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

Mark - Good week, and crazy stuff about witnessing that attempted break-in.
I think you should perhaps but off another marathon for a while longer. Your PR is probably just on the outside of what's possible for me now, and I'd love to at some point say I have any PR that's faster than yours! 

James - Bummer about missing the time goal, but glad that you had fun with it all. Looking forward to reading the RR.

Flavio - Good week. 3 workouts/wk coming. Aggressive! Going after a HM now, right?

Kimba - Any chance you could run a 5k (or even 1 mile) time trial before starting the plan? If you were pacing a friend in that 5k the resulting VDOT will certainly make things too easy for you, and I think you owe it to yourself to have a solid grasp on your current abilities to help maximize what you get out of the training. That said, I definitely agree with JMac about the paces being a ceiling instead of a target - you'll do better by running a bit slower than what you could do for a workout than you will by overcooking everything.

JMac - You have been killing it this cycle! I slowed down to chat with an old running buddy during a few miles of my LR and it came up that this cycle has also gone really well for me and that I'm almost waiting for something to happen. 81 miles in singles is a lot!

100.6 miles last week. I did one of JMac's silly 15 min Threshold, 10 miles Easy, 15 minute Threshold runs Monday. That big easy stretch between threshold segments makes it kinda tough to get back going fast again, but the workout went well. I completely bombed what I planned on being 12 at marathon effort on Thursday - it didn't feel difficult, but I just felt like I couldn't keep my effort at the target level so I only did ~5.5 at effort. 22 mile/35.4km LR Sunday that felt awesome. Everything else was easy, and I put in a 5k double four days. Just one more big week before I start what I'm planning to be a pretty steep taper (from average mileage - 90%, 70%, 40% not including race).

DDs 1 & 2 got sick over the weekend and are staying home from school today. Without checking that they have a fever you couldn't really even tell either of them is sick! Looks like not much more than a cold, but it's still something I certainly don't want to catch.

Saturday one of the local runners was doing a loop around a nearby lake and was hit and killed by someone driving a vehicle. I don't know any more details than that. He wasn't a guy I knew well, but I recognized him from seeing him at group LRs and races as a guy who always seemed quite happy and friendly.

OMG, Keen.  That's awful about the guy getting hit.  That happened around here years ago.  I didn't know the victim, but it really makes you think about your own safety.  I always run on the roads.  Usually it's during well lit times of day, but people are still idiots so I'm always hyper aware.  I bought one of the Noxgear blinking light things to wear when visibility is lower.  So far I love it, but again, regardless of whatever safety measures are in place you still can't predict distracted drivers.

I like conceptualizing the VDOT as a ceiling.  One of my training errors, I believe, has been racing my work-outs.  I am trying really hard right now to break that cycle, and treating the VDOT as a ceiling rather than a target is helpful to that end.  As is avoiding running with the running club for the moment.  The coach keeps asking me if I'm coming to this or that work-out and I've had to be strong in my resolve to say no!  If I start to see my fitness improving to where running with the group isn't overshooting my fitness maybe I'll join in.  Otherwise, as some here have suggested, I think it's best to just stay on my own for awhile.

I can definitely find a 5K to run before I start the plan.  I guess I just worry about entering a race right now because I don't even know what is a reasonable expectation for pacing as I haven't run a real race in a long time!  So, I did that 2.5 mile tempo last week @ 6:55 pace - I could have kept going, but it was certainly harder than tempo pace.  Maybe I should start a race at 7 min pace and pick it up if I feel good?  When I paced the girl in the 5K I started out at 6:45 pace because I got caught up in the crowd, then at about the 1 mile mark I  slowed down to stay with my friend to help her, and in the last mile she was really dying so we slowed down a lot more.  Very uneven pacing.  I have no idea what I could have held on my own without slowing for her.

Keen - I would say you're every chance to beat my marathon PR in December based on the way you've been tracking!  Nice week too.  That's really sad news about that runner near you getting killed.  Like Kimba said, even with all the high-visibility gear in the world you can't predict what drivers are doing.  I'm always super-cautious when I'm on the road and there's no footpaths.

DPS - nice week, good you could work through those injury niggles by the end of the week.

Watson - good week, I know what you mean about life commitments, I had a bunch of travel last week including Wellington (twice) and Christchurch.

JMac - great week and that long run was really solid particularly given your legs were tired going into it.  Just don't do anything crazy in the next 3 weeks!  I gotta say given the quality of your cycle I have no idea what you're in for in terms of your legendary taper madness.

