Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2020
Hot Weather Complainer
You never know who will show up! Looks like there have been some fast runners show up in the past with winning times for the half normally around 1:10-1:12. Quite a fast winning time for the size of the race but you have some quick runners down that way. Hell, depending what's happening then the Robertson twins might even front up!
One person you know for sure will show up: Nathan Jones
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 DNF
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
Mark I think the Robertsons are staying in the high rise at the start/finish line so they might be spectators. I doubt they would race it, maybe tempo run it
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 "
Keen - nice time trial. It’s hard to go all in when running alone, but it’s great to have a recent race to base your training paces on.
Jmac - nice job on the time trial as well.
Watson/Mark - nice job at the races. So cool you guys are racing again. Mark: where’s the race report?
James - as others have said, no difference at all between track and road.
me - Another cool week completed with all the strength training. I seem to have hit some sort of break through in strength. Last year anytime I'd push slightly close to my physical limit, I'd get sick for a week. This no longer seems to be the case. It appears I now have a stronger immune system.
Mother of Cats
65 milesM: Streaming yoga and upper body weights/coreT: 12.5 miles on treadmill, including an alternating hill/tempo workout - two 70 second hills, then 10 minute tempo (6:35 pace), two more hills, waater break, 2 more hills, 10 minute tempo (6:49), two more hills. (took the break in the middle because I overreached on the first tempo segment in very humid conditions). Followed with leg strengthwork and streaming yoga.W: 7 miles very easy outside (9:23), drills and four strides, streaming yoga, 7 miles easy on treadmill (9:14).Th: Upperbody weights/core in morning; streaming yoga in afternoon.F: 12.5 miles on treadmill, including a hill workout of 8 repeats of 2:00 strong on 3.0 incline, 1:30 easy, 0:30 fast, 1:00 easy. Followed with some leg strengthwork and streaming yoga.Sa: 10.5 miles easy outside (9:02), drills, 2 strides, and 2 hill strides, streaming yoga.Su: 14 miles progressive outside, split as first 4 miles averaging 8:57, next 4 averaging 7:40, next 6 averaging 6:50, and then then a 1.5 mile cooldown . Followed with leg strengthwork and streaming yoga.
Shoutouts:
Watson and Marky_Mark - congrats to you both on being able to race, and racing well. I imagine the feel of each race had to be special. Watson - I'm glad the hammy held up. James - Temp/DP of 155 is HARD in my bookPiwikiwi - nice tempo. I'm glad you like the Takumi SensMarky_Mark - sorry about the watch and the lack of warranty.DPS - curious as to why you went for the true miles on the track. I'll confess I always do 1600s and 3200s just for the convenience factor.mrakers - glad you are pain free!
Flavio - how ironic to come out of the pandemic shutdown with a stronger immune system
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
Watson - Nice job, and awesome that you were able to get in an actual race!
Mark - Nice job on the 10,000, too.
James - Congrats on the new weekly mileage high and keeping up the consistency.
Piwi - Good week. How's the calf?
DPS - Sleep has been less than ideal? Sounds like baby prep is going well! Careful posting those low mileage weeks, I might sense that as weakness and start piling on miles to catch you!
Flavio - Awesome about the strength/immune system improvements!
DWave - Solid week again.
Sub-90 as a whole - I do appreciate how this place keeps on track with conversation topics, particularly when contrasted with so many other threads/groups around here.
Cut my Saturday run short by a few (3-4) miles due to family obligations that morning, but hope to get a proper LR in this coming weekend. Also wanting to get in a couple workouts. This morning was probably the last Kiwi Point 135 or lower day that we'll have for quite some time. It seems the remnants of a cold from that came in a while back are really leaving now and low temps keep creeping up. At least it's a gradual increase instead of the sudden jump we got when things first warmed up this spring.
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
?
In strength training news, I'm finally able to do brachiation. I do a more modest version where I swing forward to the next bar, then swing backwards, then swing forward again to the next bar
It's a big break through, on the long way to being able to hang on one arm.
Calisthenics are awesome!
Mrakers, Darkwave and Keen - nice weeks, and consistency.
Flavio - good week. You can record strength work on Strava (I do).
And yes, the stream is the same one as in my avatar. Last Saturday was not as deep as the photo.
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
Flavio we call that MONKEY BARS pretty sure I have a better shot at that than a pistol squat.
