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

JamesD


JamesD

    Steve - You've inspired me to look into getting the shingles vaccine.

     

    Me - More of the same this week, with signs of slight improvement.  I ran without walk breaks on Monday for the first time in almost six weeks and did ok.  I could feel the hamstrings & left glute near the end, but no worse than some days with walk breaks.  Also kept a steady pace rather than easy.  Was back to my normal easy pace in the park on Friday, but that’s ok.  Also got up to 2 hours of slow (and boring) running on the treadmill in between walk breaks without too much hamstring trouble.

     

    For what it’s worth, I felt only mildly under the weather last Sunday after DW & I had our booster shots the previous afternoon - not as bad as after our second shots last April, which itself wasn’t all that bad.

     

    Sun - off

    Mon - 6.2 miles in park @ 7:58, no walk breaks

    Tues - 9.9 miles very slow on treadmill (114 minutes) + 0:40 walk breaks after each 6:00

    Weds - 10.4 very slow on TM (120 minutes) + 0:40 walk breaks/6

    Thurs - 17 minutes swimming

    Fri - 7.7 in park @ 8:37, no walk breaks

    Sat - 10.4 very slow on TM (120 minutes) + 0:40 walk breaks/6

     

    Total - 44.5 miles

    YTD average - 41.9 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

    SteveChCh


    Hot Weather Complainer

      James - nice week and definitely get it if you can. I’ve been in the spare room for 3 weeks because I’m still getting up twice every night to take painkillers.

       

      Mark - very nice week in the Auckland suckage. One memory I have of living in Glenfield as a kid is sweating through the night trying to sleep. Aircon was not a thing in those days

      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 and James - nice weeks.

         

        Steve - I do wonder if cutting back your running, will quicken up your recovery from shingles?

         

        My week was not terrible, but certainly not good either (my week before was even less).  Life is getting in the way a little.  Next week will be the same, as I have to travel to and back from Christchurch for a funeral (uncle, mum's side).  

        I also got a new watch, Garmin Forerunner 245, which is certainly an upgrade from my old Garmin Forerunner 15.

         

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

        Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
        in m
        07/12 Evening Run 4.35 6.99 00:34:53 08:01 04:59 9
        08/12 Evening Run - Steady Pace 3.0-9.0km 5.77 9.28 00:43:36 07:33 04:42 13
        09/12 Evening Run 3.07 4.93 00:25:37 08:21 05:12 9
        11/12 Afternoon Run 6.40 10.30 00:50:14 07:51 04:53 17
        12/12 Afternoon Run - Incl. 3 * (5km Steady & 1km Easy 14.84 23.87 01:50:53 07:28 04:39 79

        Total distance: 55.37km

        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

          Steve - Sorry to hear it’s still around. A nice week after all though.

           

          Mark - great job Mr Consistency!

           

          DW/Mark - Dumbbell press is certainly different in that you need to use the core to stabilize, where as on the benchpress you have the other arm helping with that. I have no idea how they compare though, but I'm sure whatever calculator is out there will vary from people to people.

           

          Me - a slightly better week. I'm slowly working towards that 50km week.

          I ran a mile time trial on Thursday to have a fitness baseline. The mile is nice cause it's so short and easy to recover from.

          I've been running a lot more elevation than usual so this is at least to me the equivalent of a 60k week on flat terrain.

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

          Date Name mi km Duration Avg/mi Avg/km Elevation Gain
          in m
          07/12 Morning Run 7.03 11.30 00:55:37 07:55 04:55 115
          09/12 1 mile time trial 5:42.5 - let's rebuild 5.41 8.70 00:43:19 08:00 04:59 88
          11/12 1h15 9.45 15.21 01:15:03 07:57 04:56 157
          12/12 Morning Run 5.22 8.40 00:40:24 07:44 04:49 107
          12/12 😂😂😂 0.31 0.50 00:02:51 09:12 05:42 10

          Total distance: 44.12km

          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

            Flavio nice job on that mile tt. I haven't done anything approaching fast for about 3 months. I'm not sure I could break 20 mins in a 5k right now. Big wave tow comp in Nazare last night. I will go check it on YouTube today.

             

            Mark good job keeping the 80k weeks going in this muggy weather. Early is definitely the best way to go.

             

            Steve I hope you get out of the spare bedroom soon !

            Good mileage especially with your illness.

             

            Watson very nice upgrade on your GPS. I've had the 235 for a while now and it's great. Possibly a bit hungry on battery and every few months heart rate data disappears until I reset it.

             

            Only 30kms for me this week but did alot of surfing, weights, abs, and went in a kayakfishing competition on Saturday so I just didn't have the time for more running.

