Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2020
Caffeine - interesting how different people have really different levels of sensitivity to this. I have 2 coffee's most days and I don't seem overly sensitive to it. But I remember when I was at university, a class mate couldn't have a coffee after about 11am or she'd struggle to get to sleep that night. Tried using it before a 5km race once - didn't seem to make a lot of difference to me (albeit it was a pretty horrible weather day). I never have a coffee before morning races as it generally makes me need to go to the bathroom!
Weight - for me it bounces around quite a lot. I'm normally around 71kg but it can be +/- 1kg or so. I haven't weighed myself since my holiday, but between 10km running and at least 2 hours snowboarding most days I'd be surprised if it had changed much. Weirdly although my mileage has steadily increased over the last 3 years, my weight levels have basically step-changed rather than moved steadily downwards - was around 75, then 73, now 71. I didn't go out aiming to lose weight but I guess it's just a consequence of running more. Like JMac one of the reasons I run is so I can enjoy pizza and donuts.
JMac - I'm no beer expert but those descriptions sound a lot like the adjective-laden descriptions that wine lovers used to get criticised for. Mostly I just like something easy to drink and not too hoppy. Mostly I actually like bourbon. There was also this root beer flavoured whiskey I discovered in BC which was made nearby in Revelstoke and it was delicious. No chance of getting it here in NZ though.
Also when I had to wear two sets of gloves in BC I did think that it must suck for you having to deal with that a lot more often than I have to!
Elizabeth - (belated) welcome! Do you have an instagram account? Your picture looks familiar and I'm sure I've seen you pop in my feed at some point alongside other recommended running accounts to follow.
Flavio - JMac is the taper madness king on this thread. You don't need to try and outdo him haha.
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"
Important Race Questions - Which should be my first beer of the ones they are serving? Blonde Ambition Blonde Ale BLONDE ALE BREWED WITH PILSNER MALT, HOPPED WITH HALLERTAU MITTILFRUH, AND FLAVORED WITH APRICOT FOR A SWEET AND LIGHT FINISH. Blood Orange Pale Ale BREWED WITH 2-ROW BARLEY AS THE BASE MALT WITH VIENNA AND CRYSTAL GIVING IT A DEEP GOLDEN COLOR. OATS ADDED FOR A SMOOTH MOUTH FEEL. HOPPED WITH CASCADE AND BLOOD ORANGE OIL ADDED TO COMPLETE THIS CRISP REFRESHING ALE. Jetty Ale PERENNIAL AWARD WINNING CREAM ALE MADE WITH GENEROUS AMOUNTS OF ORANGE BLOSSOM HONEY. THE PILSNER BASE MALT AND CORN ADJUNT CREATES A LIGHT AND SWEET DELIGHT Therapy Session IPA SESSION IPA BREWED WITH 2-ROW AND FLAKED OATS. HOPPED WITH MOSAIC THEN DRY HOPPED WITH MOSAIC. FULL FLAVOR BUT LIGHTER ABV, NOTES OF GRAPEFRUIT AND AROMA OF FRESH PINE
Important Race Questions - Which should be my first beer of the ones they are serving?
Blonde Ambition Blonde Ale
BLONDE ALE BREWED WITH PILSNER MALT, HOPPED WITH HALLERTAU MITTILFRUH, AND FLAVORED WITH APRICOT FOR A SWEET AND LIGHT FINISH.
Blood Orange Pale Ale
BREWED WITH 2-ROW BARLEY AS THE BASE MALT WITH VIENNA AND CRYSTAL GIVING IT A DEEP GOLDEN COLOR. OATS ADDED FOR A SMOOTH MOUTH FEEL. HOPPED WITH CASCADE AND BLOOD ORANGE OIL ADDED TO COMPLETE THIS CRISP REFRESHING ALE.
Jetty Ale
PERENNIAL AWARD WINNING CREAM ALE MADE WITH GENEROUS AMOUNTS OF ORANGE BLOSSOM HONEY. THE PILSNER BASE MALT AND CORN ADJUNT CREATES A LIGHT AND SWEET DELIGHT
Therapy Session IPA
SESSION IPA BREWED WITH 2-ROW AND FLAKED OATS. HOPPED WITH MOSAIC THEN DRY HOPPED WITH MOSAIC. FULL FLAVOR BUT LIGHTER ABV, NOTES OF GRAPEFRUIT AND AROMA OF FRESH PINE
IMO: start with the cream ale (Jetty), then work your way to Blood Orange and Therapy Session. If you really like apricot, put that one first, then continue with Jetty, etc. This goes a little beyond which one should be your "first."
If I could choose one - the Blood Orange.
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
Back home now... and back to work for upcoming races. Legs feeling pretty strong but a little sluggish after lower mileage and shorter, slower runs, so hopefully they'll sort themselves out this week.
