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

watsonc123


    Dp - thanks.  Both 2017 and 2018 were not great years.  My best full year was 2015 with about 2600 miles (although this year has probably had more quality/speed).

    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

    Marky_Mark_17


      Watson- nice week and congrats on the mileage milestone.

       

      DPS - another good week, you are definitely keeping it consistent.  The last 3km of most of my long runs involves a 2km hill for around 80m / 260 feet of elevation gain so it's always a bit slow.

       

      Flavio - nice job, those rings are supposed to be really good for core strength.

       

      Piwi - nice tempo running!

       

      Corey - good luck on the build.

      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"

      dpschumacher


      5 months til Masters

        Mark- That makes more sense.

         

        Watsonc- Welcome back to the grind. :-)

        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

         

         

        SteveChCh


        Hot Weather Complainer

          Solid week for me - back up to 62km with no soreness which makes me very happy.

           

          Said goodbye to our dog on Saturday so the rest of life is not so good.  A weird day of firsts yesterday including walking around the neighbourhood without her.

           

          Anyway, thank goodness today is a holiday.

           

          Great work on your mileage watson.

          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

          paul2432


            SteveChCh - My condolences.

             

            I like NB shoes as well.  Currently running in the Beacon v1.  Was going to pick up a v2 soon, but my take a look at the Zante.

             

            I had a decent week.:

             

            Monday - 4 miles TM (last mile walking at grade)

            Tuesday - 7.3 miles roads

            Wednesday - 6 miles TM

            Thursday -13 miles roads with 2x20 minutes tempo.  Tempo was 6:20-6:25 which I was good for me.

            Friday - Unplanned rest day ending a 34 day streak.  I needed the rest.

            Saturday - 14.25 miles roads in the afternoon heat (85F)

            Sunday - 17.33 miles trails with a lot of climbing

             

            62 miles total.

              Watson nice increase in mileage. You should see some improvements from that.

               

              Corey good work keep it up.

               

              Steve oh sorry that sucks. I enjoyed your warmup run on Strava 

               

              Paul I've been enjoying the Zantes. It's nice to have options other than my usual nike or Adidas.

               

              Dp your dog is fast!

               

              Flavio you will have a bodybuilder body soon 

               

              Looks like Jmac ran a great race.

              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 "      

               

              JMac11


              RIP Milkman

                Suffolk County Half 2019 Race Report

                 

                Pre-Race

                 

                This race was held out on Long Island. I like getting out there to do races sometimes to mix things up with my usual NYRR races. Plus it's a good excuse to go see the family.

                 

                Unfortunately, the forecast was terrible leading up to the race, so I threw my A goal out the window and decided that just getting a PR would be an accomplishment.Sometimes a really bad forecast can actually be a good thing, as I had zero nerves the entire weekend going into the race, allowing for some great sleep.

                 

                I slept 11 hours on Friday night, which was amazing. I was in a sleep deficit all week and this really helped me catch up. On Saturday night (pre-race), I was so tired I almost fell asleep before 7 PM! I was able to make it all the way to 9 PM though and slept well throughout the night before my 5:30 am wake up.

                 

                Nothing out of the ordinary for the pre-race routine. Parking was 1 mile away from the start, so instead of taking the shuttle, I just jogged to the start line. I'm still trying to figure out what the right warm up distance is for a half marathon. I think it's 0 for a marathon, and 2 miles for 5-10K (potentially 3 if it's cold).

                 

                I got to the start line with about 10 minutes to spare. The rain was light at this point, which was nice! The only annoying thing about the start was that there were a lot of people lined up right at the front that had no right being there. I give NYRR credit for the corral system they implement because you have to prove how fast you are before you can move up in corrals. I guess I'm just spoiled with that system.

                 

                As I complained about all week, weather was going to be an issue. The course is an out and back (with a slight little loop at the turnaround), with the wind at your back for the first half and into your face the second half. Rain and wind were predicted to get worse as the race went on. Winds were projected at 20 mph (32) with higher gusts, plus about 1.2" of ran in 6 hours (30mm in...6 hours, it's weird you guys don't have a different time system too)

                 

                Miles 1-3: 5:49, 5:50, 5:49

                 

                About 0.5 miles in, I heard 3 guys around me saying they were going for 1:20. I almost started laughing out loud given we were going out right around 1:16 pace for the first half mile. After that though, things settled down. I was in third place, but overtaken by someone about 2 miles in. I told him "good work" and we chatted a bit after I caught back up with him. He said he was also going for around 1:16 so I figured I had a buddy to run with.

                 

                First 3 mile splits were very consistent, although I was a little worried. The problem with tailwinds sometimes is you don't even notice them unless they're SUPER gusty. I was thinking "wow it's not that windy" and then I remembered that often you can't feel them. I started looking around and I noticed all the leaves were blowing pretty hard on the ground WITH us, which was not a good sign for the return. I was getting worried that my splits were a bit slow if we were running with a tailwind, but I know I run my best races with a negative split. Although I knew that wouldn't happen given the weather, I figured I would negative split the effort. There is absolutely no point in pushing yourself in the first 3 miles of a half unless you're 10+ off the pace. I figured I was only about 5 off where I wanted to be, so I just let it continue.

