Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon 2021 Edition
Z - Good luck with the coaching, and good to see you are still swimming some. I'm stoked that our pools are open so I can go there again and have started to put in some ok workouts to at least stay in shape. So yes, I'm still not running but I can swim and I ride my bike a little bit. At least I can try to take some cool pictures when I'm outside. I am actually seriously considering signing up for the Tower26 workout plan, even though I won't use the run part at all, and will be limited at best on the bike, but their swim workouts are killer. I'm limited with 1 hour time slots but it should be a good start. Based on the first couple of trips I've made to the pool it takes a little while to transition from wetsuit swimming to swimming without one (my body felt super heavy in the water the first time), but the weekly swims I have done in the Bay throughout the winter and spring seem to have paid off.
Z - Good luck with the coaching, and good to see you are still swimming some. I'm stoked that our pools are open so I can go there again and have started to put in some ok workouts to at least stay in shape.
So yes, I'm still not running but I can swim and I ride my bike a little bit. At least I can try to take some cool pictures when I'm outside. I am actually seriously considering signing up for the Tower26 workout plan, even though I won't use the run part at all, and will be limited at best on the bike, but their swim workouts are killer. I'm limited with 1 hour time slots but it should be a good start. Based on the first couple of trips I've made to the pool it takes a little while to transition from wetsuit swimming to swimming without one (my body felt super heavy in the water the first time), but the weekly swims I have done in the Bay throughout the winter and spring seem to have paid off.
Hey Rune, Good to hear from you.
I'm glad the Bay swims have kept you in decent shape. I'm actually trying to figure out the opposite: going from pool swimming to open water with a wetsuit... at only 400m my sprint is short enough I'm considering just being cold (water was 63F yesterday) to save time in transition, but I know that buoyancy would be really nice. We have 45 minute time slots, and at least as a novice level swimmer I've found that to be more than sufficient for getting a good workout in. Good luck with your workouts, let me know if you do the T26 stuff, I listened to a couple of their podcasts last year on your recommendation and they sound intense.
CFarr that is really strange. I literally only get quad soreness when I run downhill too much, specifically really steep downhills or when I bike too hard.
1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)
Mother of Cats
We have 45 minute time slots, and at least as a novice level swimmer I've found that to be more than sufficient for getting a good workout in.
I cannot wait for the pandemic to be over and for pools to return to normal, with one being allowed to drop in at any time during normal operating hours and swim as long as you want.
Right now, we are limited to a set time slot that is usually 45 minutes (sometimes an hour). You have to book your slot 25 hours beforehand, and it's like booking a concert ticket - you need to be online right when the slot opens if you want a spot. Then you are only allowed to show up for your slot in the 10 minute window before your slot starts. If you are booked for 12:00-12:45 pm, and you show up at 12:02, you're out of luck.
I understand why it has to be this way right now, but I miss the halcyon days of aquatic spontaneity.
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.
Cobra Commander Keen
RP - For now it's just "online", though I can email/call/text however much I want. There has been talk of group workout days, which would be good from both "my coach gets to see me run and check my form" and "actually being around like-minded people" perspectives.
CFarr - Just throwing out an idea: How's lower back/pelvis? Last summer I had a bit of weird soreness or just a tight/constrained feeling in my quads. Turns out my low back/pelvis alignment was a little out of whack from having slept wrong or something, and getting that straightened out immediately resolved the muscle issues and made running much more pleasant.
DWave - Kudos for dropping "halcyon" in conversation.
I did get my first week's schedule yesterday afternoon, as well as a rough outline for a couple weeks after that. Mileage is about the same next week as what I have been getting, though with a bit of restructuring of some doubles and 4 miles of progression work in one workout. Tempos and intervals to follow!
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
Z - If you are doing a sprint triathlon with the swim in 63 degree water, make sure you know how your body reacts to that temperature, either with or without a wetsuit. I still have not so fond memories about my first swim in the SF Bay WITH a wetsuit, probably with a water temperature around 68 or so, and after starting swimming before my body had acclimated to the temperature it probably took me 20 minutes for my body to recover and my swimming to feel normal. I also think that if you decided to spend the full 45 minute time slot on a swim workout (with warmup first for instance), it might feel brutal at first but you would adapt pretty quickly.
DW - After hearing your pool stories I feel lucky with my setup. It's a very basic pool, only 3 lanes, inside a 24 hour fitness gym, but at least it's 25 yards. I have to sign up the day of, but it's not a mad rush to get a slot. And they let you handle the one hour time slot any way you like, so some people come in 20 minutes past the appointment time, swim for 15 minutes, and then leave. So it's not quite aquatic spontaneity (also a great expression!) yet, but not bad overall.
Keen - Good luck with your coach/training program!
CFarr - Maybe your quads are compensating for something (could easily be back related like Keen is suggesting) and therefore getting overworked?
RP - I'll do my best to keep up with the photos!
Woke up this morning thinking that the knee feels a bit better. Maybe the low impact work of swimming and biking is helping smooth things out, literally, in my knee.
