Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2019
JMac - I think you're best to aim for your half in March, and see what time you pull out. If you go sub 80, I think you have a chance of a full PR.
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
RIP Milkman
Thanks Watson. I think I need to go sub 79 to get a PR in the full, but we'll see.
I think you have a race tonight (I can never keep track of you futuristic people and what time it is), so good luck! No train issues this time hopefully.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Watson - good luck for the race.
Marco - nice work again and hopefully you can keep the training up even with travel.
JMac- I would've thought more like sub-1:19 as well, even accounting for the fact the course is not a flat one?
Me - that mental skills thing got me digging into some podcasts which have thrown up some really helpful interesting ideas. Rogue Running do a weekly podcast and there are a bunch of the earlier episodes that cover some pretty cool ideas. Chief amongst them is actually you should set a goal that scares you a bit, if you've got a 100% chance of success then it's actually not that motivational. If you set a goal where you have a 60-70% chance of success then there's a much stronger motivation because you might not actually get there - albeit you still have a reasonable chance if you put in the work. Definitely got me thinking anyways.
This has definitely got me re-looking at my goals.
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"
Yes, I race in 90 minutes time. Train is running.
For JMac I said sub 80 as it is in the possible category. Obviously the quicker the better. He has a history of nailing the marathon.
Mark - I feel like I’ve said something similar to you in the past, that I think some of your goals can be a bit too easy, and I mean that in the most friendly way possible. I’ve fallen into that trap as well, because it’s a lot more fun to go “I’ll be happy if I break 1:20” and then coming home in 1:18. I’ve really taken that to heart this year in my marathon training. I knew sub 2:40 was going to be a stretch (some guys on the sub 3 thread said I should go for low 2:40s instead) but by setting such an aggressive goal, it made me focus on putting up some scary mileage goals. I never was able to go for it because of my PTT injury, but I”m glad I did.
I do think, at least for maybe a full 12 month cycle, you should go for broke. You have a toddler at home, so maybe it’s not this year, but it could be next year? Your times are great, but you have the potential to run something in the very low teens if you really go at it. Maybe you don’t want to do the work that is required for that, but I think you could get there with even just increasing your volume to a consistent 100K per week.
Intl. correspondent
Mark - Ignore Jmac, keep doing what you're doing. Times will come. Maybe stop running hilly half marathons in warm weather haha. Off course to reach your best times you will need a flat half in good weather (at least sub 15c) with some decent competition to make you work the whole way (but you already know that).
Jmac - stop being the little devil on Mark's ear. good job on your run 12 @ 6:20 is no joke, a glorious 1h23 half in training. Now sit back and enjoy that for a minute, you are in the 1 percentile of world wide runners.
Piwi - did you retire?
me - back after 10 days. Legs were heavy. Planned was 4x2K at 7:50 per rep with 2 minutes standing rest. Actual splits nowhere near that. C'est la vie
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
Hey Flavio, I'm only saying it because he brought it up! We all know Mark is a robot, but can you imagine what his potential actually is? I mean if he was one of these crazy guys that ran 100 mile weeks, he would definitely break 80 minutes in a half which is unfathomable to me. Part of my problem is that I feel like that for myself (not the same times), where I really want to push myself to see where my genetic limit is, but I keep getting banged up.
Also, I reached out to Piwi last night on Strava. Seems he's completely burned out at this moment and doesn't want to run anymore. I told him to at least stick around on RA for the banter. He only has 8 weeks left to his marathon, I thought he could make it!
Jmac - I totally understand that feeling of trying to realize the potential before father time catches up with us.
Sorry to hear about Piwi. He will be missed if the stops posting here. Injuries and ageing suck!
I thought Piwi would make it too.
I ran 20:45 last evening. Hopefully the no taper is worth a bit in pace...
Hot Weather Complainer
Christchurch is the race you're talking about. Compared to the courses he's been doing, it's lightening quick. It will be cold for an Aucklander but hopefully not too cold on the day - cold will only be a factor if there's a snowy sleety southerly wind or if there's ice on the course, but it's never thick enough to last too long.
I'm feeling a lot better and pretty fit but because of work I haven't been able to run at times of the day I want to - this often means running in the hottest part of the day which makes workouts a real struggle for me. I haven't done enough - 8 weeks until the next race and my base fitness is great, better than this time last year but I'm lacking in the speed work.
