Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2019
34:10 on the watch although the official clock was 34:06 as I hit the line, so will have to wait for official results tomorrow until I know if it was a PB or not.
It was crazy windy, which ended up being a stinking headwind for most of the first km of each lap, then a cross/tail wind for the second km. The splits pretty much tell the story to be honest. The wind kicked up even more on the last lap. I would definitely be under 34:00 on a better day. Was a good hit-out before NZ HM Champs next week and overall really happy with how I paced it, there was enough left to finish strong with a nice fast km. Thought about going out with the lead group, decided against it after 400m, ended up being a good call as I picked off 2 guys on lap 4 (including Mark Boyce!) and almost picked off 2 more although they pipped me at the end.
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"
Mark - nice race. Good luck on it being a PR. Dunedin half marathon will be a strong field, there's a lot of good under 20's in Wellington running it. One our under 20's won the men's under 20 yesterday (7.5km), he said that most of the better under 20's are going to Dunedin.
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
Watson - cheers. I'm not too worried about those under 20's boys as they're not in the 35-49 bracket haha.
Me - Normally I kinda get that taper-week invincibility mid-week, or at least the day before the race, but I felt pretty bleh basically until I was driving to the race on Sunday. I'm hoping this is a genius piece of planning on my coaches part given the main game isn't until next weekend! This actually ended up as my lightest week since December last year, but I was really pleased with the race effort despite the conditions. Looking forward to having another crack at the sub-34 in hopefully better conditions on the same course in 3 weeks time. Although my massive grumble is that despite the course maps showing to the contrary, the STUPID DAMN S-BEND IS STILL THERE! That crap is worth at least 10 seconds right there.
M: weights
T: 14.4km incl. intervals
W: 11km w/ sprints
T: 10km w/ moderate 500m efforts
F: weights
S: 7.4km pre-race usual
S: 12.5km incl. Auckland Road Champs 10km (34:15 official)
Total: 55.3km
3 months til Masters
https://www.athlinks.com/event/8055/results/Event/859749/Course/1603208/Bib/4453??
The course map on page 120 of this thread.
So I started out with a goal for 6:40 for the first 5 miles and see how I am feeling. They felt really easy and controlled. The guy who finished first went out in a 6 min mile and was pretty far out. By the 3rd mile I was slowly reeling him in by about 3-5 seconds a mile. After 5 I felt good so I started pushing at 6:30 pace. My miles were faster or slower based on how big the hill or down hill the mile was. I caught him at mile 9 and lead for 1.5 miles by about 5 yards. When we went up. The biggest hill (mile 11) he pushed a head some and slowly gained 40 seconds or so on me. I pushed hard the last mile and reeled him back some, but I let him bet too far out. 6:06 final mile. Granted it had about a 70 ft drop over the mile.
My legs felt good and I did not feel horrible at the end, but I think if I had pushed all out I maybe could have won. The other side of that was if I had gone all out, I would absolutely not been able to walk for a few days. I feel like I ran at about 95% of my capacity. I felt tired in the end but under control. Since I was so far ahead of my goal, I figured crushing my legs wasn't going to do much good if the real goal is the marathon next year. I'll go run 7 or 8 miles today and likely feel just fine. Got a 10k next weekend and a 10 mile in early October. I think I will train through the 10k and try to do well at the 10 mile. I don't think I will be able to run a great 10k this close anyway.
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
Intl. correspondent
Dps - once again, congratz on a great result. I'll confess I'm incapable of running anything less than all out LOL
Mark - I can see on Strava you mention the official time is 34:15 so exactly 8 seconds above your PR LOL, just like it happened to me a week ago.
Great result, you’ll be running sub 34 in no time.
LOL at the S bend in the race. There is one in the Brazilian F-1 circuit and they call it the Senna S.
My week is below. I was debating whether to have another go at my 5k PR next weekend.
The pro was that I'm close to PR shape and next weekend is likely the last Sunday in the year with cold temps (55f 12c)
The con was that it was too close, 5 days out of my target date for the 1500 (Sep 5th)
The problem was the race happening next weekend has some rolling undulations including a 100m section with a strong uphill.
So I decided to stay put and wait until another race which is gonna happen Sep 15th. The weather won't be as good, with temps around 59-65, but starting 8am just one hour after sunrise it should still be relatively cool so that I'm not fried on the way back.
We'll see, at least I'll be able to race my 1500 and then get a few 5k pace intervals to get used to the pace.
I've been doing strictly R/mile pace for nearly 3 months now.
