Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2019 (Read 641 times)

matthewfschwartz


    Good weeks from everyone!

     

    I'm still on the bike, hopefully will be able to start PT for my patellar tendonitis the week after next, but in the meantime I'll be biking. Essentially what I'm doing is biking what I would be running for the base phase of my marathon training, so just a tempo, fartlek, and some moderate and easy miles each week. This week on the bike:

    Weekly Summary
    Monday, Jan 07, 2019 thru Sunday, Jan 13, 2019

    <tfoot> </tfoot>
    Day Miles Pace Description Link
    Mon 15.0 2:59 Easy ride strava
    Tue 15.0 2:59 10’ WU, 20’ fartlek, 15’ CD strava
    Wed 30.0 2:59 Long bike strava
    Thu 14.5 3:06 Morning Ride strava
    Fri 8.0 3:45 Nice and easy strava
    Sat 19.0 2:22 10’ WU, 45’ tempo, 10’ CD strava
    Sun 32.0 2:48 Long ride to finish off the week strava
      133.5 2:55    

     

    Don't dwell on the miles too much, I find stationary bikes are pretty tough to gauge when it comes to mileage (hence why I go by time instead). This week I logged 6.5 hours

    PR's: 800 - 2:01.9, 1600 - 4:34.4, 3 mile - 16:00, Full Marathon - 2:54:49

    Goals: Break 1:20 HM, Break 2:45 FM, Break 34:00 10k, Break 16:00 5k

    Upcoming Races: 

    Strava link

    SteveChCh


    Hot Weather Complainer

      Good work Matthew - I do the same when I have an injury.  It's tough going but better than nothing!

      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

        I am happy to say that my body reacted well to the last 2 weeks of higher mileage and to the longest long run in almost a year (18 miles yesterday at 8:15 average, with 3-4 miles at the end at dream marathon pace - 7'30'').

        Today I went out for a short easy run (6 miles); the legs felt a bit heavy at the beginning, but improved and I found myself running again under 8' towards the end of the session.

         

        Now, with 185 miles in the last 30 days, it's time to test a bit of tempo run in mid-week session. So tomorrow I am going to try 10 miles with 4 at HM/15K pace (trying to get to 6:50 or a bit faster). If that does not create any problems I will hold this sequence (easy-mid tempo, easy- mid-long easy, easy, long) for the next few weeks and see how I react.

         

        To shake things up a bit, I have decided to accept the invite from my local running club to take part to the cross-country championship on the 26th. It should be 8 K up and down in the mud.

        If the Belfast city marathon on the 5th of may 2019 doesn't make the list of planned races, this (NI And Ulster Intermediate and Masters Cross Country Championships on the 26th of January) might, although, I have no idea what to expect in terms of time or race as I have not ran cross country since I was 14...

         

        The question to you is: how do you prepare for a race in the middle of a marathon plan without lowering too much miles? and how do you recover? I may also get a HM in towards the end of March (and I have the same questions).

         

        have a great week

        Marco

        PRs since re-started in 2013:

        5km: 19:43 (Belfast park run Sep-16) | 10km: 40:16 (Belfast Lagan side 10K Sep-18) 

        HM: 1:30:09 (Belfast city Half Marathon, September-18) | FM: 3:25:05 (official chip time Belfast city Marathon, May-19, marathon was 0.3/4 longer, original time 3:27:20 for 26.5/6...)

         

        Upcoming races:  

        ???

          Nice weeks by everyone!

          you all are killing me with all this math...except Flavio that was funny Smile

           

          I am not liking the treadmill much spent most of my runs on it last week on it....blah

           

          Weekly Summary
          Monday, Jan 07, 2019 thru Sunday, Jan 13, 2019

          <tfoot> </tfoot>
          Day Miles Pace Description Link
          Tue 3.1 9:20 Evening Run strava
          Wed 5.0 8:59 1 wu 7x.25 with .25 recoveries (6:00 on treadmill) the last two had .5 recovery strava
          Thu 3.1 9:28 Evening Run strava
          Fri 3.0 8:28 Evening Run strava
          Sat 0.2 9:33 Lunch Activity strava
          Sat 13.2 8:49 Lunch Run strava
          Sat 2.0 9:16 Afternoon Run strava
          Sun 11.0 8:23 Afternoon Run strava
            40.6 8:50  

          PR's

          1m  5:38 (2018)

          5k    19:59 (2019)

          HM  1:33:56 (2018)

          FM  3:23:07 (2018)

          CommanderKeen


          Cobra Commander Keen

            Wow, two new pages over the weekend!


