123


                        I have seen Portugal has really high vaccination rates, so Flavio is likely to have the least calculations.

                         

                        My latest races have been 5:45pm 5k, but they were on a Tuesday after work, so no waiting around.  They happened during daylight savings, but are not happening at the moment, presumably Covid restrictions related.

                         

                        Darkwave - you are thinking of Steve. I am normally a week to recover from any race more than 30 minutes.

                        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

                        SteveChCh


                        Hot Weather Complainer

                          watson - Nice week.  I've forgotten if you've mentioned your next event, but if it's not this year it might be worth some really light freshening up weeks, or just a break from workouts.

                           

                          Flavio - Always dangerous for a country to lord it over other countries, as our hermit kingdom has discovered although those of us who didn't drink the Kool Aid knew it was 99% down to isolation, population density and luck.  I doubt you've lost all your endurance, even if it feels like it.  You'll be able to ramp things up quickly when your body lets you.  Last week I set my biggest ever mileage year with a month to go so hopefully it's setting me up for future races.

                           

                          James Great effort to keep persevering, sorry to hear these issues are still on-going.

                           

                          darkwave - Yep, as watson said I generally need a decent recovery from a half although I think my problem in the past may have been just trying to jump back in too quickly rather than listening to my body and just having a really light week post-race.  This time round the coach made it even lighter than usual but that's because of the extra long training block due to cancellations and the amount of time I have until the next race and needing to be fresh for that training block.  Even though I'm not happy (obviously) to get Shingles, the timing is pretty much impeccable when it comes to my training blocks.

                           

                          Good to see you logging some good workouts again.

                          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

                          SteveChCh


                          Hot Weather Complainer

                            During my recent boredom I looked back at some of the old threads to see what my thinking was, and also to see how things have played out for people compared to their plans.  Mostly, everyone has exceeded their goals which is awesome.  There was one discussion about the percentage of people in a race that go sub 1:30.  I think it related to the Waterfront 2019 which had a lot of fast people.  There were 7% sub 1:30 which really highlights the strength of the field in my recent race.  I guess it's a function of the fact that it was the Canterbury Championships, it was pretty much the only half to run in the South Island since the South Island Half and the field was limited to 100 people.  Still the percentage who went sub 1:30 was a huge 35%.

                            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

                            darkwave


                            Mother of Cats

                               

                               

                              Darkwave - you are thinking of Steve. I am normally a week to recover from any race more than 30 minutes.

                               

                              Ah yes, sorry to confuse you two.

                               

                               

                              ***

                               

                              43 miles running, 3:30 hours pool-running, and 1000 yards swimming.

                              M: 60 minutes pool-running.
                              T: 60 minutes pool-running
                              W: Streaming yoga and 8 miles very easy (9:37) plus drills and strides.
                              Th: 10 miles, including 8 Iwo Jima hill repeats; followed with with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.
                              F: 10 miles very easy (9:40) and upper body weights/core.
                              Sa: 14.5 miles progressive, split as first 5 miles averaging 9:32, next 5 miles averaging 8:25, next 4.5 miles averaging 7:17, and half mile jog. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.
                              Su: Streaming yoga and 90 minutes pool-running.

                               

                              Felt a bit worse after my short break - more wobbly and awkward - but that wasn't at all surprising. Since what I'm dealing with is really a coordination thing, not a fatigue or injury thing, taking a few days off was not going to help my immediate issues (but it was still important in the broader context of training). By Saturday, I felt like I was back to where I was before - things slowly improving.

                               

                              This whole thing has felt like my running gait software got wiped/corrupted, and so I've had to do a reinstall (using things like drills and uphill/downhill running). I've been playing around with stuff, and the "butt kicks" drill is what seems to be most helpful right now - everytime I start feeling shaky or unstable (especially when running downhill) if I think about doing some butt kicks and try to lift my heel a bit higher, it helps stabilize me. Not sure how that works, but I'm going with it.

                               

                              Separately, I was playing around with rehab exercises and noted that I really struggle with Bulgarian split squats (where the back foot is elevated). If I'm doing a normal split squat with my back foot on the floor, I'm OK. But elevate that back foot, and I get very wobbly. I'm wondering if this is related to how I feel most stable running uphill (where the ground behind is lower than the ground in front) and least stable when I'm running downhill (where the ground behind is higher than the ground in front).

                               

                              In a burst of optimism, I registered for the Houston Half-Marathon in mid-January. Let's hope I can figure this out before then.

                              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


                                Steve - wow they really gave you the top shelf painkillers!  Hope you start to come right soon.  That percentage sub-1:30 in the Canterbury race is nuts.  Combination of a small field and a significant elite skew given lack of other races and regional championships, as you say.

                                 

                                Watson - always starts to get a bit nuts this time of year with stuff to get finished before Xmas.  Good week, though.

                                 

                                Flavio - Good to hear the body is starting to feel better again.  Like Steve said, I think you'll find the endurance comes back surprisingly fast once your body is ready.

                                 

                                Darkwave - I'm with you on evening races messing with sleep!  That's definitely an odd one on the elevation factor you noticed with the squats, almost like something selectively messing with your proprioception.  Anyways, fingers crossed for Houston!

                                 

                                James - bummer on the ongoing hamstring niggles but that mileage goal is in sight at least.

                                 

                                On the topic of mileage... I said at the end of last year that would probably be an all-time mileage high for me.  TBH 2021 isn't actually going to be that far off though, thanks in part to race cancellations.

                                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"