Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon 2021 Edition
Mark nice week Tough trip out on the XC course sorry for the DNF
Piwi super impressed way to go, consistent pacing too! nice read on the race report and some great photos.
Watson nice week great job in the 5k park run
Steve another strong week sorry the long run didn't go as planned.
I have 1 run today to get in i'll see how that goes, I didn't feel to great yesterday with a slow 9, gonna try for 8 today to hit my 25 miles for the week.
PR's
1m 5:38 (2018)
5k 19:59 (2019)
HM 1:33:56 (2018)
FM 3:23:07 (2018)
Intl. correspondent
Zeb - thanks for the insight on StrengthRunning. Luke Humphrey also has something similar going. They’re going for that passive income, can’t blame them, I’m trying to figure that out myself.
It honestly sounds like a good deal, though Luke’s deal seems better from what you said, as with Luke you’ve got access to all their plans and there are plans from couch to 5k to marathon with over 100 miles per week.
They’ve also got Boston specific plans, and plans in metric.
I believe the idea would be that Luke’s coaches would chime in their forum from time to time, I remember Luke did chime in to answer questions quite often.
RP - You need to drop this weirdo JDaniels and use the FlavioAwesomeSuperSimple5kplan instead
Good on you for going to the interview. Now pile on with more interviews until you know how to do interviews by heart.
That’s what I do anyways, in project or not I’m always looking at the market, sometimes participating in recruiting processes if they sound interesting.
Worst case scenario I get a no but keep my tools sharp and I get a good temperature of what’s being asked in the market.
One manager I had in the past used to say: If you have just one option, then you really have no option.
Piwi - Awesome job on the race. A 6pm start will mean trouble with the stomach unless you have lunch like 10am.
Like you, I also have trouble spotting the ground when it’d dark so you quite can’t run the same paces as you have some subconscious restraint.
Very sensible pacing from you.
I’m glad to hear Mikkey likes your legs.
I also hate photographers who shoot that ray of light into us. I have no useful picture of myself at my sister’s wedding.
Don’t these idiots know people with photophobia exist? They should hang big mirrors instead so we can make a good flex
Mark - XC can be fun but you need to completely forget the watch.
Watson - good job on the 5k, that was a good fitness gauge and now you have the correct paces to work on. I’m jealous of your Parkruns!
Also that was a big week from you, getting consistent!
Jmac - I like to think Piwi is our older, fun loving big brother.
Steve - hang in there, the marathon weeks are long.
me - some heavy legs but that's expected. Marathon training is on.
Also the weekly now contains kilometers AND miles just so I can annoy everybody at the same time 😎
PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021
Up next: some 800m race (or time trials) / Also place in the top 20% in a trail race
Tool to generate Strava weekly
Mikkey why thank you 😊
Corey cheers good luck with today's run.
Flavio nice job on the app it will be very handy.
I've been watching a YouTube channel called strength running. Is that the same people ? Its a good channel.
The bright lights at least made for great exposure photos.
Great to see your marathon training starting. I feel like I'm more like you and Mark when it comes to mileage that suits me.
Some DOMS kicking in for me as expected.
I went to table tennis 🏓 last week and it gave me sore ankles and a side strain. Still a decent sport for older folks if you play regularly. Hardest part is picking the ball up when you are old
Not sure whats next for me. Really want to take some time off my 18.25 5k over 50 PB. So a few weeks with speed and vo2 then a couple of Parkruns. Probably try in my traditional racing flats on my home town gravel course.
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 "
Hot Weather Complainer
Steve wow I'm so impressed with your long runs. The cramp may have been the pace and distance combination been a new stress to your legs ? We are planning another Christchurch trip in the next month.
Steve wow I'm so impressed with your long runs. The cramp may have been the pace and distance combination been a new stress to your legs ?
We are planning another Christchurch trip in the next month.
Yeah I think it's to be expected that there will be some issues with the increased mileage.
