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

zebano


    Zebano congratulations on your 10k. Its a tough pace. I had my first dry needling experience recently in my upper back. Quite a strange sensation 🤔

     

     

    Nice 8k!!! Dry needling is ... something unpleasant but wow does it work well for me. Have you had the joy of the electrical stimulation as well as the needles? I'll also add that needles in the foot are way worse than needles anywhere else I've tried.

     

    I took a really easy week to prep the foot for the race with pretty reasonable results. Up until today my foot hurt in the morning getting out of bed and just a dull pain after that. A huge improvement. Post-race it's gotten a bit more sore but it's still not the sharp pain I had in the past, it feels more like a heel bruise than what I've read of P.F.

     

    So I went camping with my kids last night after a few nights of poor sleep and I slept way better in the tent than I had previous days!!! That was a win but I thin got up at 5 and drove to my race eating a bagel and coffee along the way. The coffee was a mistake, I know my stomach hates that and it really stayed a bit grumpy until race time. I did a horrendously slow warmup that did not feel good and my watch was reading 6:high pace for my strides so I was really hoping for an equipment malfunction. Anyways I tried to just calm down and relax before race time, A couple untimed strides once I put on race flats felt amazing and my heel was fine. Go time. FWIW this course had one steep but very short hill and a lot of gradual up and downs including KM 5 & 6downhill with 6 and 7 ascending the same hill.

     

    I put the watch in Metric mode knowing I thought I had an outside chance at 4:10 / KM but really just wanting sub 7 miles. I tried to go out under control and I let a ton of people go, but my watch still read 3:40/KM so I focused on slowing down and hit it in 4:07. I finished that KM and realized my legs just didn't have that pace for 10 km and tried to dial in the right effort and ran the next one in a very under control 4:14. KM was 4:10 and then we turned onto the trail which was a short and steep uphill and I started to get the real feel of a 10k grind. I fell way off pace and told myself to stay under control until KM7, but I think I backed off too much (4:28, 17, 20). The middle part of a race isn't all out but it also shouldn't be casual. After KM 6 we hit the turnaround and I had a guy about 35 meters up that I spent 2 KMs chasing down (4:23, 23 ) I finally put it in gear when I passed him running KM 9 at a hard effort that had my breathing getting loud enough to startle 5km walkers (4:02) but then .... I went off course... derp. I recovered but the guy I worked so hard to pass was gone. Unlike last race, I didn't get down on myself and pushed hard until the end, which is really the biggest win of the day.

     

    Strava gives me 42:53 for 10km which would be a PR

    the total run was 6.48 in 44:41 a 6:54 pace so I hit my A goal even if I think my pacing could have been a touch better.

     

    After that I got my covid shot, a great Reuben sandwich, played with my doggo in a park and then took an amazing nap.

     

    My next big challenge is an off-road 99 mile Mtn Bike race followed by my self-supported 40 mile ultra, I've committed to doing two things:

     

    1. Take a week off of running and let the foot rest. I may make this two weeks but we'll see.

    2.  I think I'm going to join strengthrunning and let someone coach me. I have crazy challenges all over the place from triathlons, duathlons, ultras but what I really want to do is drop the hammer on a mile, and crush my favorite XC race this fall. Frankly, it may be partially my weight and partially my injury history, but even at 40 I feel like I'm just not hitting my potential and I'm hoping a coach to tell me what workouts to do, when to back off and when to slack could really help.

     

     

    I've tried to prioritize how I'd like to manage the rest of my year but I'm going to hand this off to Jason and let him decide if it makes sense.

     

    April, May, June: Base building time with emphasis on getting to race weight & reintroducing lifting weights into my schedule. I'll maintain whatever level of crosstraining Jason thinks is acceptable though I'm hoping to bike commute.

     

    July: Run ultra & recover

     

    August, September, Early Nov: Train Hard

     

    November: Living History Farms XC!!!, Turkey Trot 5k (as Goal Races). Race a mile or three in there if feasible.

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

      Zebano congratulations on the PR 42 mins is really good. Camping out the night before with kids is a brave move 

       

      Mark damn fine week. Your workouts are always at an amazing pace. Enjoy the taper.

      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


        Zebano - congrats on the PR.  So you'll need to camp overnight before all your races

         

        Mark and Piwi - nice weeks.

         

        My week is done.  Race went well - I finished without crashing, Strava time is showing moving time rather than total time.  It was pretty much as hard as I can manage right now.  Twelve weeks time I've got over double the distance and elevation!

