Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2020
I have a trip to Queenstown at Easter that doesn't look likely but I think airlines are giving credit or all flights? These were very cheap anyway.
Yeah I can get credit for the Queenstown one but not the Christchurch one (at this stage).
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: Runway5 / National 5k Champs, 16:22, National Masters AG Champ!
Up next: Still working on that...
"CONSISTENCY IS KING"
RIP Milkman
That's what will determine whether I do a time trial on May 31 - if I can see myself enjoying it and considering it a PR if I get it, I'll do it. But if I think I'll just consider it fake or cheap if I was to get it, I don't really see the point.
This is exactly why I spent about 2 hours looking for suitable certified courses. If I'm going to run this time trial attempt Sunday, I want it to feel real. NYRR has already cancelled everything through mid-May, so there's a good chance I won't run another certified race while I have real fitness. But hell, maybe this whole thing will actually make me come back to racing, just when you guys thought you could get rid of me !
Mark - thanks for that advice, very sound. We already sort of know what type of parents we'll be with the way we are with our dog: i'm way more of a disciplinarian than my wife, but she's a much more empathetic/caretaking person than I am. Hopefully it'll be a good balance.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Cobra Commander Keen
I remember someone on the 2019 thread being disappointed with a 5k PR of about 10s. I stated that they should be pleased as every PR might be your last and should be savoured, as injury, life comments etc. may mean you don't get another PR. I never expected this!
I think that was me! I appreciated the PR, but it was more a comparison of me having done a LOT of work in the previous 15 or months since my last PR which didn't seem to match up with the "size" of the PR on a very favorable course.
No worries, I've done a good deal better since then!
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
OKC Memorial 5k - April 27
Bun Run 5k - May 4
Jmac I think alot of parenting skills are intuitive and instinctive. Your mission is to create a person better than you. Easy for me as I set a low standard
I've succeeded with 3 but the jury is still out on the 4th...
Remember when your time trial gets tough that there are 100 virtual spectators here and on Strava who will hold you accountable
Mark sorry to bore you with Rotorua marathon knowledge....but I've run the 2nd half of the course when the half went that way. Now the half course has changed completely twice since. Anyway after heartbreak hill you have a lonely run back to Rotorua on a small shoulder of the state highway with big trucks passing by about 2m away. Still an iconic marathon which I still haven't got to do !
Pretty good 6k tempo for me in the dark this morning. Aiming for about 4min/km for each but after the first one a mate came out of the darkness to join me. Hes about as fast as Mark so was recovery pace for him
I apologized that I wouldn't be able to talk much as was my tempo pace but I still managed some chat. The first km with him was 3.47 and had some strong kms after.
Just shows the different dynamic of having someone else there.
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
Marco - Not sure I mentioned here but there’s a very good chance I caught it right when I arrived. You guys will remember I had some flu symptoms in the week of the race. Eventually I’ll be able to find the truth with a blood test.
To be honest, I hope I already caught it cause it means I had the mild version. And that I’m no longer contagious.
I was talking to a friend today and I’m now more sober. I’m thinking the lockdown will last till mid May at least.
I wanted to ask: Now that there are no flights, I assume you finally have more time with the family?
Darkwave - those injections sound super painful. It’s not us runners who are braver. You are.
Mark - go get it, it might be the last race in this year, who knows. Treat it as that anyway.
Jmac - good luck with the time trial. Enjoy being out there.
TV shows - We’re watching Narcos Mexico right now. Both this one and Narcos are spectacular.
If you like the style, the Brazilian movies Elite Squad are similar, but in Rio.
We’re also watching Better Call Saul.
Locked down me - if my back is feeling better tomorrow I might try to go up and down the stairs a couple of times ( 5 floors in the building).
So 3 days ago I put my lower back out of place - again. Another housemate loaned me a muscle relaxer and then I headed down to the pharmacy downstairs to get some more. The pharmacist can't sell me muscle relaxer pills without a doctor's prescription. That's kind of hard right now since, you know, the not having doctors available thing because they're fighting a war.
So he gave me something to pass on the skin.
Next day it was still not working so I went back and this time he gave me some NSAID, that helped, thankfully.
I think the root cause was my exercise from last Friday which I hit too strongly.
I was leaning to the side, you know, a beautiful homage to the Tower of Pisa.
So I'm thinking going upstairs 5 floors twice and then maybe some calisthenics once I'm feeling better.
Also, today I had a lesson on Mandarim language (sometimes we call it Chinese). Fantastic, for one hour I didn't think about any virus.
We're watching the numbers everyday at 6pm. Hoping that today's increase in numbers is a bit lower than yesterday and the curve is turning.
We've been instructed to wash our shoe soles with soap and hot water if we come in from the street.
I have not left the house for 3 days now, except for 2 quick trips to the pharmacy downstairs.
It gets... to.... you.
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
Hot Weather Complainer
piwi - there are some fast guys in Tauranga. An old mate of mine moved there about a year ago, Dave Parsons. He has a 2:30 marathon.
flavio - That sounds like tough going. I really hope we don't get there. I live in a spacious neighbourhood so I think I could still run around the 400 metre block, worst case.