Darkwave nice week. When I warmed up in the Takumi Sens at 9 min pace, they looked at me like, seriously, but then at sub 20 5k pace they felt great. So light especially noticeable on the back swing. Quite a firm midsole. I think I could wear them up to a half.
Keen good week you are so consistent which is key to this running thing.
My lower legs are sore after the weekend tempo and longrun but I'm hoping once DOMS clears they will be good. My left achilles seems ok now. I have noticed a little stinging pain sometimes in my left heel when i push on it. Hoping that's not PF which i have yet to experience.
YES!
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"
Darkwave - do you find the yoga beneficial for your running? It's been on my 'to try' list for a long time and I've never gotten around to it.
Flavio - yus for the monkey bars.
Piwi - the Robertson's would probably run it as a tempo at like 3:00/km pace lol. If I was the race director I'd be chasing them down and trying hard to get them there. How cool would it be to have our two fastest ever marathoners running a local race?!
Keen - nice week, we're the opposite here at the moment, starting to get into the proper winter weather (which is not that wintery by your standards!). I personally love it but others are a bit mixed.
This morning was probably the last Kiwi Point 135 or lower day that we'll have for quite some time. It seems the remnants of a cold from that came in a while back are really leaving now and low temps keep creeping up. At least it's a gradual increase instead of the sudden jump we got when things first warmed up this spring.
I find the slow rise to a boil so much easier than just getting dropped into it, so to speak.
Marky_Mark: I find yoga very beneficial, as long as you give some thought as to what type of classes you do and how you execute them. I.e. on my recovery days I opt for gentle yoga classes instead of power yoga. And I approach yoga as a "body strength and mobility" session, rather than trying to get as flexible as possible -- IMHO too much flexibility is bad for runners.
I also have no shame about opting out of poses if I think they are too risky (i.e. some of those crazy leg behind head poses) or if I have a hard workout the next morning (no holding chair pose forever if I've got track the next day).
I really need to find a set of monkey bars now. A gym I used to go to had hanging rings that I used to do pull-ups on everyone once in a while - kinda fun to swing.
Logging strength - I track it in my running ahead log, but not in Strava. I just don't get the point in Strava, since I can't list out all my exercises easily. I like the Running Ahead format much better.
Essentially Running Ahead is my full and complete training log: Strava is so my friends can see where I run, plus a few other things.
Great races Mark and watson, and good to see some great weeks from James, mrakers and a resurgent piwi and flavio. Everyone else looks to be ticking over nicely too - I don't envy some of the Kiwi Points you are dealing with.
I've had a quiet 2 weeks post-race, getting in some easy kms and taking the day off when required. I think I've survived the danger period but I'm always mindful in the month after a race to listen carefully to my body.
I had my first formal session with my running coach in Melbourne last night. I started working with him in 2014 and culminated with my PB race in 2016. He did some background on my training block and is pretty happy with the consistency and will write up plans for my training for the race in 7 weeks. He's removing the Vo2 Max component which he sees as good general training but for a half-marathon we will focus on more race specific training at race pace and slightly above with only 2 sessions per week - a Wednesday workout and a workout at the end of my long run on Saturday.
Always good to have a reset and I'm feeling quite positive building towards the South Island half. We will spend considerable time on race strategy too which I think is where I can make the biggest improvements.
RIP Milkman
Really love the excitement that is going on in this thread right now.
Mark - amazing work out there. It's amazing to me how many track 10Ks you've run, they're so unpopular here in the states. I also agree with Steve - I need a Nathan Jones race report ASAP
Flavio - are you still wearing a mask when you're around other people? That may be limiting you getting sick after hard efforts.
Piwi - I know you don't really race anymore, but given you're the only country in the world that's living completely normal, you have to take advantage of it. One of those realize how lucky you are and take advantage! Glad you're even thinking about a race.
Me - went for a 10K time trial this Sunday. We got some unseasonably cool weather, so I really wanted to take advantage of it. As I have alluded to, my training has been complete shit over the past 2 months. My weeks have bounced around in mileage, workouts, etc. It's been a terrible block. But I still wanted to get some rust out.
I traveled again 1.5 hours to find this trail where I ran my half marathon. I saw it was the same course measurer as my half, so I knew she was going to do a good job. Not surprisingly, the course drawings were amazing and she did a great job marking the trail with paint, nails, and washers.
