Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2020
3 months til Masters
Hey all-
Just popping in while the rest of the family is sleeping. Looks like people are still grinding miles. Happy to see some race talk here and there. Hopefully we will all get a chance for at least 1 race this year. Everyone is doing well here. I'm back at work but can work 50% from home. Still subsisting on 5 hours of sleep a night, which means runs are hard regardless of if I'm trying to run them hard or not. But I'm able to get naps about 3 days a week for about 3 hours, so that helps a lot. Weather is getting pretty bad here heat wise, but if I get out the door early, i'm doing well.
Anyway. Keep plugging away. I'm reading the posts again, just not typing a lot since I'm generally doing it from my phone.
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
James - nice week
Piwi- great to see Parkrun back on again!
DPS - ah, it really is survival mode with a newborn in those first few weeks. Hope everyone is doing well.
Me - reasonable week. My new osteo seems to have made massive progress on the R hip niggle that's been bugging me since around May last year. However, I'm now getting a bit of soreness in my R post-tib tendon, but have strapped it the last couple days which seems to have helped a lot. I guess that's just the inevitability of maintaining high volume - you fix one niggle and another comes along soon enough. Best session was Saturday's 10x400 with 1 minute recoveries. A real tough one with that many repeats but managed to keep the pace pretty consistent right until the end.
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"
Mark - really nice week, especially the 400s.
Piwi and James - nice weeks.
Dps - take it easy. Five hours sleep is not enough.
My week was pretty good, ended up skipping Wednesday due to heavy rain with cold wind. Saturday was a real struggle for the last 6km (terrible pacing). Thursday took a bit out of me, and I also did yard work Saturday, so it felt much longer than 90 minutes.
I'm also booked to do the half marathon at Rotorua. It's mainly trail and quite hilly, so it's not a quick course.
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
DP I dont remember the years when my kids were young and sleep was so bad. I think my body has erased that memory. I know it was hardcore. I wasn't a runner then thankfully.
Watson nice work. Maybe I need to come to Rotorua for a catchup with you guys.
Mark nice week. It seems strange to hear you have a niggle but comforting to know you are human . Hope you get on top of 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 "
Intl. correspondent
Mark is gonna live to 150 years by the looks of it...
James - props to DW and DS for giving such a good gift to you.
Steady and consistent is the way. You’re doing great.
Piwi - You must win that park run, no pressure
DPS - good luck with the new baby and may them live a long and prosperous life!
me - I keep slowly increasing the weekly mileage and making my way back. Paces are getting a bit faster for the same heart rate zone so good news I guess.
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
well done all around. Looks like training is never stopped and now a few races are coming back
after the forced stop in April and the follow up for a few weeks, I managed 6 week over 40 miles recovering welll and building up to 50. I will try to get one or two workouts (HM pace and repeated on 600-1200) from next week. hope everybody is having a good weekend
Marco
PRs since re-started in 2013:
5km: 19:43 (Belfast park run Sep-16) | 10km: 40:16 (Belfast Lagan side 10K Sep-18)
HM: 1:30:09 (Belfast city Half Marathon, September-18) | FM: 3:25:05 (official chip time Belfast city Marathon, May-19, marathon was 0.3/4 longer, original time 3:27:20 for 26.5/6...)
Upcoming races:
???
Watson - nice week building back up. That would be your biggest since you got back into it after your injury, right? We will have to catch up at Rotorua. The half course looks like really nice running through the redwoods but probably a pretty slow course like you say.
Piwi / Flavio - I have had niggles from time to time like most of us, I'm just lucky that I've generally been able to manage them and they've not become anything more serious. My osteo gets a lot of the credit for that.
Flavio - good to see you are building back into it.
Marco - nice to see you around!
Marco - that's a solid block. Hopefully you can add in some workouts and really get into good shape.
Flavio - way to keep the comeback under control.
Watson - nice week, I love the CV work. I hope you get the same benefits from those workouts that I got.
Mark good week as always. Was the 10x400 with short recovery a VO2 session? I've heard you can do VO2 that way but never successfully pulled it off.
DPS - hang in there, kids are a lot of work. they will eventually start sleeping more regularily.
Piwi - that 5k progression is stellar.