            DJ - I use a Fenix 5X. Technically it's way more watch than I "need", but I've found that products like this that are at/towards the top of the pile tend to get better support over the long run, which is a big thing for me.


            Mark - Another solid week.


            James - Good week. Killer 1200's.

             

            Matt - Nice work keeping up the work on the bike ahead of starting PT work.


            Marco - I think accommodating a race like that depends on what you're wanting to do with that race. Is it a fitness test? Just for "fun"? For a fitness test I typically front-load my miles in the week so I can reduce my mileage a bit in the couple days before the race. Just enough to freshen the legs a bit without lowering mileage. I also will let it take the place of what would have been my second workout of the week.
            If you're racing it for "fun", then I would recommend using it in place of a workout that week.
            Recovery wise, a fitness test for me is typically done just before the taper starts so I let that be my "recovery". For a fun race/workout I just treat it like I would any other week. If the next week is a planned down week, great. If not, that's also great.


            Finally getting to build back some consistency with just under 40 miles in 6 days of running. Getting those antibiotics out of my system was like flipping a light switch and all of a sudden getting some fitness back overnight. Nothing worth posting about, just easy runs. I'm trying to do to a good amount of rolling my legs and stretching. I do have just a bit of tightness where my right hamstring meets the glute, but it loosens up within just a couple minutes. Looking to start adding in some form of workouts this week.

            5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22

             

            Upcoming Races:

             

             

            brentnet


              SteveChCh - Hopefully your house move goes better than mine. It sent me off track for quite some time!

               

              Flavio - Feels like aerobically I tend to come along quicker than my legs. I'm with you that some days my legs just feel terrible. My goal is to get about 6 consistent weeks in and then that starts to fade away for me (usually).

               

              PK - When is the planned marathon? I've been pretty lucky to avoid injuries throughout most of my running career but as I've gotten a little older, I notice I have to be a little more cautious. Legs are trashed after hard efforts.

               

              JamesD - Doesn't seem too slow to me? If your goal is a sub-1:30 this year, I'd say you're right on track.

               

              Mark - You and I have the same attitude towards training. Consistency as a goal of laying the foundation for a good year!

               

              ocramireob - If you're running 180 miles in a month and have a half marathon PR of 1:30, I have no doubts you'll be able to handle 7:30 marathon pace with a proper buildup. Keep rocking it!

               

              Cfarr - Embrace the TM! I've run about 3 non-treadmill miles since about November. I probably won't get outside for another 3 months besides a 1 week trip to FL.

               

              Keen - Solid week. Consistency is 100% the key to me running well. I start to feel like a different person once I get 6-7 solid weeks in a row. And if I have 1-2 bad weeks in there, it almost feels like I'm starting over.

               

              I'm pretty satisfied with my last week. Wound up with 56.6 miles with a 16 mile long run thrown in there. I'm starting an 18 week marathon training program (my own modified version of Pfitz 18/70) today, so I feel like it was a pretty good building block towards a solid 18-week training block hopefully.

              Marky_Mark_17


                Steve - nice week and good luck for the house move.

                 

                Flavio - hope those legs are recovering!! The Sat/Sun workout/long run combo is something I've done for a while now.

                 

                Watson - nice week.

                 

                Marco - nice week and great long run with the tempo finish.  Regarding your cross country race, 8km is not long enough to really warrant changing your training a lot.  I would take a day or two easy before hand, and a couple of days easy afterwards just based on how your legs are feeling.  Keen's suggestion of just treating it as a workout/tempo is a good one too.  In terms of the half marathon, it depends on what your goal is.  You could just use it as a long run and include a few miles at marathon pace.  Or if you wanted to race it, you would need to allow some recovery time afterwards.

                 

                Matthew - good that you can at least use the bike to keep the aerobic fitness up!

                 

                Corey - nice week.

                 

                Keen - good that you're getting back to normal.  That niggle sounds like hamstring tendon tightness.  It's not a biggie if you stay on top of it - keep foam rolling it.

                 

                Brent- nice week.  Haha yeah my signature is a bit of a giveaway!

                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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

                Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

                "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

                JMac11


                RIP Milkman

                  You people went nuts over the weekend! Lots to catch up on.

                   

                  Mark - I agree with Flavio, that type of work would kill me, especially since you went as long as you did Sunday. Nice work as always. Don't listen to the haters on Strava 

                   

                  James - Good to see you post again, injury-free is a great goal for 2019

                   

                  Piwi - Slow and steady! You and I need to follow the same plan of "don't be too aggressive and reinjure yourself like a " My desire/mind is so far ahead of where my body is, I want to be running 75+ MPW right now.

                   

                  Watson - I like your list of reasons for feeling like crap after a 5K. Probably all of those reasons!

