Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2020
RIP Milkman
2020 Half Marathon Time Trial
Pre-"Race"
This may be the most unique race report I'll ever write.
I was originally scheduled to run the NYC Half on March 15. 2 weeks prior, I came down with the flu, which knocked me out of training for 4 days. After a build back up, I was ready to go, although I still felt like my lungs were weak from the virus and my legs felt wonky on my quality days.
Of course, this was all going on with the COVID-19 crisis. With about a week to go, it was quickly becoming obvious that NYC was going to become an area of high infections (although it wasn't obvious how high at the time). However, NYRR continued to send out notes that they were doing everything in their power to run the race. On Tuesday, 5 days before the race, the notification finally came that the race was going to be cancelled. I was super bummed, but in a way, completely at peace with it, as I wasn't sure I was in great shape coming back from being out with the flu and testing my lungs in a race that soon after may not have been a great idea. I decided to scrap the mini-taper and put in my now usual 80 mile week.
I decided to scramble to find alternative, smaller races. The only thing that popped up in the area was a half in Queens, 1 week later. Therefore, I decided to sign up for that. Of course, that was eventually cancelled as well once NYC banned all public gatherings. This really left me scrambling.
While this was going on, I really started to get down and out, like I'm sure many of you have experience over the past couple of weeks, or just are experiencing now. A big part of me said "screw it, it's not worth it trying to figure something out." But another part said that I needed something to look forward to. I had spent so much time this spring training, and to just give up at this point seemed foolish. I also wanted something to pick my spirits up, as everything else going on in NYC was so negative. So I decided it was time for my first ever Time Trial.
I floated the idea of running a half marathon via GPS, but I knew I would always question the result, even if I ran slightly long. So I spent HOURS searching for USATF certified courses in my region. It had a lot of criteria:
1) Within a 2 hour drive
2) Didn't have to be flat, but not a super hilly course
3) Minimal road running. A half marathon on a running/bike path would be ideal
4) Finally, but perhaps most importantly: relatively simple instructions to follow on the course markings. It couldn't be so complicated that I wouldn't be able to follow the turnaround points
I probably looked through 50 or so course certifications in detail and narrowed it down to just TWO courses that fit these criteria. As a note, none of the courses in Central Park would work because they all require you to run in the bike lane, and given the Stay at Home order in place, the parks were actually more crowded than ever, meaning I'd have to run the race at some ridiculous hour like 11 PM to have space to run. After learning there would be some wind on Sunday morning, I had to scrap one course, as it's run on a part of New York Bay that is notoriously windy due to geography.
So it was decided: I would run a half marathon on a course about 1.5 hours north of NYC. I had no idea what to expect, given the notorious nature of how difficult time trials are, let alone a half marathon time trial.
Morning of Race
With the course markings downloaded onto my phone, I drove up north with my wife and dog. The forecast called for unseasonably cold temperatures. We've had quite the warm winter here in NYC, so it was a shock to see race time temps would be just below freezing, with winds around 10 mph. Still, not bad conditions to run a time trial.
This course was one of the easiest to follow from a certification point of view. I drove to the two big turnaround points before the race. The first one, which was located on a bridge, actually had a "+" painted on the ground, which made it super easy to find, with no concern that I would somehow miss it on the way through.
The second turnaround, which was 6 miles away over a bridge, was just as easy. They used a drain (manhole cover) as the turnaround point, and it was so well drawn on the certification map I actually said "wow, there it is!" out loud, like a total running nerd. More importantly, just like the first turnaround, it was impossible to miss. It was just after a 1.5 mile bridge over the Hudson ended, right next to a NYS information booth. Can't botch that.
Finally, I drove to the start. This identification was also easy, as it was the only drain in the parking lot, but to my surprise, the start/finish was actually spray painted on the ground as well. So overall, I made the right decision: the course marker did their job super well and either used obvious landmarks or spray painted it on the ground. I was ready to go!
First 3 miles: 5:37, 5:44, 5:48
First mile out of the gate was too fast, although it was also downhill. It required me to run on, and cross, a road to get to the trail, but that was over in half a mile and I was on my way.