James - good week and thanks for the book recommendation. I've liked a lot of Fitzgerald's work so I'll probably pick that up. Have you read Endure?
My week was just listening to the body and slowly building back. If you can't tell from the paces my quads are still sore & it's really stupidly hot and humid.
Run - 40mi
Bike 30 mi
Swim - 1 mi
Next week I can hopefully run 40-50 miles again with some xtraining and I'll try to do a mini tempo. Maybe cruise intervals but 1200m in length instead of a full mile (I'm not setting any goals on reps, the goal is to ease back into workouts, not to really move the needle). The legs are close to being ready, and the weather is nasty.
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
60.5 milesM: Upper body weights/core and streaming yogaT: 12 miles outside, including a track workout of 2x1200m, 3x800m at hard aerobic effort, and then 4x200m at mile effort. Splits were 4:36, 4:36, 3:06, 3:04, 3:01 and then 41, 41, 40, and 41. Just under 3 minutes recovery for the 1200s, 2:40-ish recovery for the 800s, full recovery for the 200s. Followed with leg strengthwork and streaming yoga.W: 8 miles very easy outside (9:26), streaming yoga, 4 miles very easy on treadmill (8:56), plus drills and four strides.Th: Upperbody weights/core in morning; streaming yoga in afternoon.F: 12 miles outside, including a track workout 2x3200m at tempo effort, and then 4x200m at mile effort. Splits were 13:09 (6:35/6:34), 13:05 (6:37/6:28) and then 42, 41, 41, 41. 5 minute recovery between the tempo segments; full recovery for the 200m repeats. Followed with some leg strengthwork and streaming yoga.Sa: 10 miles easy outside (9:26) then drills and four hill strides plus streaming yoga.Su: 12 miles progressive, split as first three miles averaging 9:22, next four averaging 7:49, next five averaging 7:08. Followed with a 2.5 mile cooldown, leg strengthwork, and streaming yoga.
Just kinda puttering along and easing my way back into track workouts, though it will be a few weeks at least before my running team starts training again.
JamesD - good news on the possibility of racing. What is your goal for the half? (too early?)Piwi - I think race adrenaline will help. And yes, good progress!DPS - glad you checked in - I hope you can get more sleep at some point.Marky_Mark - I always feel that niggles are like "whack-a-mole" - you treat one and another comes up. I hope this one stays manageable. With regard to the 10x400m workout, what were the paces/effort levels for the 400s?Watson - one of the best things about this thread is getting weather reports so completely different from what I experience locally. Flavio - good progress!Marco - good to see you on the comeback trail.
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.
Hot Weather Complainer
Hagley Park run is reasonably deep - a win will require breaking 16 minutes usually. But with piwi's recent form, I also want an AG win minimum. First place in the 50-54 AG this past weekend was 18:57 - he will cruise to a win!
I've been keeping up to date with the thread but have been a bit absent with my minor hamstring niggle. I've felt a bit sore and weak in the quads and every run I'm getting sharp pains in the calves but nothing that turns into something more serious. Saturday was the best I've felt in a while and I have another session with the running coach tomorrow, so I expect he will slowly ease me back into workouts from Wednesday. I have 4 weeks until race day and I think if I get 5-6 good workouts in that time, with the large base I've got I should still be able to perform. That's all dependent on my legs coming right now though. I've managed my way through this so far with lots of foam rolling, calf rolling with The Stick, icing and strapping. Much more disciplined than usual so I hope it gets me over this wall I seem to have run into.
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
Mark-I know all about the niggle move around. We are heading in very opposite directions as you are approaching the worst of winter and the heat is just destroying us in the states.
Watson-Excited for half marathon talk. Hoping to see some real races yet on the thread.
Piwi-Glad to see you are out running and adding miles. Hopefully everything can keep going in a good direction with both COVID and training of all of you on the islands.
Marco-Glad to see you rejoining us in the 2 foot shuffle.
Z-Going to have to do super early runs cause the heat is horrible here too.
Dark-Long sleeve running in heat and car training. 2020 is a wild wild world.
Steve-Very jealous that you know you have race coming up with certainty .
My last few weeks including the marathon. Like I said it was a box to check on little sleep to justify all the running I have done since last fall. Started to feel it at mile 22. Picked it up a bit, but couldn't grind the last few miles mentally even though the legs were there. I just couldn't mentally take myself to a place to really make my self hurt in a virtual race.