                   

                  Flavio - Seems like this new coach is going to be a big thing for you in 2019. I'm expecting a lot from you. Running on jelly legs, as long as you take it SUPER slow, is actually really beneficial. I actually really enjoy incredibly slow recovery runs when I feel like crap.

                   

                  Steve - Your running seems similar to mine, lots of 70 minute easy runs. I'm actually going to alter that a bit going forward though, I'm wondering if it's too long and causing problems for the little mileage I'm running right now.

                   

                  Matt - you are way better than me, I just sat around and ate like a savage during my time on the DL.

                   

                  Brent - Good base laying, sounds like you're ready to go.

                   

                  Keen - Welcome to the world of being injured/lazy/sick and how everything hurts. I'm now 8 days in and I finally feel normal.

                   

                  Corey - Did you run that 5K? I didn't see anything on Strava indicating a result.

                   

                  Me - Slow and steady wins the race was the theme for me this week. I believe I'm being the blend of cautious while also trying to get back to my normal volume. I spent all week doing easy runs, slowly building up from 6 miles to 8 miles for normal and a 13 mile "long" run this weekend. So far, so good. The PTT is far from healed, with generally aching when I'm walking around the house, but it's only a level 1 out of 10 pain when running and only for very short periods of time (e.g. 30 seconds or less). This week, I'm going to continue upping the easy mileage a bit, and finally give it a go on Thursday or Friday with 10 @ MP. I figure MP is the least stressful of all paces, but it will be the final sign to me that it's okay to go back to normal 2Q training.

                   

                  More importantly for this forum, I signed up for a half marathon 4.5 weeks after my marathon. It's tight timing, but I got some feedback on the Sub 3 forum that people have done it with success (3 weeks is the minimum before people will race again). This means I have TWO halfs scheduled this year, which is....infinite more than last year? Someone run that through the Black Scholes formula and let me know if that's true.

                   

                  Weekly Summary
                  Monday, Jan 07, 2019 thru Sunday, Jan 13, 2019

                  <tfoot> </tfoot>
                  Day Miles Pace Description Link
                  Tue 6.0 7:44 Evening Run strava
                  Wed 6.9 7:31 Evening Run strava
                  Thu 8.2 7:53 Evening Run strava
                  Sat 7.9 7:42 Morning Run strava
                  Sun 13.0 7:26 Afternoon Run strava
                    42.0 7:37  

                  5K: 16:37 (11/20)  |  10K: 34:49 (10/19)  |  HM: 1:14:57 (5/22)  |  FM: 2:36:31 (12/19) 

                   

                   

                  SteveChCh


                  Hot Weather Complainer

                    Nice weeks everyone.

                     

                    JMac - I'm slowly bringing some quality into my work outs - it's hard not to get excited and jump into them.  Even after last night my calf is a little sore.  It's amazing the difference I feel both in my lungs and my legs between interval and tempo pace.  My tempo pace has been too fast lately, down around 4:00-4:05 mins/km, but feel very comfortable.  Intervals are "only" 15-20 seconds quicker per km but I feel like death by the end.  To be fair last night was my first lot of intervals for a while, but it's common even when I'm used to it.

                     

                    Does anyone know how to bring across accurate splits from Garmin to Strava?  Mine are all showing as 1km but I manually created splits for the intervals last night  5 x (1 min on, 1 min rest, 2 mins on, 1 min rest).

                    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

                    Marky_Mark_17


                      JMac - Oh I see we're back to that time of year where you run a lot of easy miles and I sit there and admire your patience!  I guess in the wider injury context it is highly sensible.  Anyway for an experienced marathoner like you, a half 5 weeks after your marathon should be fine I would've thought.  I paid the price for racing one 6 weeks after my marathon in 2017, but that was my first marathon and I was pretty fatigued in general.

                       

                      And yeah - I was a little surprised around the 'if you're only running halves, why are you doing 30km long runs?' debate on Strava.  I really feel that those longer runs and the marathon helped my endurance big-time and were a big factor in my HM improvement over 2018.  And yes, they're long-ish, but they're still in that 2-2.5 hour range which is not crazy long from a time-on-feet perspective.

                       

                      Steve - it's probably one of those things that Strava makes you pay extra for now...

                      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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

                      Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

                      "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

                      JMac11


                      RIP Milkman

                        Mark - I always felt the golden long run for halfs was just over 2 hours (2.5 for fulls). For me, that's usually a 17 mile long run. 19 is not crazy every once in a while. I know we can't compare ourselves to elites, but certainly sub-elites are not limiting their long runs to 90 minutes for half marathon training. Normal folk may face some injury risk completing 19 on your weekly mileage, but you're different and it was completely reasonable.