            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


              Steve - yeah I know what you mean.  We obviously USED to survive this sort of weather.  We have two heat pumps in our house and one died a couple of weeks ago, fortunately it's getting replaced today.  TBH I think it was as old as the house (~15 years) so it was probably due.  Spare rooms are great, BTW.  I still use ours regularly because my wife sometimes operates on a totally different clock to me!

               

              Watson - those FRM 245's are a great watch.  My 235 was brilliant and the 245 is basically an improved version of that.  Pretty much the benchmark for a good running-specific watch.  The GPS lock was actually better than my Fenix 5S was.

               

              James - good stuff on the booster.  And man, 2 hours on the TM... that's impressive.  I'm not sure I could manage that.

               

              Flavio - the elevation definitely makes a big difference.  I notice it big time when working from home (either slightly or very hilly depending on route) vs. in the office (typically dead flat unless I go looking for hills).

               

              Piwi - honestly I think this may be the worst stretch of weather I can recall, from a running perspective.  It's been basically humid suckage for all of December so far.  Generally we'd get a few days of it but not 2 weeks straight.  Looks like we might get a reprieve but not until this weekend.

              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"

              darkwave


              Mother of Cats

                James- I'm happy you're reporting improvement, even slight.

                 

                Steve - I'm sorry the shingles has lasted this long.

                 

                Marky_Mark - the humidity commentary has added a sense of balance and stability to this discussion.  The world may tilt crazily, but some things never change.  Well done.

                 

                Watson - sorry about the death in the family.  Safe travels.

                 

                FWIW, I have the 245, and am very happy with it.

                 

                Flavio - I like the choice of a mile for a baseline.  I always like either a mile or a 5K for my rustbuster - it tells you where you are without requiring monstrous recovery.

                 

                Me:

                55 miles running, 3 hours pool-running, and ~1000 yards swimming.

                 

                M: 90 minutes pool-running and streaming yoga
                T: 10 miles, including a track workout of 2000, 4x800, 2x200 in 8:51, 3:20, 3:17, 3:16, 3:12 and then 46 and 46. 5:30 recovery after the 2000; Recoveries of around 3:00 after the 800s (more for the last). Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.
                W: 7 miles (9:58) on the treadmill, upper body weights/core, 4 miles (9:43) on treadmill
                Th: 90 pool-running and streaming yoga.
                F: 8 miles easy (9:42) plus drills and strides.
                Sa: 11 miles, including 12x200, most in 47. Later did upper body weights/core.
                Su: 14 miles progressing from very easy down to moderate-ish, split as first 5 miles averaging 10:10, next 5 miles averaging 8:48, next 5 miles averaging 7:44. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 meters recovery swimming.

                 

                Decent start to the week and then I caught some sort of head cold/sinus thing on Thursday (not Covid, according to the two negative rapid tests I took). My plan had been to do a tempo workout on Friday, but that didn't happen. So then I considered doing a tempo on Saturday, but warmed up and didn't feel up to it, so I swapped to some relaxed 200s, focusing on form. Stuck with the Sunday long run, but made a point of not pushing things at all.

                 

                Obligatory weather comment - wonderful here for most of the week.  Mostly low 40s.

                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


                   

                  Marky_Mark - the humidity commentary has added a sense of balance and stability to this discussion.  The world may tilt crazily, but some things never change.  Well done.

                   

                   

                  Steve has shingles.  Watson has family bereavements (commiserations, Watson).  Piwi isn't running as much.  Someone has to take up the slack.

                  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"

                  darkwave


                  Mother of Cats

                     

                    Steve has shingles.  Watson has family bereavements (commiserations, Watson).  Piwi isn't running as much.  Someone has to take up the slack.

                     

                    Thank you for your service.

                    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.

                    zebano


                       

                      It's important to point out that consumption of either pizza,  burgers or Chipotle does not preclude you from ALSO consuming açaí, in fact just this Friday I had the pizza-açaí combo for great glory.

                       

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

                      zebano


                        Steve - your doing some solid work in spite of the illness!

                         

                        James - Great week. Awesome that the hammy isn't hindering you too much. I'm trying to recall, did you only run the one race this year?

                         

                        Watson - condolences

                         

                        Flavio - I noticed that on strava, you're getting some solid vert! You can become an ultra/trail runner soon! Wink

                         

                        Weather here has been surprisingly wonderful.. A few days below freezing with winds but mostly just 30-50 and windy which I'll take in December. As planned I leaned into the xtraining

                         

                        Monday - off

                        Tuesday - 40 min strength + 15 min swim

                        Wednesday - 20 min single leg strength work + 20 min swim.

                        Thursday - 12.4 mile slow run. Not easy, single leg work beats me up.

                        Friday - 40 min lifting + 15 min swim + hour run (holiday light tour w/ friends)

                        Saturday 16 min tempoish run with the pup

                        Sunday - beer mile PR (8:39) + 1.5 mi up/down.