M: 10.3km with strides
T: 11.3km easy
W: 10km easy
T: travel
F: 7.6km easy
S: 19.5km with steady efforts
S: 24.2km with a few strides
Total: 82.8km
JamesD
Weight - I don’t check my weight often except just before goal races, but I seem usually to be 1-2 pounds above normal during base building and 2-3 pounds below normal after a month or two of faster running.
Caffeine - Drank lots of Coke in college, but had trouble a year after graduating. After two hours of volleyball in a closed unairconditioned DC-area gym in June (i.e., even I thought it was hot), I came home probably dehydrated and fell into a chair to watch a baseball game. This was just after New Coke had been announced (look it up), and I had stocked up several cases of the old stuff and had a full case beside the TV. Started drinking. As tired as I was, all I had energy to do was watch the game and drink Coke. Long game. During the 8th inning, I realized the can I had taken was the last one. Hmm...24 cans x 12 ounces = 288 ounces/8+ liters of caffeine & sugar. I was young and stupid, so I drank the last can too, not that it probably mattered much by then. Didn’t sleep a bit that night, and had trouble sleeping the next night. Since then I’ve tried to avoid caffeine most of the time, though I enjoy an occasional unsweetened iced tea. Along the lines of Brewing’s point, I make sure not to have any caffeine leading up to races and then take caffeinated SIS gels before the start.
My week - Didn’t go as expected, but it turned out ok. Had some sort of sinus trouble/illness Wednesday & my HR was unusually high, so I moved up my Thursday off day. Was better but not 100% Thursday, so when rain started earlier than forecast, I stopped my run early. That left my legs fresh, so I did a second long run Friday and a longish recovery run Saturday. Weather was weird too - temps rose by about 20/11 degrees during Monday’s long run, and my Thursday and Friday runs were at 75/24 and 41/5 degrees, respectively. We’ve also had simultaneous rain & bright sunshine two days in a row, and I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that in the winter. I did get over 45 miles again, and my sinus trouble seems to be gradually receding, so I’ll take it.
Sun - off
Mon - 13 miles easy @ 8:21/mile
Tues - 7.3 easy @ 8:45
Weds - sickish, so moved up off day
Thurs - 4.2 easy @ 8:21, bailed when rain started, 75 degrees
Fri - 14 easy @ 8:29, 41 degrees
Sat - 9.5 easy@ 8:32
Total - 48 miles
12-week average - 35 mpw
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
James - that's a lot of coke! I would often do 2 litres, and that was far too much.
Mark - that's a great week for a holiday week.
My week was zero. I saw the physio on Friday, she is hoping that I will be back running soon. I have to back stretched three times a day, plus once a day do bridges and foam rolling. The hamstring is less tight than it was.
Also, if we are talking BOTT goals... I have come up with a good one that I've been thinking about the last few days.
I want to win the Masters (35+) title at National Road Race Champs (10k) in September.
Last year I was 3rd... the year before around 10th or so. The two guys that beat me last year were Jonny McKee (by 10 seconds) and Nick Moore (by 5 seconds). On a good day, I can beat Nick - I had 10 seconds on him in the 5000m race I ran in December.
It's always a bit of luck as to who shows up (Greg Darbyshire and Steve Rees-Jones could totally spoil the party) but if the field is similar to the last 2 years, and I can get my time down 10-20 seconds, I've got every chance. The course is the Auckland course that was used last year (S bend and all).
Timing works well - after the marathon on May 31 I'd have three and a half months to build up, and there's a 10k in mid-August that I've wanted to do for a while (the Clyde to Alexandra Road Race) which would be an ideal tune-up.
Mark - is there anyone who 2020 is their first masters year that could win it? The problem with place aims is it depends on who turns up.
3 months til Masters
James- Two long runs on weekdays. Bold...I'm a little jealous TBH.
My week. All the tread as it has been cold and/or snowing all week.
The last of the 4x1.5 miles i began to feel it a bit, the tempo thursday was a breeze. The long run was on a rolling hills mode on the tread mill that just alternates slowly from 0 incline to 3.5 and back down every 1.5 miles or so going at each incremental increase for a few 1/10 of a mile.
11 Weeks until my 1st half marathon
15 weeks until my 2nd half marathon
19 weeks until my marathon
83 miles total
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
Mother of Cats
Markymark - I don't see any down side to training for it and taking a shot? Are you passing up anything else by prioritizing this?
JamesD - it's been a crazy crazy winter. And...I didn't realize you were from the DC area. I guess I missed that?
Watson - best wishes for a quick return.
DPS - that's a heck of an early run on Friday.
Beer - if Jmac had any respect left for me after the airplane seat discussion on the other thread, I will now destroy it by noting that I don't drink beer, and didn't like it at all when I did drink it.