                         

                        Re: my race, I think that's right. Can you imagine running a 10K just 2 weeks after your first half marathon? I remember the crazy pain I felt right after the race and couldn't use stairs. Now? I can definitely run a half and get up and down stairs fine, and could race again within 10 days. Each one gets easier, and I think the same will be true for a full.

                         

                        Steve - No clue, sorry.

                        5K: 16:37 (11/20)  |  10K: 34:49 (10/19)  |  HM: 1:14:57 (5/22)  |  FM: 2:36:31 (12/19) 

                         

                         

                          Steve nice gains going on with your workouts. My Tomtom watch would separate the intervals from rest on strava. I haven't done a workout yet with my Garmin so can't help. I'm due soon to do something but it will likely be continuous 6kms at tempo.

                           

                          Mark I missed the 30km controversy. To me it just seems you are so fit you are owning it right now so who cares

                           

                          Jmac be careful on that MP run. Mine left me sore for a week.

                          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 "      

                           

                          Marky_Mark_17


                            JMac - it's funny you say that because I was having a chat with Steven Lett when I ran with him a few weeks back who is a big advocate of Lydiard that anything over 2 hours is the real money in the bank (within reason).  I was probably a little longer than planned last Sunday but mostly it was because I figured out a decent course which wasn't going to overdo it.  I think something around that 17 mile mark is probably the sweet spot.

                             

                            And yeah... after my first half, I was still sore a week post-race and got stitch running down a very gentle hill!!  Depending on the course and effort, I'm now pretty much back to normal training a week after a HM race, albeit tougher courses would still carry a slightly longer recovery than that.

                            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: Maraetai HM, 10 Mar, DNF

                            Up next: Waterfront HM, 7 Apr

                            "CONSISTENCY IS KING"

                            matthewfschwartz


                              Mark- great work on that long run, I think those long runs should be more based on time as opposed to distance. I’ve been reading up on lydiard and like your friend said, time on feet is really key. And since you run those bad boys so fast, your 19 miler could take the same amount of time as someone else’s 15-16 miler.

                               

                              Jmac- I’d just be careful about pushing it with the PTT, especially if it’s sore or tender after runs. I made the mistake with my knee and now I’m set back even further, when I could’ve dealt with it in late November. It’s just a fine line to walk, that’s all. Im not too familiar with PTT, it is tendinitis on the top of your foot isn’t it? Was that caused by overuse or what?

                              PR's: 800 - 2:01.9, 1600 - 4:34.4, 3 mile - 16:00, Full Marathon - 2:54:49

                              Goals: Break 1:20 HM, Break 2:45 FM, Break 34:00 10k, Break 16:00 5k

                              Upcoming Races: 

                              Strava link

                                Mark, Matt, thanks for the suggestions on how to fit the race in the schedule. I'll see what is the safest approach.

                                Brent, in theory you are correct, in practice, I never managed under 4:15... but I guess consistency was not always there in the past 5 years. This year I will try to give it a go (the problem is that I have to be done with my training by 7 am... which is difficult with anything above 8-10 miles...

                                .

                                In fact, this morning I had to do a 10 miles with the last 4 miles tempo (HM to 15 K pace). I was surprised to wake up at 5 and by 5:30 be out the door. No energy at the beginning, but I managed 6 miles in 50 min (which is a good easy pace with 7'30 race pace in mind) then I accelerated. I was thinking about the initial comments in this forum ( I think it was Keen)  .

                                 

                                <<Tempo, or Interval sets when things really hurt and all I wanted was to stop telling myself "sticking to it now is the difference between finishing the race strong and jogging it in the last few miles".>>

                                 

                                So I did that. I pushed the first of my final 4 miles a bit more than due and then put everything I had to stay focused and keep the pace. I was very happy when I saw the time at the end - 1h 17'20'' (4 miles in 27'20'', which is 6'50'' per mile).

                                Very happy especially because of when I managed to run it (after 18 miles on Sunday).

                                 

                                I hope I can keep consistency and I might have a good shot at the 3'20 FM plus sub 90 in the half marathon this year. But it is still early...

                                 

                                for now have a great week all!!! talk soon

                                PRs since re-started in 2013:

                                5km: 19:43 (Belfast park run Sep-16) | 10km: 40:16 (Belfast Lagan side 10K Sep-18) 

                                HM: 1:30:09 (Belfast city Half Marathon, September-18) | FM: 3:25:05 (official chip time Belfast city Marathon, May-19, marathon was 0.3/4 longer, original time 3:27:20 for 26.5/6...)

                                 

                                Upcoming races:  

                                ???