        Weekly for period: From: 12/04/2021 To 18/04/2021

        Date Name Distance
        in km
        Duration Avg Pace
        per km
        Elevation Gain
        in m
        12/04/2021 Evening Run 4.72 00:25:53 05:29 16
        14/04/2021 Evening Run - Incl. 10 * (1:00 Quickish & 1:00 Easy) Intervals 8.13 00:40:12 04:57 24
        15/04/2021 Evening Run 8.09 00:44:49 05:32 17
        16/04/2021 Evening Run 4.70 00:25:04 05:20 16
        18/04/2021 Xterra - The Orongorongo's, Long Course. 2:37:18 19.91 02:33:22 07:42 764

        Total distance: 45.54km

        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

        watsonc123


          I also read the Alison Roe article.  There were quite a few big marathon wins in the 80's where the winner had only entered a few weeks before.

          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


            Zebano - great job on the race and sucks about the wrong turn.  I did that in a race once and I've never forgotten it.

             

            Piwi - thanks, nice to have most of the work in the bag.  Knowing my coach, this week will have less volume but probably some brutal workouts.

             

            Watson - one of the km's in your race had an elevation gain of over 100m!  That's nuts.  Some of the pics on Strava looked amazing.  Play it safe on those trail races though.  The last thing you want is to go injuring yourself again.  A friend of mine was leading one of the shorter distances at an ultra in Taupo late last year before he tripped and broke his collarbone.

            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


              There were two km's with over 100m.  The most was 134km.

               

              There were several slow downhill km's too, as it was running/walking over/around tree roots.

               

              The Red Rocks Xterra course has a km with around 180m elevation!  And a downhill km of something similar.  One of our clubs 50+ woman had a bad fall at that last year on one of the steep downhill sections - broken nose and some brain damage that has permanently effected her vision in one eye.

              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

                Keen - LOL I’m glad you enjoyed the celebration, I’m happy we made a video of that race, I loved it.

                 

                Zeb - It looks like you recovered well for the race, sorry to hear you went off course LOL but that was hilarious. Lack of oxygen is bad haha.

                It’s interesting that you warm up with different shoes.

                A coach will certainly help you out and get you more focused.

                Congrats on the PR and the vaccine! I have to wait until September probably.

                 

                Mick - Yeah, the barefoot guy had a grip disadvantage probably.

                 

                Watson - awesome pictures from the race, it looked super cool.

                 

                Piwi - Awesome week and nice sandwich long runs on the weekend.

                 

                Mark/Steve - I think you guys need to come together and convince Nathan Jones to join this board. That would be outstanding!

                 

                Mark - Super impressive, 100km and only singles.

                 

                Zebano/Piwi - No needles for me, thank you

                 

                me - Another nice recovery week and today's long run finally felt normal. I might be 95% now.

                Weekly for period: From: 12/04/2021 To 18/04/2021

                Date Name Distance
                in km
                Duration Avg Pace
                per km
                Elevation Gain
                in m
                12/04/2021 Morning Run 5.66 00:30:01 05:18 20
                13/04/2021 Morning Run 8.49 00:44:00 05:11 48
                15/04/2021 Morning Run 8.84 00:45:00 05:05 46
                16/04/2021 Morning Run 6.25 00:33:00 05:17 49
                17/04/2021 Morning Run 11.85 00:59:00 04:59 53
                18/04/2021 Morning Run 18.94 01:30:51 04:48 96

                Total distance: 60.04km

                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

                  Just dropping this off will be back later, got a lot of chores to do today...

                  7 of the last 8 weeks at 25+ MPW & 6 weeks in a row.  I think I'll put in another 2 weeks in at this level before I make any increases.

                  I'm not making any progress on my weight loss ,I'm gonna have to do something different just running more miles alone is not working.

                  Weekly for period: From: 04/12/2021 To 04/18/2021

                  Date Name Distance
                  in mi
                  Duration Avg Pace
                  per mi
                  Elevation Gain
                  in ft
                  04/13/2021 Evening Run 5.01 00:45:44 09:08 141
                  04/15/2021 Afternoon Run 5.25 00:47:56 09:08 200
                  04/17/2021 YMCA> MBRT>DP and back 7.01 01:06:09 09:26 154
                  04/18/2021 What a crappy run! 10.31 01:50:38 10:44 413

                  Total distance: 27.59mi

                  PR's

                  1m  5:38 (2018)

                  5k    19:59 (2019)

                  HM  1:33:56 (2018)

                  FM  3:23:07 (2018)

                  darkwave


                  Mother of Cats

                    So Piwi - you threw out your back, and followed it up a few days later with back-to-back 20K runs with an 8K tempo at HM pace tucked in? Can you teach me how you threw out your back :P

                    Marky_Mark - I note you saw more rainbows than Nathan Joneses this week.

                    Zebano - congrats on the race, even with the wrong turn! And I'm glad the dry needling worked. I agree with Piwi on the boldness of camping the night before.

