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

Rotorua is a holiday double up with a race.

 

Mark I think a year from now all will be forgotten and you will run Rotorua 

Better make it 2 years.  Next year Rotorua is on the same day as Southern Lakes Half Marathon (May 1).

Keen - yes, I did finish very quickly.  It would have been my quickest kick ever.  Also glad that "whilst" improved the RR for you.

Thanks for the encouraging feedback everyone!  It’s especially nice to see that runners over the age of 50 have posted fast times in the half marathon.

I live in Massachusetts.  We had a very hot summer so when I did the half last Friday (9/18/2020), it was a “cool” day comparatively.  I tend to like to run in warmer temperatures than other runners so the 64 degrees felt quite good for me although I think a little cooler what be good.

I did the run on a dirt rail trail.  Although there are a few street crossings, I didn’t have to pause much so that simulated an actual race course quite well.

My previous long run had been 12 miles which I first did in June and then did a couple after that.  For those unfamiliar with my athletic history, I did a bit of running when I was in my late teens/early 20s (see my 10K PR time in signature) but then did far more cycling.  I began transitioning to running in February 2019 and it’s now my primary sport with a bit of cycling mixed in.  I also do strength training.  For various reasons, running three times per week is necessary for me.  I’m doing a modified version of the ‘Run Less, Run Faster’ program.  I almost always do the tempo and long run each week with my third run varying somewhat.  Please see my training log which is public for specifics.

About the negative splits, I like running them but I agree that I probably take it a bit too far.  In this case, I didn’t fully commit to “racing” the half marathon until 4 miles in so that contributed to the disparity.  I know I should try to narrow the gap but most of my runs, including my 10K tempo are run with negative splits.  (Tempo should probably stay that way as it allows more warming up.)

I’ve managed to stay generally injury-free but of course have various small issues.  I have a bit of soreness in my left heel but it’s occurred before and then disappears without having to take any runs off.

I could probably stand to lose a bit of weight.  I’m around 150 pounds and am 5’7”.  My upper body is on the muscular side though.

I didn’t really taper as I did a hard 10K tempo run just two days before my half marathon.  I figure that with only running three times per week, that’s less of an issue.

Looks like you're making some pretty solid progress. Other than the complete basics I am unfamiliar with Run Less, Run Faster as it's just contrary to most training principals.

 

My main question is How much are you supplementing your running with other aerobic endeavors or strength work?  If you're still doing a fair amount of cycling, I could see the 3 days a week working just fine. You're losing out on some running specificity but propping up the aerobic system and if that keeps you healthy, good for you.

 

* Do you ever do any workouts that aren't tempos?

* Do you have splits for any of your workouts? I mainly ask because there just isn't much difference pace-wise between your easy runs, your long runs and your tempo runs. If your tempos are something like 2mile warmup, 2 mile tempo, 2 mile cooldown that could make sense but if that's really a 2 mile progression into a 4 mile tempo, then it should probably be faster (or your easy runs slower).

* Minor suggestion: add some strides to the easy days. Just practice running pretty fast but relaxed for 20ish seconds.

* I wouldn't worry about your upper body mass at all.

I do full body strength work one day per week with weights.  I do various types of pull-ups/push-ups two or three times during the week and also ab work in addition.  I either cycle or do a family hike which involves some trail running with my son once per week so I'm getting some supplemental work beyond my three runs.

I always log my half splits for every run.  Generally for tempos, my second half is where the meat of the workout is.  I run the second half in the 6:48-7:00 range.  I do a separate cooldown afterwards.  My long runs aren't slow as the RLRF programs specifies faster paces than for other programs.  They're generally in the 7:45-8:00 pace but can be faster and slower at times.  My third run sometimes contains fartlek intervals and other times is on the easier side with paces as slow as 8:30.

Jason - thanks for the extra information. Honestly to me it sounds like a very good training regimen.

Of course if you ran more there’d be more specificity and more gains, but I really don’t think it’d be that much.

It’s also important that you have other hobbies and you’re doing your homework with the strength training.

Over time and slowly, you should be able to increase your weekly mileage from the current 20/25 miles to something like 30 miles per week.

That should provide some good gains.

The most important thing is consistency in your training. Avoid injuries, don’t rush into it, play it conservatively, just like you’re doing it now.

You will improve quite a bit over the next 6-12 months, no need to rush.

Also, don't stress too much in terms of specific times.

And very important, do not train based on target race pace. Train based on previous race pace.

If you feel your training is too easy, race again to confirm your newfound fitness, then adjust your paces based on that.

It can be a 5k or a 10k even.

Stick around, this is a good bunch as you can see. We now know almost half of the population of New Zealand by name, it's a very educational board.

me - A 7 x 4 minutes at I with 2'30 rest for me earlier today. I knew I wouldn't be able to run it at 5k pace since that's roughly 7 x 1060m.

So I tried to run it at 3:40/km which is roughly half way between 5k and 10k. That didn't work and the overall average ended up 3:45/km which is very close to my current 10k fitness. It was still a great workout since I'm running a 10k in 3 weeks.

Flavio - that’s only because half the people in NZ are called Nathan Jones

Yeah I wouldn't worry too much about the weight.  I'm around 155lb and 5'10.  I used to weigh a bit more but as you crank the mileage up the body just kind of adapts. I'm still probably carrying a bit of muscle from when I used to lift a lot more weights than I do now.

The leg strength stuff (and core work) is great and often neglected by runners.  I would say don't neglect the hamstrings and calves though as well.  Most major muscle groups work as agonist / antagonist (push/pull) pairs so you want to try and keep everything balanced.

Ultimately there is no substitute for mileage and you will see the biggest improvements from adding an additional easy run day or two per week.  We all have a different balance that works for us but 4 run days a week should be pretty achievable for most runners.  A long time ago, I started out on something like RLRF - which relies on a heavy crosstraining component to substitute for the easy running - and someone on a predecessor to this thread (actually Flavio) told me some stuff about supercompensation and the importance of specificity of training.  My training still has a few of its own quirks but it turns out he was pretty much right.