JamesD
JamesD - good news on the possibility of racing. What is your goal for the half? (too early?)
Well, my goal for the last couple of years has been to break 1:30, and I've progressed from "if everything goes well, I might have a shot," to "if everything goes well, I think I should be able to," to "unless something goes wrong, I should be able to," without quite having everything come together on race day yet. This year I've boosted my mileage by 20-30%, and the few comparable tempos or workouts I've done have been a bit faster than in previous years, so 1:29 might be a reasonable expectation if the next few months go as hoped. It'll be at least three months until a half, though, and maybe a lot longer, so that's more a guess than a firm goal at the moment.
Zebano - Haven't read Endure, but I read Hutchinson's articles for Outside and earlier for RW, and I have his "Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights." That would be a good question for the board - what running books do you own, or what are your favorites if you have lots? My top 8 are:
Running the Dream - Matt Fitzgerald (see earlier)
Run Faster: How to be Your Own Best Coach - Brad Hudson & Fitzgerald
Build Your Running Body - Pete Magill & Tom Schwartz
Daniels' Running Formula (2nd ed.) - Jack Daniels
Advanced Marathoning - Pete Pfitzinger
Run Strong, Stay Hungry - Jonathan Beverly (of particular interest to those of us who are AARP-eligible)
Good to Go - Christine Aschwanden (recovery)
Once a Runner - John L. Parker (yes, it's melodramatic, but still a fun read)
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
RIP Milkman
Mark - you hit the nail on the head. Higher mileage leads to these constant small fires you're trying to put out. It sounds like you're on top of them though, so I expect sucess. People run into problems when they just say "meh they're niggles" and then a real injury comes up. Also, very true on high mielage. I've had not even the slightest niggle for the past 3 months, but that's because I'm averaging 35 mpw instead of 70.
DPS - taking some inspiration from you. Our first is on the way by the end of the month. No racing this fall will actually be a good thing, no stress for missing runs/workouts here and there, but I really hope we have some good stuff next spring. I think it's 75/25 that big marathons go on in the spring. Regarding the last bit of your marathon, that's not a surprise. I can mentally grind through even a half by myself. Not sure i could a marathon. I like having a person here and there to go after.
Flavio - what's Italy like these days? I've been reading that some locals are very happy with the lack of tourism, especially in places like Venice.
James - you definitely meet the mantra of slow and steady. Have seen you build up that mileage at a snail's pace, which actually is very smart and will lead to sucess. I think sub 1:30 is in the cards this fall.
DW - good week. Did I miss the race you signed up for? Feel like you said you were flying somewhere for one.
Beer mile - anybody watch it? I actually found it fascinating. Cannot believe these guys run sub 5 miles while chugging 4 beers. The girls have a much harder time with the chugging part physically. I don't know that I would ever try it though, seems like a very painful experience.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
10x400 - a couple of you asked about this... basically it was a tough VO2 workout I guess. I did it because my coach told me to haha. The rests were 1 minute, although they ended up being around 200m because that was close enough to a minute and it made it easier for me to keep track of things. The first couple of repeats were not quite full effort but after that it was basically max effort, but bearing in mind I had to get through 10 repeats and ideally not crash and burn by rep 8 - so it was probably closer to mile race pace.
Zebano - hope you're surviving the humidity OK.
Darkwave - yeah, injury whack-a-mole is exactly the way I'd describe it! Nice effort on the double track workouts. I love my track session but mentally I would find it hard to get myself up for 2 track sessions in a week.
JMac - yeah fingers crossed I can stay in front of it. The mileage I'm at right now, I've sustained for 6-8 week periods before goal HM's previously, but it's basically been 6 months at the current level now because I just kept it rolling after my original goal marathon got cancelled. I'm averaging 92km / 57 miles per week this year with a standard deviation of 10%.
Also, hope you and your wife are all set for the baby. It's such an exciting time. It can be hard work at times but looking back now, it went so damn fast! Before you know it they're three and bossing you around like they own the place.
Mark before you know it they are 22 and your best mate
You didn't say standard deviation did you ? I get lost when you guys talk math