Felt really good in the first 3 miles. I was ecstatic, because my legs felt wonky all week, and I wasn't sure what was going on. I've done enough tapers to know when things are off, and these felt a bit weird, but I know the taper nonsense I've been in the past and tried to ignore it. Miles 1-2 felt great. 3 was good, but not as great.
Miles 4-6: 5:40, 5:40, 5:49
Mile 4 was bad. Like, what am I doing out here bad. You make the turnaround at 3.25 miles in, and right when I turned around, I started to feel like shit. I came through in 5:40, but I immediately started having the "this is not sustainable, this is not your day" thoughts. Perhaps even worse, the point to go back to the start was quickly approaching within mile 5, and I seriously considered bailing. But I did a little negotiating in my head and it went like this: "If you keep running sub 5:50, you need to keep going, because that's PR pace. If you fall off of that and go above 5:50, you can quit." When mile 5 came in at 5:40, it actually gave me a big boost, because I said "you know what, you can actually let off the gas just a tiny bit, and you're going to be okay."
I will say, I have never had a dark thought that early in a race. But, some of that is probably the time trial aspect, where it's just so easy to bail out. It's weird: I know in a marathon that I'm going to go into a rough patch somewhere in the first half of the race. I prepare for that, and when it happens, I just ignore it. But this one really seemed to get to me. It's a good personal takeaway for me, and probably the biggest thing I learned from this half. We've talked in these forums about why you need to race, and this is a perfect example of that: I've run 20+ half marathons all out, and yet it took me until this one to realize this.
Finally, one other thing that motivated me: my wife said she would wait with the the dog at the turnaround point around mile 9. I wanted to get to them and not leave her stranded. So that probably helped as well
Miles 7-9: 5:42, 5:43, 5:42
When I ticked off another 5:42 mile in mile 7, my hopes perked up. I said "you know what, you can PR today, you're more than halfway done and you've got a buffer." That really kept me going. Not much else to report in these miles. Things hurt, but I was okay at least for mile 7-8.
Miles 10-12: 5:47, 5:47, 5:48
After turning around on the bridge at mile 9.25, the pain slowly progressed. The pace slipped a little, but I kept telling myself "keep it under 5:50 and you got a PR, keep it under 5:50 and you got a PR." As I've said before, I find miles 9 and 10 to be the worst part of a half, because you're in so much pain at this point, but not close enough to the finish to visualize workouts you've done in the past. I remember during mile 10 thinking of letting off the gas a little bit more, but when it came in at 5:47, I knew I just had to keep trying to hold on for dear life. I was not in a good mood for these miles.
Mile 13: 5:51
At this point, I knew I had a PR in the bag. The pain in mile 13 was definitely worse than any I've experience in a PR before. Part of this was the slowing of the pace, as you guys know I'm a big negative split guy. Therefore, with a pace getting slower and slower each mile, I was due for a really painful day. Plus, it was a time trial, which never makes anything easy of course.
The final 0.5 miles was back up that hill that led to the fast start. With about 400 meters to go, I felt my stomach turn. As usual during the race, I was battling stitches and nausea, but my nausea pills had generally kept them at bay. But with 400 meters to go, it went from just the usual to "oh shit I'm going to have to vomit."
Finish: 1:15:28, a new PR!
Right after finishing, I went straight to a grass patch and started dry heaving. There was a damn cop in the parking lot which made it a bit more embarrassing. I kept doing it, but surprisingly, nothing came up. Usually I'll dry heave like 3 times before vomiting on the 4th time, so I clearly just caught myself. I think I literally stopped right at the point where I wouldn't actually vomit. If I had to run even another 50 meters, I may have vomited all over myself while running. So elizabeth, I feel your pain. Okay gross part over.
My coughing was also uncontrollable at the end of it, but I think that was the remnants of the flu still. It took me a good 5 minutes walking around before I felt like my breathing was back under control.
I went over to my wife, who was waiting for me at the finish, and told her this was all worth it: the spring training, looking for a race, the pain.