M: Off
T: 1500@5k pace then 3x500@mile pace. I was still tired from the 5k so I was way off pace, the 1500 were 5:51
W: Off
T: 2x (800 600 400 200) - here I was slowly getting back to the splits from the previous weeks
S: 5x400 5x200 - slower than a few weeks ago, but I still got one of the 400's in 1:12.
S: 12 ez
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
JamesD
Mark, Dp, and Watson - Good jobs, all.
Flavio - Looks to me like you made the right decision. Good not to risk the goal 1500, and 65 degrees might affect you some for a longer race but probably not much for a 5K.
Me - Only ran four days this week because of out-of-town commitments. I still got in 32 miles and two swims, had my longest long run in several months (13.5; 12.4 is my usual LR), and a slow 4x1200 workout. Was tired for the last couple of miles of the long run. For the 1200s, I wore for the first time my Reebok Floatride Run Fasts. No local stores carry them, so I bought them online without being able to try them on, but they felt pretty good. My times were about 10 sec/mile slower than I had expected, and I slowed each 1200, but that may have been me rather than the shoes, as my tempo last week was also about 10 sec/mile slower than expected. Shoes felt light, but not quite as bouncy as the Floatride Forever Energys that I use for most of my runs. Hope to recover a little speed during my taper next week before my 10K on the following Monday.
Sun - 24 mins swimming
Mon - 13.5 miles easy
Tues - 6.2 slow and easy
Weds - 24 mins swimming
Thurs - 6, including 4x1200M @ 4:37
Fri - 6.3 slow
Sat - off
Total - 32 miles
12-week average - 31 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
Thought I'd do a RR even though it wasn't quite a PB.
Auckland Road Race Champs 10km, 25 August 2019
It's not raining, but it is pretty damn windy down at Takanini. Unfortunately the location of the course (in the middle of a valley) makes it pretty exposed, with the only saving grace being that, as it's 5 laps of the 2km course, you're only suffering into the wind for around 1km at a time, then it's a cross wind and tailwind home. A brief warm-up with Mark Boyce and Darbs also reveals that, despite the course map showing to the contrary, the hated s-bend midway through the first lap is still there. Damn. Also there is a massive puddle right where the u-turn is at the end of each lap. Good times.
Lap 1 (3:16, 3:18)
The race includes Senior Men, Senior Women and Masters Men. At the start, a lead group of around 8 runners forms, I decide to try and hang on as Mark Boyce is there and he's always been just a bit quicker than me. However the pace is just a bit hot for me - more like my 5k pace - so I make the call after around 400m not to force it. Unfortunately this comes just as we've turned into the worst of the wind, and I'm reminded of some banter I had with Sasha Daniels about 20 minutes earlier that it would be a tough and miserable day to being doing it all by yourself. I wonder if there's a second group behind me that I might be able to work with, but they're already a good 10 seconds back so not a lot of options there either. Km 1 was 3:16, a bit hot for an upwind km, so I'm hoping I made the right call.
Anyway, after we get through the stupid s-bend and turn north the wind is across us, and then as it hits a tailwind at the top of the course, I realise that I'll kind of need to make the most of it here. Km 2 was 3:18 and I was feeling pretty good (downwind and slight downhill will do that). I try and pick the least wet line through the u-turn as I turn back into the wind (ugh).
Lap 2 (3:24, 3:23)
Held pace surprisingly well into the wind here, and maybe I should've pushed the second half a little harder. Feeling like I've got the effort about right.
Lap 3 (3:26, 3:23)
Felt like the wind had picked up a bit here. Props to Anna McRae who is cheering people on by name as they turn into the wind. Mentally I'm counting down (2 more time I've gotta battle the damn wind). Pace still feeling solid and like I might've done a pretty good job getting the 10k effort right despite not having raced a 10k for almost a year.
Lap 4 (3:29, 3:23)
Upwind km's are slowing a little bit but I guess not as much as some - I reel in Sam Cadwallader early on this lap and then I can see Mark Boyce and 2 other guys ahead. I catch them on the back straight, and kinda had to pinch myself. Mark is a guy who I've always been chasing, has a sub-33 10k as well as a 72 minute HM to his name. Anyway he might still have a quicker finish and I'm just focusing on running my own race because it seems to be doing the job. On the home straight, I realise that I'm an outside chance to go sub-34 or PB, but it's kinda hard to tell as this course tends to measure long. At the u-turn, I notice Mark has dropped a bit further back, but the two other guys are still on me.