Those photos are great - I like the one with the tall guy looking fresh and you looking determined to catch him followed by a photo of him looking like he's in the pain cave with you pulling up next to him smiling.
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
JamesD
Piwi - Great race! I’ve read that most people are faster in the afternoon/evening than the morning, but bright lights at night would be disorienting. Surprised your half time age-grades lower than your 5K or 10K times - they’re all very good, but the 1:23 seems even better.
Watson - 5 sec/km isn’t a bad fade when you’re not fully fit. Parkruns sound like fun.
Me - Groin wasn’t as bad this week, just occasional mild soreness. My long run Wednesday was in a steady rain and was slower than usual. (Getting good use out of the Gore rainjacket I bought last year after some of you recommended it.) The slow pace may have been because I was dodging around puddles or because of the wet dirt. Took a gel during that run for the first time, mostly to see whether I can benefit from one in a half. Going to need a lot more practice before I can open one at race pace; may need to cut them first like darkwave does. Since I got back up to 14-mile long runs, my legs are still tired two days later (the first day is recovery on the treadmill). Still, on Friday each 1.5-mile lap was less slow than the previous one at the same effort, so I guess that’s a good sign. This week’s times all look slow, but I did short tempos the day before the week started and the day after it ended, so I’m getting in some faster work.
Sun - 9.4 miles easy on treadmill @ 10:30
Mon - 9.4 miles in park @ 8:46
Tues - off
Weds - 14 @ 8:58 in park in steady rain
Thurs - 9.4 easy on treadmill @ 10:31
Fri - 7.8 sluggish in park @ 8:48
Sat - off
Total - ~50.1 Miles
YTD average - ~48.7 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
Mother of Cats
Piwi - those are great photos. It's got to be a good feeling to run a strong PR AND get good photos. BTW, I do think, as noted by others, that racing in the dark can slow one's time.
Steve - I'm sorry about the LR. I don't have much to offer above what's already been said. But... I always think it's better to have that happen during a workout than a race.
Watson- 15% incline sounds brutal.
Flavio - I am appreciative of the miles/KM. I will try to do the same....
***
60 miles (96.5 km) running, 1000 yards swimming, and 3:10 hours pool-running
M: 50 minutes pool-running and streaming yogaT: 9 miles (14.5 km) very easy (8:56 mile pace), drills and 2 hill strides, upper body weights/core, and 3.5 miles (5.5 km) very easy (8:53 mile pace)W: 14 miles (22.5 km), including 3x2 miles in 13:16 (6:41/6:35), 12:56 (6:24/6:32) and 12:57 (6:28/6:29). 4:30 recovery between each. Followed with leg strengthwork and 500 yards recovery swimming.Th: 4 miles (6.5 km) very easy on treadmill (9:42 mile pace), 1 hour pool-running, and streaming yoga.F: 9.5 miles (15 km) very easy (9:02 mile pace) plus drills and 4 steep hill sprints, upper body weights/core, and 3 miles (5 km) very easy (8:42 mile pace)Sa: 17 miles (27 km), including 2x5 miles (8km) at marathon effort in 34:58 (7:00 mile pace) and 34:47 (6:57 mile pace). 1 mile float in 7:49 in between. Followed with injury prevention work, 500 yards recovery swimming, and 20 minutes pool-running.Su: Streaming yoga and 1 hour pool-running.
Just getting the work in - 1 more week and then I taper. Everything went well; the only annoyance was when I got run off the road twice near the end of my Saturday long run - first by a car, and then by a bike. I was doing my long run on Hains Point - a 3 mile circular road that is a mainstay of training for local runners as well as cyclists (it has paint marks every 200m that some local running clubs use for workouts). On week day mornings, or in bad weather, it's nicely empty. But on weekends in nice weather, it has gotten crazy.
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.
James nice week and encouraging on the groin. I think a gel in a half can be a nice pick me up but not really needed. I decided not to use mine on Saturday as my stomach was not 100 % but I didn't miss it.