I said that my last half PR was the proudest I've been of a PR given the last half of it was into 20+ MPH headwinds, but this tops that. I battled so many mental demons early on and easily could have just gave up and quit given the time trial aspect of this. But to hold on, grab a new PR all by myself, in the middle of this crisis? A lot of races will fade in our memory, but this one I will always remember.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
JMac - such an impressive achievement to hit the PR in a time trial, in those circumstances. No other runners, no race day motivation to help - just your own legs and your own mind. It's no surprise your marathon time has come down so fast when you've got that degree of willpower. Like I said before I've run 5km and 10km TT's but a half marathon is another level entirely. Those early dark patches would've been the worst... at least by the time you get near the end you know that it's not too long to go, but the option to bail early would've been very real.
It's so impressive that there was a mechanism for you to search actual courses, and that the course markings were so good!!
Weirdly I often get a cough at the end of a hard race, even if I haven't had a cold for a while. Maybe a similar sort of mechanism to what causes others to dry retch.
By the way, that 10k PR of yours is looking quite soft in relative terms now (and the 5k, tbh), if you needed another target
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"
Nice one Jmac
Walks over to his wife while vomiting and coughing uncontrollably,
" darling it was all worth it "
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 "
Hot Weather Complainer
Nice RR and spectacular race JMac.
I'm starting to lean further away from doing a time trial given that I can't drive to a course and have to run from home. That may have changed by May 31 but a fair chance it won't have.
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
Steve - why not just use GPS? Maybe add 0.5% for inaccuracy. You live in a flat area, there should not be too much traffic etc.
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
Yeah I can do that, and given how many times I've run these routes, I'll know pretty quickly if the GPS is off. There's plenty of potential for traffic or pedestrians to mess things up, it would be interesting to see if something like that knocks me off my stride.
Steve - Hagley would be the obvious go if you can get there without issue by then. Otherwise, yeah, you live in a flat area, so that's a plus. I would say definitely try and get a loop course or an out-and-back that you don't have to repeat. A TT is tough as-is without adding repetition in to the mix. Also you may want to get your partner to provide drinks. JMac didn't need that, but it was a lot colder there!
Ha, the times I've suggested that she hasn't been keen...although if I stick to 8am on May 31 the weather will likely be below freezing or close to it too.
JamesD
JMac - Wow! That must have taken an amazing level of focus. Whether or not it's your last half PR, it's certainly one you can be delighted with. Tell Mrs. JMac that we (or at least I, and I imagine others on the board will agree) are impressed by her supportiveness. Three hours in the car and 1:15 of waiting just to be with you at the start and finish and see you once, all in subfreezing temperatures & wind, while taking care of the dog, and all while very pregnant. I assume you owe her bigtime.
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
Hey thanks everyone, appreciate it.
Regarding my wife, she's really supportive of my running. When I told her that I was ready to shut things down for good with marathon training, she actually got really sad, which was a shock! She says it's just been such a part of my life for 5 years at this point, that she's not ready for me to stop. She actually tried to force me to sign up for the NYC Marathon this fall. I couldn't believe it. There's a part of her that's really proud of how much better I've gotten with running, like in a little bit of a brag to her friends/coworkers. I personally don't talk about my running a lot with other non-runners, but she does a lot. She's great.
Steve - for a GPS half, if you remember what I said a few pages ago when I was considering it, all of my halfs in miles have come in between 21.14 and 21.16KM. This one was spot on again: 21.15. So I think if you ran 21.15KM, you can be assured it was legit.
Not sure what I'm doing next. Will just run casually the next week or so. Gotta take it one week at a time with coronavirus. If it looks like my late June marathon has no shot, I'll probably transition to 5K/10K training and look to get a TT done to take those down.
Cobra Commander Keen
JMac - Great RR, and congrats again on the PR. Notching that is seriously impressive.
Kiwis - Have you guys had any Arnott's Iced VoVos? I got a package from my MIL and those things are DELICIOUS. I think I have a new favorite packaged cookie.
