Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2020
Hot Weather Complainer
Steve - for temperatures for a half, I think you're right that 50s is perfect for a half. It does depend on sun and other factors, but that would be a great race day if it comes to fruition. If I've been training through the winter, 60s for a race is too warm. 70s is death. Your race is definitely happening?
Yep, the race is on barring a catastrophic change in the next 3 days.
You've summed it up nicely - my worry is an unseasonably warm early spring morning after training through winter. At the moment it looks okay, but the NW wind often leads to a sudden jump in temperature. Thankfully it should still take a while to warm up given that it is still early spring. For now I guess I'm better off worrying about what I can control. I'll go even more conservative if the weather doesn't come to the party.
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
Selwyn Marathon June 2, 2024
Dunedin Half Marathon September 15, 2024
RIP Milkman
It's usually less of an issue for halfs, but this is why I hate spring marathons. Like this Saturday: it should be very low humidity and mid 60s for my time trial, which is going to feel AMAZING. after a summer of training in what turned out to be a top 5 hottest summer on record for NYC. If that was happening in April? I'd really struggle.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
For a seasoned hot weather complainer, it is definitely an issue for halfs!
All you missed with your skimming was Mark masterfully not buying in to your psychological warfare.
There's no warfare. The only question is whether he takes the sandbag award away from me. He needs to run a 2:35:30 in order to take that record. If he does, I am officially committed to literally shipping a bag of sand to his address in New Zealand.
If that is how things pan out, I would treasure it until such time as someone out-sandbagged me and I was obliged to send it on to them.
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"
In all seriousness, I think a conservative goal is fair. I think it's fair to say you're a different runner now than when you did your first marathon? So this is a step into the unknown in a way, although you've proven before that apparent barriers are not a problem. Again, looking forward to seeing how you go. Does Rotorua have any live tracking?
I'm a much more experienced runner but I've still only run one marathon - and hence the slightly conservative outlook. I don't think Rotorua has live tracking other than the finish line unfortunately.
Yeah I agree with Steve. I'm ribbing Mark because his goal is conservative, but it's really smart for a guy who hasn't run a marathon anywhere near what his current ability is. But come on - he's the king on this thread, he needs to be ribbed
For myself in goals, I'm really excited to run some 5K/10K time trials on serious training. I've always done anywhere from 50-75% training for these distances, either because I haven't had enough time, or because it's been in the heat of the summer. I'm not sure how much heat really impacts 5Ks, but I'm very hopeful I can snag a PR in a time trial given I've shown I can do it at the half. Even my recent 10K TT I only missed a PR by 15 seconds, and that was on crap training. It would be awesome to get both a 5K and 10K PR this fall.
Mark - have you run 5Ks in the VF? My route is pretty straight, but there is a turnaround point, and these things are so unstable I may lose 2-3 seconds trying to stop in these things (I still have the older 4% flyknit). I've never run anything near 5K speed in VFs, but I figure I might as well try it this Saturday given it's my first crack at the 5K and not a "goal" TT.
Hot conditions hurt in a 5k. Several summers ago, I ran many 5k races in 18:45-19:00. Then there was a hot day, and the races were 5:45pm, so the concrete had had heat all day and was now releasing.
I started OK, but then faded. Fourth km was the worst as the tail wind was my pace. The thought of giving up and walking crossed my mind. Fourth km was 4:20 pace. I ended up running 19:59 or 20:00.
About three to four weeks later, in good conditions (marginally warm) I ran a 1:26:5x half.
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
JMac - I've run a Parkrun 5k and a track 5k in the VF Next %'s, as well as multiple road and track 10k's. They feel great over that distance as long as you can deal with not having the road feel that you'd get in a flat. They're not ideal for turnarounds due to their cornering (in)stability (I struggled with the infamous S bend on the 10k road champs course) but if there's only 1 I'd say they're still your best choice.
Personally I'd say heat doesn't make a huge difference in 5k's up to a point (the heat you had to deal with last summer was certainly an issue), it does for 10k (though less so than for a half or marathon).
Intl. correspondent
James - Yeah, even though it was around 16/17c which should be warm, it was before sunrise, so I guess that helped to keep things cooler.
Heh, the spaniards and the Italians smoke like chimneys, it’s crazy that they get to smoke in restaurant tables (even though said tables are set outside).
It’s so disgusting to have somebody smoking next to you while trying to have a plate of pasta ragu.
Darkwave - best of luck with your treatment.
Steve - you’re going to run sub 1h30, guaranteed. Trust your training.