5k: 20:32 (1/17) | HM: 1:34:37 (2/18) | FM: 3:31:37 (3/18)
Getting back into it
Problem Child
Keen Is online coaching due to COVID 19, or your pasion for pen pals?
Dwave I don't think pools/gyms are going to go away from requiring reservations for lanes. I honestly thing people enjoy not having to share a lane, or knowing they HAVE a lane when they show up more than they care about the inconvenience of reserving them.
No workouts this week. I was thinking I'd do my 4x1T (5 minutes) today, but I don't know how that will go in 20 mph winds. Part of me says "just go do it" and part of me says "just scrap the entire week" because the weekend won't have any runs in it, and I just committed to pacing at Western States again. It is two weeks after I'd "finish" my 5k training plan, and last time I went to States I think I died on the hiking part. It's almost as if I've sabatoged my own training. I'll just have to do a time trial 5k one of these days soon and see how it goes.
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
Cool RP I thougth Billy Yang had a podcast out the other day with one of the WS organizers shortly after they had cancelled it but that might have been last years'....time flies. I will be watching that!
HM: 1:47 (9/20) I FM: 3:53:11 (9/23)
2024 Goals: run a FM & HM + stay healthy!
RP - Online coaching could be a little of both, plus a bit of the business model. The winds can certainly mess with things, but it could still be better than not. And getting in some solid time on your feet could be a great endurance booster to start a marathon cycle!
Who are you pacing at States? Anyone we know?
I'm thinking of going after a personal goal on a lonely uphill segment tomorrow. We'll see how I feel when I get out there!
The reservation system isn't viable long term for our pool system - it limits their income substantially, since the number of attendees is limited. Right now, only two people at a time are allowed in the diving well for pool-running (we used to get many many more - up to 30+ when water aerobics was happening). And only two swimmers in a lane at a time, when three or four was common. That's a lot less swim fees that the pool is bringing in. It's not a for-profit pool, but still - I don't think their operating expenses have fallen.
Double the price and you account for lost revenue.
Mick I know Billy is on the Board of Directors now so it could have been recent. I'm amazed to think that guy finds time to run with how much time I think he spends working/volunteering/giving back to running on top of making videos and doing a podcast.
Keen No one from here. It's actually a guy who paced in 2019 and got in for 2020. I must have strava stalked him, then officially met him in 2020 (post sub 3 CIM) and just chatted it up. Well over time he's done some amazing things run/hiking wise. I kind of wish it was 2020 and I was riding the high and fitness of CIM because I honestly think he's capable of a sub 24, and having nothing in 2020 might have ruined it. I told him he could try to break Gunhild's record and officially get a 29:59:58 so everyone will know his name....and I'll be "his pacer" who is rarely mentioned. "Oh I met this guy online kinda through Strava. He really doesn't like trails or hills or night running or even long distances but MAN can the guy talk and keep you awake in an ultra."
Totally not running-related: A B-52 just flew directly over my house at probably less than 2,000'. I have no idea why, as those aren't anything we usually see around here. That was both awesome and awesomely LOUD.
RIP Milkman
There are some things about America that don't make you proud, but watching military planes fly overhead gives me so much pride. I've been out in the desert in Vegas and it's so cool watching the planes fly out of the air force bases. B52s are awesome and I've never seen one low like that!
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
There is a great breakfast place in Indian Springs where you can watch things all day. I get to see the Air National Guard fly big planes frequently. Hit up Fallon Naval Air Station sometime. The air siren that goes off at noon is kind of cool.
We live near one of NZ's 3 Air Force bases, which so happens to house pretty much all our operational air fleet. I like seeing them fly overhead, and often on my runs out towards Hobsonville and Whenuapai you can hear the drone of the engines while they're doing testing and warm-up checks etc.
But I will admit that it does not fill me with a sense of pride seeing the P-3 Orions which are now over 50 years old...
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"
For me, seeing military jets or helicopters overhead makes me a bit uneasy, unless they were pre-announced. It's that it's military aircraft flying in the direction of the US Capitol and White House, and if you don't know why they are flying in that direction you start wondering (and usually pull up CNN for a quick check).
[which doesn't make that much logical sense - if jets were being scrambled, they'd come from the air force base on the other side of the city.]
Military aircraft flyovers are not unusual as part of funeral services at Arlington Cemetery - those flyovers are often announced in advance.
Intl. correspondent
Rune - Hang in there. It seems you get your daily dose of exercise though and get to see some nice sights as well.
RP - the fully remote jobs are there. I guess a lot of people don’t know about them (which is great for me - 😈)
Also, pacing an ultra marathon and 5k training do not go together 🤠
DW/Keen - I thought initially halcyon was a name of a place 😁
Mick - what an appearance!!! Any tips for Lugano/Lucerne and Geneve? 🧀🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭
Airplanes - If an airplane flew that low near me I’d piss my pants, until I realised that if it’s flying overhead it means it’s not dropping any bombs at this time.
That would be followed by amazement at the engine roar.
I once took a short flight from New York to DC and it was a very small airplane (16 to 20 seats maybe) and it flew in the direction of the Washington monument until it turned right super close to it. I found it super cool at the 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