                 

                Miles 4-6: 5:46, 5:45, 5:46

                 

                Really happy with these miles. I let my pace creep down, but overall all 6 miles were within 5 seconds of each other, so I was running a really great race so far. I lost the guy I was running with, as he slowly just fell off. So now I was out by myself in third place after confirming with the bike next to me that the two people in front of me were running the half (this was a mixed race of half and full, so I wasn't sure)

                 

                Attention to the Kiwis / Course Certification Nerds: So you know how I always complain to you guys about your lack of certified courses. Here's how honest of a guy I am. The night before the race, I went on to the USATF website to check out the course certification, as I know at these smaller races sometimes they don't really enforce the rules. The only thing that struck out to me on the certification was that the course was measured to the right of the center line, with a note saying "runners must stay to the right of the center line." This makes complete sense, as the course is an out and back.

                 

                Anyway, within the first few miles, the leaders were cutting over to the tangents when the road cut left, which makes complete sense if you weren't a certified nerd like I am. However, I told myself that running the actual course was more important than the race itself, so I stayed to the right the entire race! More on this later.

                 

                Miles 7-10: 5:47, 5:49, 5:50, 5:42 (not sure about that last one being accurate)

                 

                Right after mile 6, you make a left turn into the park. Right when I turned, I felt the wind hitting my left cheek, so I knew it was going to be bad once I turned around. At this point, I caught up to the guy in second, who stayed with me. After running through this turnaround point, we made the turn back on to the main highway. That's when the wind hit me and I knew it was time to go to work.

                 

                The fact that mile 8 came in under 5:50 really lifted my spirits. I felt like at points I had slowed down by 30 seconds a mile because of how hard the wind was blowing, but clearly I had continue to ramp up my effort from the second set of miles. I imagine at the end of the race, the wind was costing us somewhere around 10 seconds per mile, but it depended on which mile, as some were directly into the wind and others were more of a diagonal.

                 

                During mile 8, I almost turned to the guy next to me and asked if he wanted to share the wind work, ie I would block for one mile, then he would. However, I lost him pretty quickly so I lost that opportunity. I was now in solo 2nd place

                 

                Miles 11-13.1: 5:53, 5:54, 5:42, (5:29 pace for final 0.1)

                 

                Right at the Mile 10 marker, I felt my stomach turn. This is way earlier than usual, as my stomach usually gives out with about 1 mile to go. I started to panic a little that this race was about to end with me vomiting on the side of the road. Although I didn't want to take my anti-nausea pills this early, I decided I had no choice. I reached into my pocket and...couldn't find them. Now I was in full panic. I had my keys and my credit card, but then discovered they were just buried in the corner of the pocket. Thank heavens because if I didn't have those, it was game over. I munched on 3 of them and dropped 1, which was fine. These pills completely saved the day as my stomach calmed down within minutes.

                 

                The wind was a complete bitch for these final 6 miles. Every time we slightly turned so that it would be more diagonal was a major relief, but I was putting my head down a lot and just trying to power my way through it.

                 

                I've failed to talk about the leader up until now. I swear he was 20 seconds ahead at the one mile mark, and then held that lead all the way through this point. There were times I was maybe 15 seconds behind, and times maybe 25. But he must have went out at 5:30 pace and then just held 5:45-5:50 the rest of the way.

                 

                Although there was no prize money, my dedication to running the certified course really came into play in multiple ways in this final stretch. First, the leader was taking full advantage of the road. At one point, I turned to the bike with me and said "you need to tell the lead bike he can't do that, even though there is no money!" The guy just shrugged me off. I blame the race director honestly because that's her job before the race to inform runners of the course. Anyway, him running the tangents obviously allowed him to gain valuable seconds around certain parts of the course. Second, when you're completely red lining, it's hard to keep up with "I'm going to run this course as it was certified!" You just want the damn thing to be over. However, I kept reminding myself that if I ran a PR, I would want to be honest with myself that I actually ran the certified distance. So I stuck with the center line rule. I never did catch up to the leader, he ran a great race.

                 

                At the 12 mile mark, I looked at the time and said "oh good I've got a PR." But then I did some math and realized wait, this is actually going to be close! So I gave it everything I had in that last mile. At these points in a race, thinking back to workouts always helps me. So here, I thought about the 4x2 mile repeats I did on Tuesday and said "this is only 1 mile of one of those 2 mile repeats, this is nothing." That helps me a LOT to get through the pain.

                 

                With the finish line in sight, I saw that sub 1:16 was out, but I was going to get the PR! I was so happy at the finish, but also realized how cold I was. Luckily, the jacket I had thrown off at the start was still lying on the barricades, so I picked it back up, put it on, and hightailed it out of there. The damn awards ceremony was in 90 minutes and there was no way I was sticking around in rain and wind for a medal saying "congratulations, you didn't win." Even the 2 free beers weren't worth me sticking around. I just wanted to get in my car, change, and blast the heat.

