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

Thanks, all! There's really not a big race report going on. I had run my PR in December on a much hillier course. I did write up a report for that one on Reddit and had fun, simply because I missed breaking 19 by .5 seconds. That report is found here: https://old.reddit.com/r/running/comments/e7igk3/quest_for_sub19_5k_gingerbread_5k/

This one, I came out fully expecting to break 19. I have been training hard, and I knew this course was fast and flat. I had run 19:02, 19:05, 19:06, and 19:16 here in four of the last five years. After running a 17:53 on the 3 miler a few weeks ago, I knew I had it in me.

Warmed up 2.6 miles with some strides and lined up. I had hoped for some high schoolers because I've won two years in a row by 2.5 minutes and knew that having someone to push me would be beneficial. There were a number of high schoolers lined up at the start with me and my buddy who have finished 1 and 2 for the past two years.

Gun goes off and we take off. These high schoolers are flying, so I was ready to push, but by .4 miles, three of the four look dead...like really dead. Me, my buddy, and one high schooler are together at .5 miles and I settle in to about a 5:50ish pace. By mile 1, it's me and a 14 year old at 5:53. I tell him at 1.25 I'm using him to break 19, and he just says, "Conserve." I talk enough to tell him I'm breaking 19, and he, breathing heavy, tells me his PR is 16:54...I looked him up later and he ran that at the MO State XC this past year as a freshman...so he has a good future ahead of him.

At the 1.5 mark, he's about 15 feet ahead of me where we make the turnaround. I'm feeling it with the miles I've run this year and not really tapering a ton. But regardless, I push. Mile 2 in 6:03.

The last mile he is still pushing well and starts to pull away, but I kept surging a bit and would close it up a hair. At one point with about 1k left, I looked down and was at 6:16 pace. I closed that down to 6:03 and then pushed the final .1 for 2nd OA and 12 seconds behind my 14 year old friend.

The worst part was seeing 18:30 slip by. I smiled and finished in 18:32. Wish I could have run much more even splits, but 28 seconds is super great with me and gives me confidence going into the half.

Again, nothing exciting from the race, but it was fun and feels good to be 34 and setting PRs.

 

MRakers - how did I miss you PRing in the 5k!! That's huge. We all look forward to the race report

 

I'm not even remotely close to breaking his PR, and I mean the flat one of 1:12. I have to see how my workouts today and next week. I think either way I'm going to shoot for a PR based on where I think my fitness is, I just don't know if it's sub 1:16 or sub 1:14. Current fitness indicates sub 1:16 but I'll see how it goes. Problem is I just developed a cough (hopefully nothing serious) that could impact these workouts so we'll see.

 

Also, I still can't believe you let your shoes go that long. You need to thank the running gods immediately.

I really just said that to see if you'd reference the downhill PR controversy of 2019.

Hopefully both issues clear up and you can shoot for sub 1:14.  I'll thank the running gods (I assume you mean some of the people in the other thread) in a week or 2 - I might still have residual issues.

mrakers - Nice recap.  That is sharp for a 14 year old!  And a large chunk to take off your PR, congrats.

A few shoutouts as I catch up - sorry for not doing everyone.

Elizabeth - thanks for waiting, and attempting to capture my non-existent triumphant marathon on camera . I'm sorry you didn't crack 90, but the good news is you can keep trying, and we get a bit better with each race.

As for heart rate, I find that my HR is frequently depressed in very cold weather. If it's in the mid-20s, I can run hard 800s and 1200s, and will barely crack what is normally my HR at marathon effort when it's in the 40s.

Also, when my Raynauds is acting up, my HR will drop very low. I suspect it's because Raynauds=closing off of blood vessels=less distance for blood to travel=less need for heart to pump to move blood everywhere.

Mrakers - congrats on the big PR! That is huge!

Jmac - I'd be a bit hesitant to push the half-marathon if you're iffy. I understand the fervent desire to get something out of the cycle, especially if you fear the marathon might not happen. But one thing I've learned is that the more you try to game running fate, the more it catches up with you, if that makes sense.

Put another way, your body needs to be your top advisor when making racing decisions. It would also be remarkably frustrating if you race your half, drop out in the late miles due to injury or run slower than hoped due to the leg giving out, and then can't run Boston (which ends up going on, with a tailwind to boot).  The running gods have a cruel sense of humor.

CK - I haven't seen a race report anywhere from you? Is there one I missed?

***

as for me, some relatively good news after a slew of appointments. No sacral stress fracture, arthritis, labral tear, or anything like that.

Possibly some S1 disc/nerve issues (I have burning pain down both hamstrings when I sleep on my side).

My right SI joint is VERY locked, and apparently it's obvious even when I walk (I could tell I was walking funny, but couldn't describe exactly how - apparently I'm swinging my leg around to the outside rather than through).

I have a chiro appointment tomorrow to try to get that joint back into place. The hope is that once that's done, everything else may clear up quickly.

This entire idea is bullshit. 3x2T is only good if you do it at your ACTUAL Threshold pace. I pulled the plug just past halfway through this workout. Way too uncomfortable. To a point I was wondering how I’ve done it for marathon training and my only thought was ‘well it was probably slower. This is goal half marathon pace...which is going to SUCK in 4 weeks.’ I might need to readjust my goals.

 

Aren't you all cousins in NZ?

 

Zebano - I follow the idea of a 5:1 work ratio on T work. So yes, you should run that 3x2 workout at T pace, not HM pace. If your T pace is around 6:30 for example, you should complete your rest in about 2:30 instead of 2. The other way to do this, which Keen follows, is to run a 3x10 minute workout at T with 2 minute rests.

Steve - most shoe brands will use similar 'lasts' for several different types of shoes - this is the basic form used for moulding the shoe.  I'm not very familiar with ASICS any more but you may find they have a more lightweight, responsive shoe based on the same last as the Kayano, i.e. it should fit pretty closely to the Kayano so blisters won't be an issue (unless they use different materials in the upper...).  Having said that, if you're happy, there's no reason to change.

JMac / Steve - looking forward to firing up that debate in a month's time or so... Southern Lakes is probably the only course in the country that is faster than Kerikeri.

For the record JMac, the 1:12 was on a slow-ish course (it had a stinker of a hill at km 2 which was also too steep to really maximise pace on the downhill, and a lot of turns) 

Rune  - I'd love to see those workouts. I'll give their podcast a try since I seem to be running short of things to listen to on the bike right now.

Piwi & Steve - You can also track shoe mileage on RunningAhead... =)  Sorry I just find all the strava mentions a bit humerus.

JMac -  good luck with the injury, things that are better one day and not the next tend to be super frustrating.

Mrakers - it's good you had a rabbit to follow, imagine being that fast at 14.... wow.  A little bit better pacing and I'm sure you could knock another 10-20 seconds off your time.

Darkwave  - I'm glad to hear your being proactive, good luck getting back to running.

Brew  - Remember that T pace is  1 hour race pace .... when you're tapered. It tends to be really hard to pound out 6 miles in the midst of a training block, for the fastest of us, that's 30 minutes of work. Some coaches (i.e. Tinman and Hudson) have indicated that running a bit slower than true LT pace is still very beneficial. Nowadays I personally often run it by feel and take that as a reference point on how my training is going and how fatigued I am (temperature, wind, humidity, hills, trails also matter).

Brewing - anyone who can go sub 3 at CIM is has to be good for at least a 86 half marathon.  There is absolutely no way you are more slow twitch than I am.

I do think your training paces get thrown off, especially for tempo stuff, by the fact that you are training at altitude.