So if you got your PR while fighting off Corona, can you now admit you may be able to go even faster?
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
JamesD
I'm just assuming that the fact that I've a) raised a dog since she was 9 months old and b) led a 20+ person team gives me at least a good baseline set of skills.
JMac - A few of the challenges are different, though. I doubt your dog or any of your team members have ever vomited 12 times in a day, 5 on you, like my son did. I want to say the vomiting stage is 6-9 months.
Steve - I'm with you on goal race fitness. I've been hoping for 3 years to get under 1:30, and each cycle my fitness has improved so my pre-race thoughts have gone from, "If everything goes right, I might..." to "Unless something goes wrong, I should..." but I haven't quite made it. Now I'm in even better shape, but...oh well, others have much bigger problems. Since it'll be October before I expect to run a half, I'm trying to change training gears and see how fast I can run a mile (probably 5:40-50) and convince two friends to run a time trial with me in about a month. That'll be a change of pace before starting to look at a cycle for an October race.
Weather - I've gotten a lot better this cycle about running my recovery days in the 8:40s/mile and my easy runs in the 8:30s and only rested runs in the 8:20s, but when it's warm, I just go faster at the same initial effort, and then I don't want to slow down. Today it was 85/29 but only 43% humidity, so only 145 TDP, so it felt really good and I went 13 miles at 8:09 pace. I expect I'll feel it tomorrow, but it was fun.
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
Not at all mate, I'm a real nerd when it comes to scouting courses and being prepared, all insights are much appreciated!!
I am thinking National Road Champs 10k in early September, Rotorua full late September, Southern Lakes HM April 2021, Christchurch full June 2021. Maybe a half in late July or August this year if things start to ramp up again.
Flavio - stay sane!!
James - it's amazing how I'd forgotten about the vomiting (our daughter 'spilled' for most of her first year and even now at age 3, will puke if she coughs too much). The toilet training stage is "fun" too, although JMac may have had some practice with his dog on that front.
It's been 16 years, and I haven't forgotten. That day was a record for the number of times he got me, but only because my reflexes improved.
Flavio thinking of you brother that's sounds tough with your back and the lockdown. Mobility, stretch, strength for that back.
Steve I've seen Dave's runs on Strava when he runs with Strava mates of mine but haven't met him yet. He looks real fast. Hes entered the handicap race next week that I'm in but we just show up at our start time, run, then leave. So wont be very social as expected in this climate.
I honestly think we are going to look back on the societal and political over-reaction to this in a few months time and think ‘wow, we overdid that a bit’. I say this as someone who had the swine flu (remember swine flu?) back in 2009 which was the last pandemic... and I’ve had colds that felt worse than that. The mortality rate in South Korea is 0.6% - the only place where they’ve basically tested everything and everyone - which is higher than the regular flu but certainly not 10x higher.
Seriously, my mobile phone provider now registers as “Vodafone - Stay Safe”. What the hell... did you think I was going to go out there and be intentionally unsafe?!
Mark - if that is what happens then we should consider ourselves lucky. I’m mostly in your boat, thinking it’s just another bunch of people wishing for the end of the world. I think there’s enough evidence now that this is a real threat. We’ve gone from 8 to 39 in 3 days, exactly the same rate as every other badly impacted country. If we’re not at 1000 and in total lockdown next week then we should feel great relief
Mark - What do you consider overreaction?
The few countries who acted quickly are now safe (South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore) and didn't require lockdown.
The others are having to take drastic measures because they were too slow to contain the spread.
I kind of agree with you that banning outdoor activities and sports is a bit of an overreaction, but how do you explain to 60 million Italians and Spaniards that they have to stay at home while their neighbour can be out and about just because they're joggers. It's not an easy sell to the majority of the population who are not into running.
Flavio - are people even allowed to walk outside? That's where I think it's an overreaction. Everything else makes sense. But if you can't walk outside and keep 6 feet from others, then I think governments have gone overboard. I think it's fine if it's 2 weeks, but any longer than that, you're going to create a mental health crisis by effectively imprisoning people in their homes when the risk of them getting the virus or somehow needing a hospital because they took that walk outside is effectively 0.
In general I think this all makes sense. Where the overreaction may occur is on the back end, but we're nowhere near that point so can't criticize any government yet (besides the no walking thing).
I'd also say this has to differ by city, region, and even country. Italy is so damn old that they need to do this. A younger country, or one not as dense, does not.
Jmac - By the decree we're actually allowed to go out for a walk, walk your dog or running. However the athletics federation appealed that we stay home. So they're trying to do it so that we decide for ourselves to stay home and they don't have to actually send the police.
As is right now the numbers are very bad and people are mad cause some people are not respecting the lockdown.
But yeah, I hope the numbers go down considerably so that the peer pressure against jogging is diminished.
Not only is Italy home to a lot of old people, the young folks usually stay with their parents up until early 30s, something unthinkable in Brazil for instance.
Do note though that the old folks here are slim and very healthy on average. They're healthy beasts who ride the bicycle everyday. It's no wonder there are so many Italians over a 100 years old.