                 

                Finish: 1:16:05, 21 second PR!

                 

                Takeaways: I really ran my ass off, I'm very proud of the effort I put in over those last 6 miles in those conditions. I think in normal conditions, I would have been in the low to mid 1:15s. So with that, it's time for the BOTT goal of 2:39 for CIM. Converting a 1:16 into a 2:39 is usually very aggressive, but I think given the conditions, it's reasonable to go for that, especially since I still have 3 weeks of training.

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

                 

                 

                paul2432


                  Nice report JMac.  Props for your integrity running the correct course in those tough conditions.

                   

                  I agree regarding the award ceremony.  Some races I do have a ceremony for top three OA male and female, and everyone else just goes to a table to pick up their AG awards. I think that's a good compromise, although even that can take too long.

                   

                  What is BOTT?

                  JMac11


                  RIP Milkman

                    BOTT is something from the old RWOL days where you put something "on the table" (you can probably figure out the B). Basically saying no sandbagging, no complaining, go get aggressive goals. I (along with others here!) have trouble sometimes with sandbagging my goals so I have to remind myself not to. For example, I could easily say "my goal is a PR at CIM!" and that would seem like a good A goal, but it really isn't as I think my fitness has improved enough that just PR'ing would be more of a B goal.

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

                     

                     

                    CommanderKeen


                    Cobra Commander Keen

                      James - Nice that you're seeing some progress in the tempos before your half.


                      Mark - Good week.


                      Piwi - Rough week for your sports teams?


                      Watson - Nice week and good job surpassing last year's mileage, especially with so much of the year remaining.


                      Flavio - Good week. You seem to be killing it with the strength training.


                      DPS - Good week as well.


                      JMac - Killer race, especially in those conditions! Looking forward to finishing up that RR.


                      Big week last week. Switching my first easy day and workout around this week, but otherwise looking forward to a short taper outlined by DWave and JMac ahead of my half next Sunday.


                      M: 12 (20, 15, 10, 5 minutes T) + 3.1 Easy
                      T: 10.5 + 3.1 All Easy
                      W: 10.5 + 3.1 All Easy
                      T: 15.1 (10x 1k @ between 10k & HM effort)
                      F: 10.5 Easy
                      S: 20.2
                      S: 2.5 Easy
                      Total: 90.7mi

                      In terms of my usual Mon-Sunday training week, this is #2 on the all-time list. If I use a Sunday-Saturday week (taking advantage of having paced the 15k two Sundays ago) that gives me a 7 day total of 100.3mi!

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

                       

                      Upcoming Races:

                       

                       

                      Running Problem


                      Problem Child

                        Jmac I'm glad I'm not the only one who references training repeats during the later portions of a race. What are the pills you took? I've only ever heard of ginger for nausea. Kudos for running the certified course. Your integrity is something I like about running and expect from almost anyone in the top 10 of a race. I can't say many of the local races have people lined up at the start that don't belong there for a half marathon. I can't imagine what it would look like if you were lined up to a 7:00/mi or even 9:00/mi paced runner. Just odd I guess.

                        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

                        minmalS


                        Stotan Disciple

                          JMAC, Great race report. the winner is one of my athletes. I teach my runners to run every tangent. I did the same I basically go back screaming at the slow runners to get out of my tangent lol. So we went back pretty much all the way left. The guy in second caught a cramp so he faded from second to 8th he still had a PR. but he is capable of 1:16 or better.

                           

                          There was a bib mule in the race everyone told us 3rd female then we found out we were bumped so I suspect second place female was a guy in a woman's bib or a Transgender.

                           

                          We caught a girl from Colorado she was in bra and booty shorts and with the wind and rain must have been suffering so much surface area not retaining heat. She was young so she fought us then died she should have just ran with us she went from 6:40 to 6:25 then died.

                          All in all my runner was happy not her fastest but a seasons best which was our goal PR\SB. She got an SB by 2.5 minutes.

                          Thinking should be done first, before training begins.

                            Jmac great race report and very nicely controlled effort through that 1st half.

                             

                            Keen huge week for you. My biggest ever was 80 and that nearly killed me . OKC absolutely smashed Golden State yesterday so a little bit of good news 

                            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 "      

                             

                            watsonc123


                              JMac - congratulations.

                               

                              Keen - awesome week.  90 miles is a lot.

                              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

                              Marky_Mark_17


                                JMac- great job on the race and especially holding tough into the wind.  I find running a long way into a headwind to be one of the most mentally challenging things as a runner.  Way to keep the pace up even when it got tough.  That's a hard-earned PR but a very enjoyable one one for sure.

                                 

                                There's only one course I can think of that I've run that has road closures and a stipulation to keep left of the centre line - which is Coatesville HM (yes it is certified).  I've never seen anyone cutting the corners on that and wouldn't do it myself.  It's quite a winding course in places so there'd be some advantage to be had too.

                                 

                                Keen - awesome job.

                                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"