Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2020
Hot Weather Complainer
Steve - hmm, that's a weird one. The high HR is more likely to suggest dehydration or illness than fatigue (where you'd generally just feel crap). Or your HRM was off - that happens too. Still - it's just one botched workout, we all have those, don't forget to put it in context!
I think the heart rate data is accurate given that I felt near death...I think dehydration is the most likely cause. No more booze on Friday nights! I slipped back into it during lock down, the weeks are so long it's nice to have a Friday afternoon beer but not if that's the cost.
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 1:27:34
Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
Steve you had the really good workout so focus on that. How much beer are we talking on friday ? I dont consider my self a big drinker with nearly 2 x 330ml bottles each night but maybe I'm in denial.
Darkwave that sucks. Seems like we have a few injuries on here. We have 3 cats who are my best mates after I've been fishing as they get lots of off cuts of fresh fish.
Mark you could set your wife up on course with a drink if needed at Taupo.
Re the marathon DNF. If you had a long history in the marathon with high expectations then I could see it been a possibility but with your experience in the marathon you should go in with a mindset of any improvement been good. You never know when you cannot run another one due to health, motivation etc so any PB is good.
Watson what's frustrating about my injury is I dont feel it at all but it will get a little sore during some runs. I think I have a grade 2 calf injury which will be a 4 week plus fix
DP awesome mileage. Cals week is amazing. He has always had an ability to run lots of slow miles on the same route. Mentally tough and that's why he excels at the marathon.
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 "
I had 2 beers and 2 bourbons over about 5 hours so felt nothing when I woke up, but it could have caused some dehydration. 2 beers each night doesn't qualify as big drinking in my opinion.
RIP Milkman
Steve I remember the worst run I’ve ever had that was relatively short. It was in July out at a beach rental with some friends. I drank way too much wine, didn’t wake up til 10 am, barely had water, and went out the door because I was only going for 8 miles so figured should be fine. Well, it was 25C with 100% humidity and the sun was out full force by noon. It was an out and back with no water on the way, and after only 4 miles at the turnaround, I really wondered whether I could make it back. I stopped for a good 10 minutes and literally went to a marina to look for a hose to drink out of. I’ve never bombed such a short run again in my life, but it does show that going into runs severely dehydrated can really mess you up.
DNF - looks like I’ve been outvoted about 100 to 1, so yeah Mark, finish the race
I’m on a (former) Piwi rollercoaster right now, some days the motivation is there, others I’m really enjoying not running and having that burden. During quarantine with no races occurring all summer, I’m going to just stick with running when I feel like it.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Cal- Is the running of almost the same route daily a function of the places open to run, or just a preference?
DPS - I seriously just don't have any imagination and just an idea of something different makes me feel uncomfortable. So, I feel absolutely in control when I run the same route most of the times (and I run it for 7 years by now ). Your mileage is almost the same as mine but your pace is just out of my league - though I am trying to have an excuse that you are 20 years younger than me
paces PRs - 5K - 5:48 / 10K - 6:05 / HM - 6:14 / FM - 6:26 per mile
3 months til Masters
Age certainly is a factor. I figure I got 5-6 years left of hard running before I can't pull any PRs. I'm going 80's this marathon cycle, high 80s low 90s next cycle and then 95-105 likely next cycle. If I can't go sub 2:37:00 after that, then I'll wrap up some road PRs and go into stay fit mode. If I am close or go under, I'll grind a few years and see what I can do. I'll be 36 late june, so my window is closing. I know I won't beat my track times but going sub 16 on the road is not unreasonable for 5k and similar times up the distance list.
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
For a half marathon in Taupo in August, not having water stops is no big deal. For a marathon, I would have to organise someone to have a drink and food bespoke stop for me.
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
I’m really enjoying not running and having that burden.
Do you mean Bourbon or burden
Big news in my cycling career. I got 12th/700 on a segment today with a hardout effort on my daughters school bike with buckled wheel and dodgy breaks.
DW sorry to hear about the ankle that sucks... hope it's nothing serious.
PR's
1m 5:38 (2018)
5k 19:59 (2019)
HM 1:33:56 (2018)
FM 3:23:07 (2018)
Wow a lot happened, I think I missed some but Flavio you have my condolances on the allergies. I've had allergies all my life and the testing is hilarious (to me). For some reason they always test once every 5 years or so, look at my arm and go hmm you're allergic to everything... except that spot right there, consult the chart and it's dogs. Regardless I'd regularly lose weeks at a time to sinus infections (confirmed sinusitus) until 2018 when I had a surgery to widen my sinuses. I have no idea why but all of a sudden when I take my meds it's like they actually work instead of taking thing from miserable to slightly less miserable. That said the recovery was a nightmare. Good luck with your allergies and I'm a big fan of drugs when it comes to allergies, breathing well is seriously important.
Mark good week
CFarr, that's a great week! Looks like you're rolling. Such long singles too.
DPS can you still call it a comeback?
Steve -- that's how workouts go, some are great, some just aren't.
DarkWave - you do so much supplementary work, great dedication. I hope the ankles ok. Your comment about a bad ankle reminds me of something from Jay Dicharry's book Anatomy for Runners where he says (paraphrased) the #1 predictor of an ankle issue is an ankle issue. I too have one particular ankle that always rolls and the other one is perfect. The Sunday progression is great.
Piwi - I mussed have missed the calf test on the 9th. Great news!
1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)
My week started out nicely and busted. The goal was to take a lower volume week while maintaining my schedule, and run a time trial at the end of it.