Darkwave I see its a 10 miler coming up for you. I guess you aim for halfway between 10k and half pace ?
Steve that tall guy is Ben who worked well with me till about 13kms. We swapped taking the wind etc but eventually I had to let him go ahead although he only finished 25 secs ahead.
Flavio Nice Week Good luck as you start Marathon Training
James Another nice week
DW nice week ,nice Long run Sat sorry you almost got hit glad you didn't. I have some cyclist friends I also know others who IMHO go to fast weaving in and out of pedestrians and or runners on the trail.
For me, not a good week, only manages a bit over 5 yesterday, getting in about 22.5 for the week.
I'm having a lot of muscular soreness these days mainly in my thigh, just can't seem to get past it. had to stop at 5.
I had a great week. Mostly because the foot is feeling better but running mileage is at 87% of what it was pre-injury.
> 17 hours
This week is really defined by Monday's mountain bike ride. I opened my mouth and said I'd been thinking about riding to Thorsday,, running the 20k then riding home. My buddy goes "I'm In". Oh crap, he called my bluff. Other than mentioning that he bonked pretty hard it was uneventful and a lot of fun. I may end up doing this again at some point.
Next week is my first full week being coached! I'm excited by the workouts even if he is holding me back from the weekly volume I would have jumped to. It will be fun, first up: a rest day .
CK I've another race to add to the calendar, it's just a 5k fitness check but it's a real live race without rolling starts. Robins Roundup 5k on June 11. It's at 8PM so I'll have to have a bowl of rice for lunch and channel my older brother Piwi.
1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)
RP I'm not familiar with TRX workouts but this is IMO the right way to do things. Hard days hard, easy days easy.
Mark shame about the DNF but XC is just too much fun for everyone to enjoy it! More seriously I do think it uses more of the little stabilizers in the core than pavement runs and proper pacing is harder to achieve. Prioritizing the races you want to run is smart.
Watson That fourth KM sounds brutal... much like every well run 4th KM in a 5k race
Piwi - I didn't know you were capable of running that slowly! Honestly it just sounds like you left it all out there in the HM. Good photos! I'm not sure I'd be able to race at night as I always feel like I'm giving the same effort but it's :20/mile slower. Yes, that youtube channel is the same people. It's usually good stuff, so like I said I'm happy to have given them some income. Re: Table Tennis: Did you have any trouble with the side to side movement that's required? That was a wake up for me last time I played.
Steve Nice week, I hope you figure out the hamstring issues. Smart to pull the plug.
Watson -Your weeks are building nicely, you'll be back to full training in no time.
James Good week, especially getting out there in the rain for the long run. How much do you sweat in the Gore jacket? I've always found layering up in wicking material to be better than a true rain shell but YMMV
DW You are Mrs. Consistency! Which race are you running? I must have missed that.
Cfarr - Thigh meaning Quads or hamstring? I hope you can figure that out.
Problem Child
SteveChCh don't let the long run beat you up too much. Take the advice given and go with it. Every little bit helps build on the next week. I personally try not to vary more than one or two things, if possible, on a long run. I had a girl train with me for a full marathon the past few months and she was just dying on her Saturday long run, then Sunday felt like $1,000,000. It could have been sleep, or just one of those runs that don't go well.
Mark Do you think you'd want to target a year of JUST XC races? I've no experience with them so I can't actually see how they'd be MUCH different than trail running....which here is TOTALLY different than road running.
Flavio I thought everyone did the JD training plan. I know JMac is a BIG fan of his. Plus I had the book which has the training plans and the workouts. It was just easy. AS for the interview, it is this week so maybe I'll put up a Strava title.