Lap 5 (3:30, 3:17)... plus last 100m @ 3:09/km
Ugh, that headwind has got even stronger for the last lap. The two guys have tucked in behind me (one is Alec Geddes who was a solid 2 minutes faster than me last year), but I don't really care. I've done the work myself for 4 laps, one more isn't going to make a lot of difference. Just focused on battling through the wind and surviving until the back straight. At this point the two guys pulled slightly ahead. I realise if I absolutely smash it I'm still an outside chance of a PB, so I just maxed it out from the top of the course all the way home. The watch says 34:10 at the finish, and although the finish clock said 34:06, official time said 34:15, so missed the PB by a few seconds.
All the same I'm really pleased with the race. Really consistent splits even into the wind, despite having not raced a 10km for almost a year - and enough left in the tank for a fast finish too (pace from the 9.5km mark home was around 3:10/km). The main objective here was a really good hitout to bust the race rust before NZ Half Marathon Champs this coming weekend, so mission accomplished on that front - and although a quicker time would've been nice, given the conditions I'm really happy with the race execution and where the fitness seems to be at.
Official result: 34:15
10th overall, 1st AG (M35-39)
Taper Madness, Part IX
Weather for Sunday (although long-range) in Dunedin is looking potentially pretty good. Light winds and cool temps (7C), with no rain. After the rain and wind sh!tshow of my last 2 races, it's looking like paradise. Hope it stays that way.
Geoff Ferry has entered (same AG as me). He ran a 10k PB on the weekend by around 30 seconds, similar time to me but on a faster course and with no wind. His current HM PB is I think around 1:18 but it's 2 years old so he's a bit of an unknown quantity.
Dwight Grieve ran almost exactly the same time as me, on a dead flat course without a stupid S bend.
I like it when regional champs line up the weekend before a race - it's a helpful form guide. I'm feeling like I might just have the edge. Also Vaporflies.
Easy recovery run this morning - legs actually felt pretty good, a few tight spots but nothing major. JMac would be proud, I managed 4:38/km.
Nice race report Mark. Is a 10k race the week before a goal HM typical for you?
My week:
Monday - 3.3 easy TM
Tuesday - 6.7 trails, somewhat hard
Wednesday- 2 easy TM
Thursday- rest
Friday - 2.2 easy TM
Saturday - 6.7 easy roads
Sunday - 7.8 trails
Total - 28.7 miles
Shooting for around 40 next week
Flavio, James, Paul, and Piwi nice week
DPS, Watson, and Mark nice job on your races!
Another easy week for me, I backed off on the pace quite a bit and ran all easy miles.
Stil not feeling 100 percent and still very apprehensive about pushing any kind of pace so I am just gonna continue with building my base back up.
I plan on backing off the overall miles a bit next week, as well as cutting my long run back to about 10 miles to get myself closer to 20 for the week.
I should end up with just under 100 miles for the month of Aug. more than the last 3 months combined, so there is something to be happy about.
Weekly SummaryMonday, Aug 19, 2019 thru Sunday, Aug 25, 2019
PR's
1m 5:38 (2018)
5k 19:59 (2019)
HM 1:33:56 (2018)
FM 3:23:07 (2018)
Done it once before (a year ago), ran a 10km PB and then an HM PB a week later.
I find if I go more than about 3 months without racing, it helps to have a shorter race just to blow the rust out. Something like a Parkrun would be ideal, but in this case 10k regional champs lined up nicely and my recovery from that is normally fine to be racing again the following weekend.
Mark - is that Geoff from Wellington? If so, I used to work with him.
He's registered to Scottish so yep I assume Welly.
The Welly 10k champs seem to generally throw up faster times than other races (including NZ Champs), so you've always got to be a bit careful what you read into relative times. Different courses, different conditions, they can all make a big difference.
That's the same Geoff.
Taper Madness, Part IX(1)
I feel bad bringing up the topic of course measurement here with JMac away, as I know it is a favourite of his.
But, course measurement.
For Auckland Road Champs, pretty much everyone had the course at 10.2km on Strava with the odd 10.1 or 10.3.
For reference Wellington had almost everyone at 10.0km with a few at 9.9 or 10.1. Now, the Wellington course is basically a straight line, so the potential for course inefficiency is quite low. But even in Auckland, the only area where you might get material inefficiency is the S bend and I seriously doubt whether that gets you more than 50m at most (people have to slow right down so have enough time to pick a good line there).
200m doesn't sound like a lot, but that's over half a minute, which is a lot.
The reason I'm bringing this is up is because Athletics NZ have a weekly mailout with recent results from international and major national events - and hilariously Auckland's course copped specific mention... "A strong cold wind swept the course making the going tough in parts however a number of runners felt it was slightly longer than 10km". There would've needed to be a LOT of runners saying this for Athletics NZ to publicly mention it given that National Road Champs are going to be there in 3 weeks!
I still live in hope that this will lead to the S bend being removed for National Road Champs!