That symptom of running your workouts too fast has certainly been a huge factor in past races.
Just so you have an idea, this past Sunday I averaged 3:34 per km during the 5k time trial, whereas the best average I had from training was 3:40,
And most training sessions were slower than that.
The big takeaway is that we train for effort, not pace. If the effort is there, you are improving. If the weather is 30c and you’re running 4 minutes per km for 5k pace, you’re still improving.
If you’re running slower because you had a very hard strength session the day before, you’re still improving.
Mark - we both know you’re going to run faster than that bar misjudging your peak due to the many postponings.
Good on you for keeping your cards close though.
Piwi - the predictor workout was 6x 4 minutes at 5k pace with 2:30 rest roughly 10 days before. On that one I averaged 3:40. PR pace was 3:36 so I figured why not, it’s so close.
Keen -I’m hoping you can get around your current issues.
Zebano - Yeah, I’ve had a good block of uninterrupted training since the beginning of May, so quite a lot of time really for a 5k.
Awesome job at the tri. Just like Piwi, I'm put off from Triathlons due to the swimming and the biking parts.
Jmac - PR or bust!
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
I forgot to mention: my target 5k race that would happen October 2nd has been postponed to November 1st.
It seems good news since it went from a Friday evening race to a Sunday morning race. Since I much prefer running in mornings where I'm well rested after a night of sleep as opposed to the evening where I'm already tired from the day and it's warmer.
It will also be on a colder time of the year with temps expected to be around 13C/55F as max for the day, but it will very likely be colder during race time which will be around 11am for my group.
Rules are a bit harsh but pragmatic. There will be waves with 40 runners each. Can't draft from other runners in front of you. If you need to pass you need to keep 1.5m distance. But you can run by the side of somebody so that's something.
Masks are required until you cross the start line then you can throw it away. You will get a brand new one as part of the race pack at the end which you are supposed to wear from that moment on.
At least it's not that nonsense of starting every athlete every 20s.
Steve - you’re going to run sub 1h30, guaranteed. Trust your training. That symptom of running your workouts too fast has certainly been a huge factor in past races. Just so you have an idea, this past Sunday I averaged 3:34 per km during the 5k time trial, whereas the best average I had from training was 3:40, And most training sessions were slower than that. The big takeaway is that we train for effort, not pace. If the effort is there, you are improving. If the weather is 30c and you’re running 4 minutes per km for 5k pace, you’re still improving. If you’re running slower because you had a very hard strength session the day before, you’re still improving.
Great points. My running coach has pointed out several times that I train better than I race. Since June my training has been almost completely focused on locking in race pace (along with slightly slower and slightly quicker, I guess so I can tell the difference). On my training log he's also asked me to enter perceived effort for every run and with one outlier, the average has been about 3.5/10. The outlier was my tough training run in Dunedin 3 weeks ago with several factors (stress, travel, Friday night alcohol).
I'm getting the usual doubts but you're right, I need to trust my training. I've had a full year with no disruptions, except a hammy which made me cautious for 3-4 days in June. In May for the time trial I had too much confidence with my training block and didn't think a fast start would be a problem but that was a huge mistake. If I get the first 5km right, I should have a good day.
The organisers sent out an update that they have restricted entries to 100 while we're at level 2, and that's across the full, half and 10km so I'm glad I decided to enter last week. 30-40 runners is fine with me and based on previous years there will be 5 or so faster people but for the most part I'll be alone but given it's an 8 lap course I'll always have people around. They've changed the course due to council restrictions so it's now slightly different to what I ran for my time trial which I'm fine with. It's actually better because it's now all on recently re-sealed paths. The only niggle is a 45 degree turn which I'll have to take 8 times.
Flavio - I'd take a morning race over an evening one any day. Mentally there is also the advantage of just being able to get into it rather than spending a good chunk of the day thinking about it!
Steve - I think having a bunch of other people around will be good on a multi-lap course like that. If you have a bit of a flat patch mid to late-race, by that stage you will be lapping slower runners and you can break it down and just focus on getting past that next person ahead of you. It looks like the weather will be pretty much perfect for you too. GOOD LUCK!!
Me - Monday's announcement will really depend on case numbers over the next few days I think. I give Rotorua a less than 50% chance at the moment.
Thanks Mark - yep, weather is looking pretty good with about 6 degrees at the start with light winds.
I was more confident than you about Rotorua but the drunk on power govt seems to be softening people up for yet another extension. At least in Australia the people are starting to push back somewhat.