Piwi if your legs look that strong on "low" mileage you'd be a BEAST at high mileage. The photo you posted on the last page reminds me of looking at FLEX and Muscular Development magazines in high school. Such power and definition.
darkwave I've noticed locally the traffic hasn't been the same as a year ago, and less people are concerned with runners being anywhere near them. This includes when a small child is riding a bike on a sidewalk, and the car veers into the bike lane headed for the sidewalk. Ignore the guy in bright colors running in the bike lane behind the kid. Also #fuckcyclistsmostofthetime
cfarr the consistency in your runs seems to motivate me to get out there. It might not be big mileage, but it happens every day and it HAS to be getting better, right?
zeb TRX workouts. I'm pretty sure I paid $50 LESS for these because it was cheaper than a gym membership, and canceling a gym membership was HORRIBLE last time I tried to do it. It comes with an instruction book, a DVD (literally the same as the book but in video form) and a workout (which is also on the DVD) with a few variations for workouts. Stuff like squats can be a regular squat, jump squat, single leg squat, or single leg jump squat. It's also possible to vary the resistance/weight by leaning away from the anchor pont (door) more.
Decent week for me. I actually thought about taking Sunday off to get stuff done around the house, but I didn't. Mostly because I wanted to get AT LEAST 50 miles and rounding up wasn't going to make that happen. The 20 miler was kind of spontaneous. I ran with a guy training for a 100 miler. He runs early, and I've learned it's nice to be done with the run and have the ENTIRE day left to do things. He is a good listener too, and seems to enjoy my company. He is also willing to map out the entire course which is more important to me than anything. The Saturday morning run group I WAS part of hasn't gotten back together, and shows ZERO desire to do so even with masks no longer required if you're vaccinated or outside. It is sad and I miss the group. I think my wife likes me being home around 8 am instead of 10 or 11 am.
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
Cobra Commander Keen
Watson - Great job, particularly with your current fitness. You'll be crushing things before long!
Piwi - Awesome work! Super-consistent pacing, too. Kinda non-optimal with the lights blinding you for the photographers, but those are some pretty good pictures (killer definition in the leg muscles, too!). I don't think I've ever run a race and had that many pictures, let alone that many postable ones.
Steve - Nice week. Don't let the one odd run bother you. It's a good learning experience, and a single run shouldn't be anything to be overly concerned with.
Flavio - Nice week, and good update on the Strava tool, too.
DWave - Your training has looked pretty good. I'm curious to see what the payoff is.
Zebano - Nice week. I'm starting coaching next week, too!Race board updated.
RP - Good week, especially that LR.
Coaching starts next week, so I think I may take a bit of a down week to 70 miles or so. Possibly front-loading some of those miles so I can take things easier on the weekend to be more fresh for whatever workouts come my way.
Personal observation: About this time last year covid hysteria was pretty high and I was seeing a TON of people out walking or running neighborhoods. It occured to me earlier that I haven't seen any of those people out since the heat and humidity picked up last summer.
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
Keen I cherry picked the best photo. On some I look old !
Great week as always from you.
RP people used to ask me if I was a runner before I was a runner as I always had defined leg muscles.
You are nailing some great mileage.
Zebano I haven't played table tennis in 3 years and yes I think the side ways movement hurt my ankles . Also having some forehand smashes sit up gave me a side strain after I pelted them back
What is your target for the 5k ?
Did your buddy faint in a speed workout? I was close on Saturday to fainting but just needed a moment.
Your weeks are really rounded with the swimming 🏊♂️ and stuff. I got in a great longboard surf 🏄♂️ Sunday with my son which is a bit of cross training for me.
Corey have you tried only running on soft surfaces ?
I better take a day off as my legs are close to injury. I limped around the house this morning after getting out of bed. The mind is willing but the body not
CK, RP, zebano - Huge weeks!
James, Corey - Good to keep something going even when life or injury is trying to stop you.
piwi - You are human after all...couldn't believe it on Strava when you were out running 12 hours after that race. I definitely think a day off and a light week are a good idea.
Corey - Piwi's suggestion of soft surface may help. Even if only for some of your runs.
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