Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2020
Mmmm Bop
Ha-ha - I should be quicker next time - I swear I saw - “solo 1:49 marathon”
Yep.
5k - 17:53 (4/19) 10k - 37:53 (11/18) Half - 1:23:18 (4/19) Full - 2:50:43 (4/19)
Actually, that page stayed opened on another laptop and it says - "solo 1:39 marathon"
paces PRs - 5K - 5:48 / 10K - 6:05 / HM - 6:14 / FM - 6:26 per mile
JamesD
Uneventful but reasonably good week for me. Thursday’s short tempo was the first time I had tried one on the track, and it was a little faster than I had expected. Pace was very steady after the too-fast first lap. My left knee is hurting some, including when I foam roll my hamstrings, but it doesn't seem serious.
I’ve been surprisingly unaffected by staying home all the time. I can run whenever I want to, even if I don’t use my normal route, and I still see people at a safe distance. I have DW and our son with me, and that’s really all the face-to-face human contact I need. Haven’t had time to be bored, as I’ve been dealing with taxes & the insurance for our water-damaged floor. I’m handling the estates of a couple of relatives, and their returns and ours have been complicated, but I finished 99% of the work this week, so that’s good. DW and our son are more tired of being cooped up.
Sun - off
Mon - 10.5? miles easy in 1:30
Tues - 7.5 (1:05) easy
Weds - 10.5 (1:30) easy
Thurs - off
Fri - 6 on track, including 2 @ 6:22
Sat - 7.7? (1:07+) recovery
Total - about 42.2 miles
12/26/52-week averages - 41/38/35 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
Good work James. I haven't run on a track for a few years but you can really dial into a steady pace on that surface.
I'm the same with lockdown. It doesn't effect my normal social life ( non existent) and running gives me the sanity outlet. I've also been biking and doing body Balance alot so possibly fitter in other areas now. Also 100 pressups a day for last 2 weeks. I can now do 50 followed 1 minute later by 25 then another minute later another 25.
Flavio that 190lb muscle man Nick Bare YouTube guy did another 1 mile time trial and ran 4.50. I was pretty impressed as he only managed 5.15ish a couple weeks ago.
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 "
Oh and here's my injury interrupted week
3 weeks now since I injured my calf. I was able to run Saturday and Sunday pain free so maybe some progress.
I have developed some sort of a bruised pain on the outside middle of my right foot. Not sure why ?
3 months til Masters
PiwI- I kept looking at your paces and being dumbfounded...then i realized you were biking. *facepalm*
2023 Goals
Marathon Sub 2:37 (CIM) 2:41:18
10k Sub 35:00 (Victory 10k 34:19)
5k Sub 16:00 (Hot Dash 5k in March (16:48), Brian Kraft in May (16:20), Twilight 5000 in July and August (16:20/16:25 Both heat index 102-103F)
Sub 1:16 Half Marathon City of Lakes Half Marathon 1:15:47)
Sub 56:30 in 10 mile (Twin Cities 10 mile, Canceled due to weather, 56:35 as a workout)
2024 Goals
Sub 2:37 Marathon
Sub 1:15 Half
Sub 34 10k
Sub 16 5k
Guy clearly is one of the most talented people on the boards here and don’t want him to get a bad time for his potential just based on the awkward lockdown situation he’s in. I think he gets that though based on his latest post. It’s 2:3X or bust for him. He’s been running a ton of mileage recently and clearly is locked in for a great race if it goes through.
I'm genuinely quite humbled by this JMac, thanks. I still see myself as a bit of an outsider on the racing scene here in NZ even though random runners whose names I know are starting to follow me on Strava (and even though I know that 10,000m time off no specific prep or taper 2 months ago was a sign of what the increased mileage is doing). Your improvement over the marathon distance has been phenomenal and if I could even emulate part of that I would be stoked.
For the record, if I was really struggling in the marathon and having a crap race, I think I'd pull the pin early in order to potentially have another crack. The whole aim of this year was to throw down a decent marathon time - if DNF'ing means giving myself another shot at that, I definitely would.
James, Piwi - nice weeks.
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: Runway5 / National 5k Champs, 16:22, National Masters AG Champ!
Up next: Still working on that...