***
My week:
69 miles, 24 "miles" of pool-running, and 1000 yards of swimmingM: 6 miles very easy (9:03), upper body weights/core, 2 miles very easy (8:41), and 6 "miles" pool-running. T: 7 miles very easy (9:17), yoga, 5.5 miles very easy (8:41), plus drills and strides.W: 14.5 miles on the roads, including 2x3 miles in 19:24 (6:35/6:30/6:18) and 18:50 (6:21/6:25/6:04*) with 4 minute recovery between the two, followed by four "fast-but-fun" .25 mile reps in 88, 90, 91, 92 with full recovery. [*suspect Garmin error on the last mile - probably closer to 6:15 pace.]Followed with leg injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming.Th: Upperbody weights, core, and 12 "miles" pool-running.F: 8 miles very easy (9:19), yoga, 4.5 miles very easy (9:27), plus drills and strides.Sa: 21 miles progressive, split as first 7 averaging 8:50, next 7 averaging 7:32, last 7 averaging 6:47 (followed by 1/2 mile cooldown jog). Followed with leg injury prevention work and 500 yards recovery swimming.Su: yoga and 6 "miles" pool-running.
3 weeks out from my marathon, and feeling pretty good about my fitness for that distance.
In other news, I learned that Gatorade is apparently banned in Japan. Crazy.
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
watson - That's no good, it must have been a decent tear.
JMac - Great time for the race and nice placing.
Flavio - Did I miss what you're tapering for?
Mark - I think that's a fair enough goal and one you can adjust pre-race if Nick Willis or Nathan Jones turn up.
JamesD - That is an amazing amount of coke for one sitting!
dp - Nice week.
darkwave - Nice week, do you have a goal for the race? You look to be building very nicely.
Snow - I think it depends on the city. In Christchurch where it's flat, an inch or 2 of snow doesn't make much difference (except up on the surrounding hills of course), but when I lived down in Dunedin which is mostly built on very steep hills, it's complete chaos with the slightest amount of snow, especially when it turns to ice.
Me - I had a slightly lighter week after the race last week, and I always have a lighter week every month or so to freshen up. I went away for the long weekend, up to wine country. I'm not a big wine drinker but thankfully they also have a brewery. I studied the map to work out my Saturday run and went out past some remote farms and wineries. Spent about 7km on a dirt road but thankfully didn't see a car (or person). I ran into some unexpected hills - I don't see many given that Christchurch is perfectly flat, so probably standard for most people here. I gained about 100 metres in 2km so it was a a pretty steady climb which had me puffing a bit initially but as I got used to it I felt better and better.
Monday: 70 mins easy pace (14.19km @ 4:56mins/km)
Tuesday: Weights
Wednesday: 70 mins incl. 4x1km HMP (4:07, 4:08, 4:08, 4:11). 15.05km @ 4:40mins/km
Thursday: Weights + 70 mins recovery pace (13.5km @ 5:20mins/km)
Friday: Nothing much except some walking
Saturday: 20km easy pace (20.2km @ 5:03mins/km)
Sunday: 30 mins recovery (5.19km @ 6:09mins/km)
Total: 68.13km (42.58 miles)
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
Watson - no one I know of that will change AGs in Auckland, other than Danny Shaw and I doubt it's a focus for him at the moment.
Darkwave - Nah, there's no real trade-off. Not a lot of other races in that July-September window that I'd consider doing. I had thought about maybe doing the Melbourne Marathon in October, but it clashes with National Road Relays and I owe it to the guys at my club to do relays. Then I'd have a good 6 months until National Half Marathon Champs in April 2021.
Also - gatorade banned in Japan... why?!?!?!
Steve - nice week. That's a solid hill... those long climbs are great for strength. But pretty hard for you find in Christchurch I'd imagine!
Steve - goal is to PR - sub-2:57:42. It's a very small race, but also a very fast, point-to-point pancake flat course, so I have a good shot of running fast with reasonable weather. I would LOVE to go sub-2:55, which was my fall goal before my fall marathon got screwed up (short story is I got hit by a truck while running 3 days before my goal marathon). However, I don't think I'm in quite that shape unless we get lucky with a tailwind.
MarkyMark - apparently Gatorade contains "brominated vegetable oil" which is illegal for consumption in Japan (and also the EU?). I learned this because a training buddy who is running Tokyo likes Gatorade, but can't use it in Japan. For our long run yesterday, she carried the official race drink of the Tokyo Marathon - "Pocari sweat."
There are hills, steep hills in Christchurch. They're just on the opposite side of the city from where Steve lives.
Yep - by bigger city standards it's not a long drive but with my races being mostly flat, I don't see the need to drive across town to do the hills (I suspect JMac will unfriend me for that - me and darkwave can start a club).