                    Re: coaching - I think an outside pair of eye is almost always a good thing. I'll be very interested to follow your training the next few months

                    Watson - that race looked insane!!!

                    Flavio - good on the 95% feeling. That's really good to read.

                    Cfarr - The older we get the more the body fat gets stuck, it seems.

                     

                    ***

                     

                    my week:

                    57 miles running, 1000 yards swimming, and 3:20 hours pool-running

                     

                    M: 50 minutes pool-running and upper body weights/core
                    T: 12 miles, including 7x800m in 3:07, 3:09, 3:09, 3:10, 3:07, 3:07, 3:07, 3:06; recoveries between 2:17-2:20. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.
                    W: 6.5 miles very easy (9:39) on treadmill, streaming yoga, and 5.5 miles very easy (8:59) plus drills and 4 strides.
                    Th: 3.5 miles very easy on treadmill (9:38), 50 minutes pool-running, and streaming yoga.
                    F: 9 miles very easy outside (9:00) plus drills and 4 hill strides, upper body weights/core, and 3 miles very easy on treadmill (9:26)
                    Sa: 17.5 miles, including a marathon pace workout of 4, 3, 2, 1 miles at marathon effort with 1 mile float. Splits were:
                    4 miles in 28:01 (7:07/6:58/7:00/6:56); 1 mile float in 7:56
                    3 miles in 21:00 (6:54/7:02/7:04); 1 mile float in 7:59
                    2 miles in 13:46 (6:54/6:52); 1 mile float in 7:46
                    1 mile in 6:50. Followed with leg strengthwork, 500 yards recovery swimming, and 25 minutes pool-running.
                    Su: 75 minutes pool-running and streaming yoga.

                     

                    Week 1 of 6 weeks of marathon-specific training in the books.  Just two workouts this week, but both of them were on the bigger side.  Next week will be 3 workouts - intervals on Tuesday, a 4 mile tempo on Friday, and then 16 miles with the last 6-7 at marathon effort on Sunday.

                    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.

                      Flavio good to hear you are nearly back.

                       

                      Corey cut out beer and sugar. I'm not going to though 

                       

                      Darkwave big workout week coming up for you. Yes I was bending down putting on my shoes and when I straightened up it pinched up sore and made me jump and then instantly sore and tight. I stretched and mobilized it over the next few days and it freed up. Running seemed OK though.

                      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


                        Darkwave - that LR with the MP work was really impressive.  Consistent splits and slightly quicker towards the end as well!  Final score this week was 3 rainbows : 1 Nathan Jones.

                         

                        Flavio - nice recovery week, what is next on the agenda for you?

                         

                        Corey - solid week.  The weight thing can be weird.  You can see no progress for periods then quite big shifts.  Mine has definitely gone down a bit in the last little while after I've substantially reduced my alcohol intake.  I saw a nutritionist a couple of months ago and she had some great suggestions in terms of balancing up my diet a bit more.

                        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

                          Mark - Which Nathan Jones did you see?  We may need nicknames for them.  Yep, the LR went really well.  I'd never gone further than 27km so I expected to really feel it towards the end but it never happened.  When I lifted the pace it felt really comfortable and I exceeded my target speeds of 4:20, 4:30 easily.  In the last km of effort I dropped back a bit and was a bit closer to 4:30 but generally they were in the 4:15-20 range.  Very contrasting conditions to the ChCh half - heavy freezing rain from the south for the first 90 mins.  When I was saturated after 5km I thought this would be a long day but I decided to embrace it.  The only consequence was a very painful shower for my nipples.  I was really happy with my heart rate too, consistent and low.  With fueling, I needed to have 2 pee stops - how do I avoid that in a marathon?  A delicate balancing act.

                           

                          There was a stream on the ChCh marathon Facebook page with most of the winners from last week.  Worth a watch although the part with the race director got me a bit grumpy.  It seems that the date change was due to several years of pressure from the elites.  They didn't ask the rest of us!

                           

                          Huge week, and great that you're close to one of your bucket list races.  You are in great form.

                           

                          I've watched Alison Roe in NY on youtube, she is such a legend.  Loved her post-race insights too, within seconds of finishing.

                           

                          James - Nice week and great that you're all vaccinated.

                           

                          piwi - Nice week and agree with dw that is a remarkable recovery!  Excited to see how you do in a race.

                           

                          zebano - Nice race and bad luck on the wrong turn.  Looks like you've a chance to shave quite a bit more time off that!

                           

                          watson - That race looks brutal!  Should set you up nicely for your upcoming training block.

                           

                          flavio - I think I can get the Christchurch one (the runner not the cricketer - although I know him through cricket, he is now all about running and multi-sport).  How I explain that he's been featuring here for years??  Good week, sounds like you're nearly back.

                           

                          Corey - Nice consistency, you've got a good base to slowly increase from now.