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
My week was an all time record for weekly mileage for me (by around 200m haha). The Wed and Fri workouts were fun, although I did find my legs were pretty slow (but surprisingly strong) for Sunday's long run.
It's an interesting topic about DNF-ing at some point of a "bad" marathon. When exactly to wise to DNF? I think, until you are on track with your goal time, you shouldn't DNF. I had races where I barely was keeping with the goal pace by mile 14-16 and still PR-ed, though I felt pretty bad at mile 10-11 (where I am not supposed to feel too bad). The only way to DNF "wisely", I think, is when you start getting behind your goal pace early in the race - your HR is pretty high but whatever you do you just cannot get to the right pace. I do not see any other reason to DNF - any other reason would be just lame, imho, you can;'t count on feeling great during the whole race, it's too long and you will have quite a few points where you can say - "oh yeah, it's just too tough today". And it's going to be tough - very rare we have those dream races where everything just goes your way.
Mother of Cats
FWIW, I had a bad patch really early on in my marathon PR - like in the first 5 miles.
For me personally, unless you're shooting for an OTQ or similar, where you have a limited window to hit a specific time, I think it's a very bad idea to drop out of a race because it's not going well, even if it's a marathon. It just creates the idea that finishing a race is optional - not good.
(my personal theory is that it's important to go into a race with as much mental energy as possible, and that means minimizing the decisions that need to be made on race day. If you have it in your mind that finishing a race is optional, then that's one more decision you're continually making during the race, and it has a cost in terms of focus).
However, I see nothing wrong with dropping out for injury or other health reasons (i.e. hypothermia, heat exhaustion). I do think that the earlier you drop out due to injury, the better - there's far less emotional toll from dropping out at 5 than dropping out at 20.
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.
DP haha sorry yes some lame biking by me. I'm chomping at the bit to run but can't do much right now.
I know a few good runners who make a habit of not finishing marathons.
I think they go in with high expectations and if they fall off pace then pull out. I guess then they stay fresh enough to try another a few weeks later but I think it can become a bad habit.
On the other side are all the runners who are happy to soak up the whole experience and finish even if we dont hit the time we were hoping for. The problem is the faster you get, and the more pressure you put on yourself, the more likely you will become one of those DNFers
I'm really against Mark doing a DNF unless a significant injury.
Let's say he's aiming for 3:45 per km pace, which is a 2:38 full.
First 20km are good, at pace, in 1:15. Then he starts slowing slightly, so now it's now 3:54 per km for then next 10km . So at the 30km mark he's through in 1:54.
Then he slows some more and is gong 4:00 per km for the next 5km. So 2:14 at the 35km. Then the wheels start falling off with 4:30 per km for the last 7.2km takes 32:24. That gives him a 2:47 (lets add 36s for having to run slightly more than 42.2km) race which is still big a PR, even if not what he hoped.
Sure, he could have pulled out at 30km when he realized he wasn't going to hit aim time, but there's very little point.
Let's say he pulled out, there still the issue regarding five weeks later:
- The weather could terrible with heavy rain and wind, and the conditions cost 20 minutes.
- The weather could be even worse and the race is cancelled.
- Unlikely in New Zealand right now, but an unexpected Covid-19 outbreak stops the race from happening.
- He could also not have the day he was hoping for and ends up doing 2:47 anyhow
Also there's people who are naturally worse at the marathon than other distances. So just assuming it's a bad day, and it will be better next time might now work.
I've only ran two marathons, and each was hard enough that if I had an option of pulling out around 30km, I could well have. Mu first marathon (3:09) which I had a good build up for, was really cold and I had numb feet for the first 20km or so. This probably caused more foot damage than otherwise, the last 10km was really painful, each stride hurt my foot. I so could have easily given up that day.
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
@piwi. It 100% the smart thing to do given the injury and recovery...I was just thinking why is he out there hammering....
You were thinking that Piwi just blitzed the 15km world record
I don't know k times well, I just saw there were pretty fast compared to my 6x1k workout. Didn't fully do the math. It was about 90 seconds of processing til I noticed my error.
Good week James. Just did our taxes and it took a long time to determine the standard deduction was best. Good luck doing estate taxes. I used to clerk for a pro ate lawyer and have had to work on some. Ugh.