Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2020 (Read 618 times)

Darkwave - I’ll pass along what was said to me last year when I joined the first running club.

The coaches swore by this and said they’ve been to Kenya and they thought the same over there.

Anyway, they said when it comes to running form all you can do is strength training to correct possible imbalances, improve core strength in general.

You should never ever think of form cues or try to consciously alter your form.

The reasoning was that we’re all biomechanically different and the body knows what to do if we let it.

Thanks for the thoughts - they are worth considering, and I agree with most of them.

In this case, we're not correcting my natural gait, but rather a compensation pattern that I've developed due to the nerve issues.  Basically unlearning and getting back to my norm.  I'm doing additional strength training to address, but also need to put that strength training into action, if that makes sense.

 

Yeah, that's definitely worth keeping an eye on.  With my long runs, my legs are generally starting to feel tired by the end (a bit tired if it's 25km, very tired if it's 35km!) but the HR only creeps up very gradually over the course of the run either way.

I second Marky_mark's (and your coach's) observations.  I think it's normal to have a shit run now and then.  But 5 weeks in a row of lousy long runs is indicative of something.  And anytme you have to dig really deep to finish something other than a race, there's room for concern, I think.

re: training in groups.  I have the opposite experience from a lot of you, in that I regularly meet up with a large group of 30+ (when not in quarantine).  If you can believe it, there are sometimes well over 100 people on the local track on Tuesday mornings, between several different training groups meeting plus individuals.

Obviously, all group training has come to a halt.  We're actually restarting team long runs this weekend, though I suspect attendance will be spotty (and I won't be there).  Essentially all the good running routes are either inaccessible due to covid 19 closures, concerning because of protest/security issues, or crowded because there are so few options.  Tracks are opening up too in my immediate area, though organized group training is not allowed on the track yet.

Also, for anyone who is wondering whatever happened to the mandatory mask issue in my area...last Tuesday our governor did issue a mandatory mask order for public spaces.  But....he explicitly called out exercise as excluded from the mask requirement.

Most of the hostility against those running without masks seems to have died down, though it may be because everyone's focused on the protests and the response to the protests.

Ah, some more crap news for the Covid-related pile.  My osteopath is closing the doors.  She'd treated me since my knee injury in 2013, through to going on maternity leave almost 18 months ago - then I started seeing one of her colleagues who has also just gone on maternity leave herself.  Anyway she'd been trying to negotiate a sale of the business but that's fallen through due to Covid so she's had to close the doors as she can't find staff.

It's not an understatement to say that they have made a massive contribution to my running in terms of health and injury prevention, it'll be a challenge to find another provider who is nearly as good as they were as the standard of osteopaths can be pretty variable.  I'm really disappointed for her too as she had built the business up from scratch into a really busy practice (it was near impossible to get an appointment at less than 2 weeks notice).

Mark - I agree with DW on her questions/comments

Steve - I agree that long runs for a half should not be a slog. Every one of my marathon long runs are awful at the end, but that's generally because they're 21+ miles and I'm usually working down to MP+10%. If you're just going out for a long run at easy pace, and it's 2 hours or less, you should not finish them feeling terrible every time. So coach may be on to something. I'd also say Vo2 max isn't that important for halfs. You should definitely be focusing on threshold work though, which it sounds like you will. Overall, could be a good plan!

I'm trying to decide if I want to run a TT next weekend. On one hand, all of my workouts have been terrible, so I don't think I'm in PR shape, On the other hand, it's starting to warm up considerably, and my window for good weather might be closing. I haven't run a single successful Vo2 max workout in 4 weeks, so there's no way I'm going to try a 5K. However, my threshold work has been pretty good, so I might try for a 10K TT? I guess I can then continue with the Vo2 max work after that TT and hopefully try out a 5K soon.

 

DW - It's baffling to me to think there aren't any good running routes because there are too many people. That's what I get for living in a small city in flyover country.

Yup, we're all in different circumstances.  To be clear, in normal times, though it can be busy, the only times I've encountered a location too crowded to run is around Cherry Blossom time, when the tourists pack the area by the tidal basin.

But now, with social distancing being a thing, I look for a little more space when I run.  It's not currently acceptable to just weave through and past people the way I used to.  So...a situation with a certain concentration of runners/walkers/cyclists that would have been OK 4 months ago is not OK now.

Then add to that the facts that a) more and more people are out on the trails for a variety of reasons (mostly nothing better to do) and b) the # of open areas to run/walk/bike has been reduced, and you've got a real congestion issue.

Mark maybe she could start up working from home ?

My physio does. She is very busy. She would have to cut client numbers back to what she can handle.

Now that Strava removed the log I will rely on the RA one more. I haven't been categorizing my runs into workouts etc so better start doing that

I'm missing been able to run fast every so often as I keep all my runs easy until I know my calf is 100 %.

Facebook just sent me a memory of my PR 10k which was in 2012 ! Damn that's a while ago now

Oleg you cant view your own training log or view segment leaderboards  apart from the top 10 if you are on the free version

 

Hopefully that was a neutral enough statement that trigger happy Trent won't come storming in here saying I hate all grandmas and wish death upon them with that statement 

Great comment - I'm so over seeing anyone who thinks we shouldn't be cowering in fear in our homes or showing concern about the economy (which clearly impacts health) being accused of wishing death on old people.  Seems a lot of people are easily brainwashed.