Re whether I call Kerikeri as a PR... well I have to run it first!!

But the way this year has gone, I think I've earned the right to make the call one way or another.  It's been really tough fitting everything in with work, family and particularly my wife working weekends - I've been up most Sundays at 4am just to get the long runs in and most Saturdays at or before 5am too.  Most races I've basically had to run and then rush home ASAP to relieve a babysitter, and my wife hasn't been able to be at any of them (my daughter's only been at one, luckily it was NZ Road Race Champs).  Somehow I've got record mileage in and some great results despite all that so I guess we'll just see how it goes on Saturday.

I would be a lot more against the idea if not for the hills in the first 7km - they're actually pretty tough and you have to be good enough to get through those to make the most of the downhill.  And hell, the course was good enough to be NZ Champs a few years back.

I'm looking forward to next year being a bit more normal as my wife won't be working weekends but as she's starting a new business you never know what might happen (!!!).

Keen - sorry I missed the bit about the local runner being killed.  Be careful.

I have a half this Sunday, Pelorus Trust.  It's a local race, it's where I got my PR in 2016, although it used to September and is now November so much more risk of it being too warm.  The course has changed slightly too.  Long range forecast has the temperature ok, biggest risk will be a strong northerly.

My aim is 1:29:38.  This would be a 40+ PR (by 1 second).  My training in October and November has been mediocre, so that's the best I can hope for.

James - Nice race report

Regarding Daniels - I’m a big fan of his books as well and have all three editions of DRF.  I like the 2nd edition the best, find the 3rd edition to be a bit bloated.  There are also some things that don’t appear in all three editions.  For example, in the earlier editions he mentions that many of the plans are based on T-pace of 5 MPM and that you should adjust the T distances to go for an equivalent time.  

Me - Been visiting my brother in NJ, flying back to CA today.  35 miles last week in 5 days. The two weeks of cutback seem to have helped. My easy pace has dropped about 45 seconds/mile (also helps to be running in low 40s)

I generally follow the Olympic qualifying rules for "fair" PRs, which state that a course net drop can be 3.25 meters per kilometer. This would mean a net drop of 70 meters or less for a half marathon. I think you may run sub 1:11 on this course to be honest. If the uphills were at the end there's a chance you may not PR, but I don't see how you don't just blow it out of the water when the course drops 275 meters (900 feet) over the final 2/3 of the race. I think in a marathon that kind of drop can be tough due to the quad beating but in a half? You've got sub 1:12 locked up, and potentially sub 1:11, if the weather holds up.

 

Again, this is all a personal question for you (we just had this debate over in sub 3) 

The Athletics NZ records website is the One Source of the Truth for NZ club-registered athletes like me.  It goes on there whether I like it or not (as long as I hit the qualifying standard, which is sub-1:17 for a half marathon).  I don't want to get carried away on what time I might run, I generally run my best races when I just go out and run.  I'm still slightly in disbelief at the sub-1:13 in Dunedin.  But if I hit the top of the hill by around mid-25's then I give myself every chance of a good time.

I'm not really fussed on what the Olympic qualifying rules are, I'm not an Olympian.  Hell, I got lapped twice by one at the 10,000m race last weekend!  If I train my ass off for a race (despite all the stuff this year has thrown at me), execute well, and run a damn good time, then it's my call what I do with that time.  Anyone who thinks otherwise is welcome to come join me at 4am in the middle of winter for a 2 hour run in the dark, cold, wind and rain concluding with a 2km slog up Upper Harbour Bridge and Tauhinu Road.

And who knows, maybe I have a shocker on Saturday and don't even get close!  Hence I'll leave it until Saturday to decide.

The course is here for anyone who's interested.

Mark - Athletics NZ rules say: "For a Record to be recognised, the performance must be achieved under the specific conditions as for an
IAAF World Record which is detailed in Rule 260 (18 – 29) IAAF Competition Rules 2014-2015. The
exceptions are those that are detailed in the Athletics New Zealand Regulations (Supplementary). "

So doesn't that mean the course you're running wouldn't count? However I'm guessing they only enforce that rule for actual national records.

Keen - I like how I say I'm so proud of finally running decent mileage for a marathon (72 for the cycle) and then you coming in with a 100 mile week 

I realize that we're all just hobby joggers, so it doesn't really matter.  But I wouldn't count it as a PR (assuming I actually ran fast enough).