I went in knowing I had to be putting up 5:30ish miles in order to PR. Mile 1 was good, but usually mile 2 for me in almost every single race (except marathons) is when I know if it's going to be a great race or not. Usually at that point, I have to work a little bit to not go too fast. When that mile came in at 5:35, I knew it was going to be a ton of work to get a PR. When mile 3 came in at 5:38, I knew it was over. However, I refused to just give up at that point, partially because I announced here I would probably try a TT and I wanted to come back with a good time. It's one of the great things about these boards if you use it right: extra motivation.
I did some quick math and figured I needed to come in at mile 5 with a total time of around 28:15 in order to break 35, which was my B goal. I came in around 28:19 or so after slightly slowing down each mile, but I felt like I could just try to still get that sub 35. Ireally tried to get going, but my legs were just not there. When I saw the finish line and looked at my watch, I was at 34:50, and thought I could sprint it in. Gave it my all, but came in at 35:03.
Here were my takeaways from the TT:
1) Love the trail and will be back, even though it takes 3 hour round trip, at least until races return
2) My cycle was shit, yet I still ran a pretty good time. I actually find that very motivating. If I went out and ran a 36:00, or even worse, shut it down, I think I may have been completely demotivated. Additionally, I may have been satisfied with a PR, and not gotten back to serious work. This was the perfect time: I'm ready to try it again if we get a good weather day
3) Running that TT made me realize how much I miss racing. I don't know when that day will come again in the US. I don't think racing makes me that much faster, but it does make it a lot more fun.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Flavio - I wasn't planning on doing a RR (it was pretty low-key, and not a PB) but I've added a few comments below.
Steve - interested to see how things go with your coach.
Owairaka 'World Champs 10,000m', 13 June 2020
This was a pretty low key event organised by a number of runners from the Owairaka club, at the Lovelock track in Mt. Roskill. I was excited about an evening winter run under lights, as I used to love Saturday night games under lights back when I was a hockey player. I'm not targeting anything for this race other than a really solid tempo effort - I've not tapered or done any specific prep. Conditions are fairly good but there's some wind around the SE corner of the track, so I figure sub-33 would be a reasonable goal.
I'm first off the line along with a young guy, Sam Waldin (who has a recent 5k time of 15:09). We work together over the first 3 laps, hitting a good rhythm at around 78 seconds/lap. Around lap 4, I hear two guys put in an effort to catch us - it's Nick Moore and Dan Donegan (a clubmate of mine). Nick takes up the mantle for a few laps and his pacing is all over the place - an 80, then a 76, then an 80, then a 78. It might not sound like a lot but it certainly feels like a really variable rhythm (and I heard Dan or Sam complain about the pacing too!). Nick later explained this is how Bekele runs. I take over and we get back to a nice steady rhythm around 78 from around lap 8. Nick and Dan dropped off around this point so it was just me and Sam.
I know from previous 10,000m races that when I hit a rhythm, it doesn't matter what other runners are doing. So I just keep out in front, nice and steady around that 78 second mark. Sam is getting a free tow but I am happy doing my own thing. I figure if he wants to have a crack, he can do that. The wind has got up around the SE corner so that makes for a slightly miserable 10-15 seconds each lap, enough to be a bit unpleasant, not enough to be a big issue.
With 3 laps to go Sam offers to take a lap. I figure he is just going to go for it. Sure enough with 2 laps to go he kicks up a gear. I toss up trying to go with him but I decide it's not worth the risk. First race of sorts in 3 months, the goal was just to hit a really good tempo effort, I can do that by maintaining my rhythm and not killing myself. The last 3 laps still came out pretty quick at 77, 77, and finally 75 as I put in a bit of extra effort down the final straight (Sam had probably 50m on me by the finish so there was no way I was catching him!). I stop my watch at 32:57, pretty good effort considering that was my 10,000m PB 6 months ago.
I didn't feel like I quite went to some of the deep, dark places I went in previous 10,000m races - probably reflective of what was a 98% effort rather than 100%. There was a sense of just getting through the work and the windy spots weren't fun, but this was a chance to bust some race rust rather than a goal race and so I didn't want to over-exert.
. If I went out and ran a 36:00, or even worse, shut it down, I think I may have been completely demotivated.
This makes most of this thread feel slow
Good job on that TT jmac especially with your patchy training over the last 2 months. Was that a paved trail ? I thought I saw asphalt on Strava.
I have booked in a 10k and will do a Parkrun later in July.
Mark good race report. Great to hear you didn't go to the well and still ran under 33 mins.