The start of the week was nice, the end wasn't.
Cobra Commander Keen
For some reason it always surprises me how busy this place gets over the weekend!
James - Good week. Any idea what caused/causes the knee pain?
Piwi - Good week as well. Bruise on the foot sounds weird! You didn't kick something while sleepwalking, did you?
Mark - Nice week, and a mileage PR is a mileage PR! Seems a little bonkers about Taupo, particularly for the full. For a winter half it would certainly be doable to bring a small soft flask to tuck in the waistband of your shorts when it's through, but for people running the full it would suck needing to stop to fill a cup you carry with you or have to carry all your water along. The only races around here that I've ever heard of going cupless are ultras, and it's far more common to stop at those aid stations anyway, regardless if someone is filling up a collapsible cup they have or a hydration vest.
Watson - Glad to hear your hamstring is improving, and you're putting in some consistent work.
DPS - Killer week, as per usual.
Steve - One off workout/run shouldn't mean anything - those happen to everyone. Just keep stacking up the progress like you have been and you'll snag that good PR.
DWave - I hate to hear about the ankle, but great week otherwise. How's that injury doing today?
Zebano - Your sinus issues sound like mine. I've been meaning to get mine checked out for years, but just haven't really gotten around to it yet. I'm sure doing *something* about it would really help. Aside from "a nightmare", exactly how was the recovery from that procedure?
My legs are feeling heavier than they should, so I'm planning a bit of a cutback week. My shoes are also showing their age (~560 miles), so I'll probably replace those for tomorrow and see how that helps as well. I picked up a couple pair of Escalante 2s on sale last week , and I'm not sure if I'd rather try those out or stick with a pair of Escalante 1.5s. I've heard that the v2s were a bit of a step back, but supply of the v1 & v1.5s seems to be drying up so before long I'll have to either switch to the 2s or change models altogether.
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
Mother of Cats
I just turned 46 this weekend. That's one thing that bugs me a bit about this pandemic (in a very small, shallow way). If it does take a year or two for races to start up again (which I don't expect), my window of fast running may be closed. But if that's the case, I guess I can live with my lifetime PRs. Just wish I had broken 2:55 for the full.
FWIW, when I was 36 my PRs were 19:45 for 5K, 40:53 for 10K, 68:02 for 10 miles, and 1:32:17 for the half (no marathon). In the past 10 years, I've knocked a minute off of the 5K, 2 minutes off of the 10K, 5:30 off of the 10 miler, and 8 minutes off of the half. So...your window may be longer than you anticipate.
Zebano - hope the hammie clears soon. Yup - that's been my experience with bad ankles. I think a lot of it is that damage to the ligaments never heals perfectly, and permanently interferes with your proprioception, which makes you more prone to stuff like rolling the ankle.
CK - 560 miles is a solid performance for a pair of shoes - that's pretty much the most I ever get out of a pair.
And thanks to all for their thoughts on the ankle. I did a lot of ankle circles last night to keep it mobile, then iced it, and then slept with light compression. Woke up this morning and it was basically normal - just slightly stiff. Went for a 5 mile walk and never noticed it once. So hopefully this was just a momentary blip.
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.
Keen,
Getting the sinuses roto-rootered was the single most unpleasant experience of my life (this says something about how lucky I've been), but the quality of life change as a result has been more than worth it. In short the procedure itself was fine (they put you under) but when you wake up you have huge pieces of packing stuck in your nostrils so everything clots & heals properly, ergo you have to mouth-breath for 3 days. At the same time you have a massive pounding at your temples, the top of your nose and I constantly questioned weather taking Codeine was worth the inevitable vomiting; I spent most of a week in a lazy-boy sleeping when I could. After about 2.5 days things got a little better. After the packing came out it wasn't a big deal though I still had headaches for the next week. I happened to be sidelined from running at the time due to a hamstring injury so I don't know what the recovery would have been but I reintroduced exercise after 2 weeks.
JamesD
Keen - I have lots of knee niggles and usually don't go more than a couple of weeks without one making its presence known. They all seem pretty manageable, though. Feeling knee pain while rolling my hamstrings is a new one. I assume it's the result of not running on my usual path (where I would want to wear a mask these days) but instead taking a route on grass and dirt with lots of dips, roots, and sweetgum balls. Even though I'm learning the hidden dips and ruts in the grassy fields, I still land a little wrong a few times each run, and I assume I tweaked my knee that way.
CalBears - I've run in the same park maybe 90% of the time since returning here in 2013. I've run at least once in this park almost every year since 1977 even though I lived elsewhere for 30 years - got back to see family every year, and ran on almost every visit even when I wasn't running otherwise. It's nice not to have to focus on my foot placement since I know every ridge and curve of the dirt (except these days when I'm not running on the path), and I probably know 30 regulars and several dogs well enough to wave to them.
DPS/DW - I feel you on wanting to set PRs while you're able. My 10K and shorter PRs are probably out of reach since I was decent for a year or two in high school, but I never finished a half until 2014 and have been gradually increasing mileage, so I may still have a couple of years when I can improve that PR. I also pay some attention to age-graded PRs since my three shorter-distance post-1987 PRs all age-grade at 79+% and 80% (allegedly "national class") would be nice, but it's not the same as a real PR.
Bought a pair of Reebok Pantheas yesterday because of good LetsRun reviews and a 40% off Mother's Day sale. They're supposed to be similar to, but slightly better than (pebax foam instead of TPU, and lighter), the Forever Floatride Energy that I've had such good luck with.
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