                        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

                          Steve - Nice week, especially with the fatigue you're fighting. Hopefully the shingles clear out quickly. FWIW, it took my wife 3-4 weeks to get over her case a while back.


                          Mark - Nice week as well. Those conditions certainly don't seem conducive to any running other than easy effort - good postponing!


                          Watson - That's a pretty nice upgrade!


                          James - 2 hour on the treadmill is impressive! I'm curious as to what (if anything) you do for entertainment during those runs.

                           

                          Flavio - "a mile time trial is nice" said no one ever.


                          I think I may be coming down with a little something. Just a bit of fatigue and a bit of a feeling at the back of my eyes like I have a fever (though I have no fever) and my HR has been higher during runs runs than it should be since Saturday.

                          Recovery from whatever this is would probably mean interfering with running a revenge marathon on Dec 31 or Jan 1. I'm leaning towards a 10k/HM focused cycle and then perhaps a later spring marathon up north. Or going off the rails and doing a gravel road 50 miler. Coin flip at this point.



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

                           

                          Upcoming Races:

                           

                           

                          JamesD


                          JamesD


                            James - 2 hour on the treadmill is impressive! I'm curious as to what (if anything) you do for entertainment during those runs.

                             

                             

                            Now that I'm taking walk breaks every six minutes, I usually go without entertainment since there's always a next stop to count down to, or fractions to calculate ("OK, in another minute I'll be 2/3 of the way until I have to restart the machine (which stops at 99 minutes), or 5/9 if I go longer, or 1/2 if I go the full 2 hours...").  I always have the tv remote within reach in case I get bored, though.  First choice on tv usually is one of the music channels on our cable system - mainly the '70s channel, but if I don't like that song, I'll try the '80s, '60s, or '90s.  News channels or occasional movies or football games are infrequent options.  Around March or April, when I was building back up after last year's hamstring injury, I got up to 2:06 with no breaks, and for that I definitely needed the tv.

                             

                            Zebano - I ran two races this year, a small 5K in late August and the early October military-themed 5K in which I came close to my PR.  Even discounting that I had run both races before, my course familiarity was pretty high - the August one starts and ends in the park where I do almost all of my outdoor running (and first ran around in 1977), and the October one starts and ends about 1/4 mile from our apartment.

                            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

                            flavio80


                            Intl. correspondent

                              LOL I’ve gone outside on Sunday to run 500 meters so I could beat Keen’s week. 

                              I was laughing my ass off all the way, but now I feel quite silly for having done it.

                               

                              Piwi - I’m jealous of your week!

                               

                              Mark - Ah, the December sauna, I remember that. Back in early January 2019 I even had to cut a run short because of that.

                               

                              DW - So how’re you doing lately? Are you just somehow at the same point but getting used to your new imbalanced life, or has it slightly improved over time?

                               

                              Zeb - I’m very impressed by your strength training sessions, some beastly numbers.

                               

                              Keen - LOL yeah I do enjoy the mile though I agree the last 500 are tough.

                              Here’s to a quick recovery for you for whatever is going on.

                               

                              me - I'll throw my hat in the ring for thread supreme leader next year. If selected:

                              - it will be mandatory to address me as "Supreme Leader"

                              - I'll be grading your weeklies. If a PR is in there +5 points. If no strength training is listed -5 points. Running races in costume +20 points. Weather complaining +5 points, but if it's 18 degrees celsius then it's -10 points instead.

                              Listing random Maori names as if everybody knows those places earns +7 points

                              Starting a flame war over what's easy pace earns +15 points.

                              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


                                LOL I’ve gone outside on Sunday to run 500 meters so I could beat Keen’s week. 

                                 

                                me - I'll throw my hat in the ring for thread supreme leader next year. If selected:

                                - it will be mandatory to address me as "Supreme Leader"

                                - I'll be grading your weeklies. If a PR is in there +5 points. If no strength training is listed -5 points. Running races in costume +20 points. Weather complaining +5 points, but if it's 18 degrees celsius then it's -10 points instead.

                                Listing random Maori names as if everybody knows those places earns +7 points

                                Starting a flame war over what's easy pace earns +15 points.

                                 

                                All hail the supreme leader.

                                 

                                 

                                Well done earning your position by dethroning Keen, we expect you to maintain those high standards next year.

                                 

                                I also enjoy the mile. It's over quickly and recovery is excellent. That's why I raced a beer mile last weekend, it's the ultimate in slacking off during the offseason.

                                 

                                 

                                FWIW i'm not so sure I'm really moving all that much weight relative to bodyweight (PS 1 pound is less weight than 1 KG Wink ) . That said, power cleans are a lot of fun and if you're confident in your form, everyone should try them.

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