                           

                          darkwave - Nice week and great workout at MP.

                           

                          me - Quite a big week with no ill effects from the race/workout last week.  Wednesday workout felt fantastic and as I said above, the weekend long run went really well.  Slightly decrease this week before 3 big weeks of slowly increasing.

                           

                          Weekly for period: From: 12/04/2021 To 18/04/2021

                          Date Name Distance
                          in km
                          Duration Avg Pace
                          per km
                          Elevation Gain
                          in m
                          12/04/2021 Recovery 8.17 00:44:41 05:28 6
                          14/04/2021 Warm up 0.52 00:03:03 05:52 0
                          14/04/2021 Med-Long incl. 3 x 3km @ 4:30/km 18.02 01:23:42 04:39 10
                          15/04/2021 Recovery 8.89 00:47:29 05:20 18
                          16/04/2021 Warm up 0.46 00:02:48 06:05 0
                          16/04/2021 Easy 8km 8.08 00:40:28 05:00 6
                          17/04/2021 Warm up 0.45 00:02:52 06:22 0
                          17/04/2021 Long incl. 2 x (1km @ 4:20/km, 1 min recovery, 2km @ 4:30/km, 2 mins recovery) 32.09 02:38:06 04:56 37
                          18/04/2021 Recovery 6.54 00:37:14 05:42 4

                          Total distance: 83.21km

                          5km: 18:34 11/23 â”‚ 10km: 39:10 8/23 â”‚ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 â”‚ 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

                            Got most of my house work done today so I thought I jump back on while I'm cooking dinner

                             

                            James congrats on the 2nd shot and good week of miles

                             

                            Piwi nice week great mileage nice back to back long runs and the 8k tempo tossed in at the end was pretty quick!  I'll think about cutting out the sugar not sure about the beer though.

                             

                            Mark Nice week hope the taper goes well and you get some needed rest for the race

                             

                            Zebano I don't think I can do the dry needling doesn't sound fun.  Camping the night before a race....I couldn't do it. Great time on the 10k thanks for the race report.  Sorry you got off course there that really sucks, way to keep at it through the end though.  Your plan for the rest of the year sounds good, I need to think a bit about that myself.

                             

                            Watson great job on the race that was one steep hill! Great photos beautiful views..

                             

                            Flavio Nice Week hope you are back to 100% this week

                             

                            DW Nice Week as well good luck with those upcoming workouts sounds like a big week

                             

                            Steve Nice week Great Job on that work out 20k of Freezing rain doesn't sound like fun.

                            PR's

                            1m  5:38 (2018)

                            5k    19:59 (2019)

                            HM  1:33:56 (2018)

                            FM  3:23:07 (2018)

                            Marky_Mark_17


                              Steve - you should be feeling pretty good that you are building the volume up and hitting your workouts well.  Definitely a sign that you are adapting well to the training.  I noticed your HR stayed much lower too which was a great sign.  You expect some HR creep over a long run (if you can keep it below ~2% per hour while maintaining pace you are doing extremely well) but you didn't seem to have a lot even with the effort sections.  Vaseline or Bodyglide will help with the chafe - although we all forget this at times (like me during Mt Maunganui Half last year).

                               

                              I've never had any major issues with pee stops during races or long runs.  I generally have to go to the bathroom at least 3 times before the start of a race though (my wife loves to give me a hard time about this).

                               

                              I saw Auckland-based triathlete Nathan Jones.  I had forgotten how tall he is!  A colossus of a man.

                               

                              Thanks, it wasn't until I started surfing around on Smashrun that I realised I've only ever run one 100km+ week at a faster average pace than last week - and that was coming off a week of exclusively easy runs so I was pretty fresh (and was also aided by pretty optimal weather).  I'd like to think things are falling into place but really I have no idea until Saturday week 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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

                              Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

                              "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

                              SteveChCh


                              Hot Weather Complainer

                                Mark - Yep, I was pretty happy with how I felt and the heart rate data backed that up.  It had rained heavily overnight and the forecast and radar suggested all the rain was gone so I didn't expect what I got.  It was actually quite bad last week during the half, but that was due to sweat, not rain.

                                 

                                I'm starting to see just how massive 100km weeks are (let alone 100 miles) when I'm doing my largest mileage ever and still only in the 80s!

                                 

                                On that ChCh marathon stream I think one of the athletes mentioned Mt Cook being cancelled on the start line.  I looked at the Facebook page - it looks like they delayed the start with about 10 mins to go before fully cancelling all events within 2 hours.  Geez that must have been tough for the runners, a lot of whom would have had several Covid cancellations.

                                5km: 18:34 11/23 â”‚ 10km: 39:10 8/23 â”‚ HM: 1:26:48 9/23 â”‚ 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