Did my first workout in a while yesterday, and man am I slow now! Pace was a solid 20 sec/mi slower than I would have liked (which just gets worse in that I was running 30 sec intervals), but getting the rust out of my legs was a good thing and there's nowhere to go but up from here. Trying to pile on the mileage now in an attempt to at least not lose so much ground to DPS and get ready for something (hopefully) in the fall.
A LRS is setting up a virtual race series (5k, 10k, and HM over the coming weeks), Complete with actual prizes! The whole thing starts this Sunday, and they are having some smaller prizes for people who find and run certain race-distance Strava segments they give clues to. I figured out the one for this weekend (dirt trails in a nature park), but unfortunately it's nearly an hour's drive away. It's not like I'd be doing anything else Sunday, so maybe I'll venture out early in the morning to run it. If I were in a bit better shape I'd even have a chance at taking the CR, assuming none of the local fast guys find it too.
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
Problem Child
Hey thanks everyone, appreciate it. Regarding my wife, she's really supportive of my running. When I told her that I was ready to shut things down for good with marathon training, she actually got really sad, which was a shock! She says it's just been such a part of my life for 5 years at this point, that she's not ready for me to stop. She actually tried to force me to sign up for the NYC Marathon this fall. I couldn't believe it. There's a part of her that's really proud of how much better I've gotten with running, like in a little bit of a brag to her friends/coworkers. I personally don't talk about my running a lot with other non-runners, but she does a lot. She's great. Steve - for a GPS half, if you remember what I said a few pages ago when I was considering it, all of my halfs in miles have come in between 21.14 and 21.16KM. This one was spot on again: 21.15. So I think if you ran 21.15KM, you can be assured it was legit. Not sure what I'm doing next. Will just run casually the next week or so. Gotta take it one week at a time with coronavirus. If it looks like my late June marathon has no shot, I'll probably transition to 5K/10K training and look to get a TT done to take those down.
I don't think non-running people understand the importance of spousal support during marathon training. It's like this third person in the relationship you both love and hate. My wife was in the hotel room looking up marathons when I tanked at Chicago. I wanted a moment or week to start thinking of something else and she flat out said "you either run a race and try to qualify in April, or you run CIM" and it kind of picked me up from falling too far down into a hole. I'm sure my wife gets the same feelings yours does when we do something great and they fall when we fall. I try to return the favor to her with other stuff so she knows if she comes up with some crazy idea I'm kind of 80% committed to being 60% supportive from the start. Plus I think the enjoy the time along when we're out running and realize we're kind of irritating when not training for SOMETHING. Heck, my wife rolls her eyes and says "BYEEEE" like those Criket Cellular commercials when I tell her I could totally run CIM and have someone pick up my packet and meet me at the start. It's on my son's birthday.
casual running is kinda cool after all the speed, tempo, threshold, structured purpose based running. Running simply "Because I want to" is MUCH different. No real failures are possible and for me it's almost 100% casual with just working on self motivation to get something done.
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
My wife is supportive of my running......if an overseas trip is involved
Loads of people out jogging this morning. This home confinement may start a new jogging revolution.
I saw a lady doing laps of her house. I think I could get about 80m per lap
My wife is great - it helps a lot that she used to be a top-level field hockey player as she gets the level of time and commitment that needs to go into training (even she'd probably rather I didn't disappear around 5:30am every morning). Anyone is that is prepared to cheer like an idiot every minute or two for 25 straight laps is pretty awesome in my books.
Just did some foam rolling and stretching at home this morning - Friday would normally be a gym day. Legs are a bit tired and it'd be easy to start hunting some sort of streak in the absence of anything else to do, and I know tomorrow I'll feel better for the legs having a day off today.
My partner is great, she's a close to top level equestrian rider so she gets it, although does get a bit frustrated at times. She didn't like the idea of watching me do laps at Hagley Park in the freezing cold for a time trial...
Mark, how would your wife react to "cheer like an idiot"?
I'm sticking to a quiet week, 20km tomorrow for a slightly shorter long run. I want to get fresh and see if that helps my motivation to continue proper training from Monday.