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
Watson - I find a mini taper is worth about 5 seconds per mile, and a full taper is worth about 10 seconds per mile. I think if you get a full taper in for a 5K, you would be in sub 20 shape in good weather.
Piwi - yeah I don't think I can lure him back, he seems like a broken man. The fact that he still runs as much as he does at age 50 at the times he was running is really a testament to what a beast he is. Hopefully this is a temporary thing again and he'll find that fire again.
Steve - As someone who constantly ran at 6 PM in brutal summer heat, those workouts will pay off. I recently looked back at the times I was running this past August for workouts, and a lot of my threshold efforts ended up being my actual marathon pace! It can be pretty disheartening how slow you are and how awful it makes you feel, but when the cool fall weather arrives, you are going to feel like a beast.
Piwi - we miss you!! Seriously your banter and running experience are two of the great highlights of this thread.
Steve - yeah I think JMac's experience last year would strongly suggest that even if those workouts feel like absolute suckage, they'll pay off. 7:30am in mid-April is probably going to be around 13-14 degrees which is a big difference to running in temps in the mid-20's during summer when the sun is high. Your tempo workouts have been pretty solid so just stay the course and you'll see the benefits once it cools down. My wife is heading away on Mon for a couple weeks so I'm going to be training at later times too, not looking forward to it, but it's a bit of different training stimulus and that's a good thing.
JMac / Flavio - yeah I've gotta say when I was listening to the podcast on running goals, I did think of JMac pushing the envelope with the big BOTT goals. Available time for training is not really the constraint for me, I could easily drop one of my weight training days for an easy run, or sneak in a double on an easy day, it's actually managing the body. Right now I'm averaging 85-90km/week during training, which is where I was for marathon training in 2017. The body is handling it way better than it did, but there's a few minor niggles floating around that I wouldn't want to become major. I also think having more quality suits me and the training balance feels about right at the moment.
So, after a decent amount of reflection, the goal is to run a 1:14: xx half marathon this year.
That scares me a bit. I mean, I ran my current PB on a day where everything fell into place, perfect conditions, great execution, good leg speed coming off a 10k race a week beforehand, great training over winter, reasonably quick (albeit not super-quick) course. To knock almost a minute off that seems like a LOT. to me. My 10km PB pace is 3:25/km and that goal would need me to run 3:33/km, maybe 3:32/km average.
I think that's a good goal for Christchurch and even Dunedin. It's probably a soft goal for Kerikeri in November which is a notoriously fast course due to a significant net downhill so I'll revisit it after Christchurch (June) and Dunedin (Sept).
The other goal is to run a 33: xx 10km. Yeah that's soft in relative terms, but I'm only likely to do 1 or 2 10km races this year and they'll both be on the same course, and it's not mega-fast. It's also not the primary goal so I don't want it to be a distraction.
Also, that marathon PB of mine needs a takedown. It's niggling at me just a bit because I know I can do (a lot) better. I'm starting to think maybe that's next year's goal. If I like the Christchurch course when I do the half down there in June, maybe I'll do the full there in 2020. But don't get too excited because if I don't hit the half goal this year then I'll roll it over to next year.
Did...did I just read this correctly? You, Mark, are going to tackle the marathon??? YOU KEPT YELLING AT ME TO STOP ASKING YOU TO RUN ANOTHER MARATHON
I do think sub 1:15 is a perfect goal Mark. Just because you had things fall properly to you doesn't mean you shouldn't reach higher. I got a top 10% day in NYC weather wise this fall and had a super solid end of my cycle and ran a 2:46, doesn't mean I was thinking "well that's not going to happen again, better just aim to repeat it." You have to set your goals high because otherwise you'll find easy excuses to take a day off here and there or not head out the door when all you want to do is sleep.
Sub 1:15 in 2019, sub 2:40 in 2020. GET IT DONE.
JamesD
Do antihistamines affect running or racing? This may sound silly, but I'm not sure I've ever taken any. Allergies are really bad around here this year, & I'm having increasingly frequent trouble over the last few weeks with my sinuses and lungs tightening. I've even lost my voice briefly a couple of times. I use Flonase/fluticasone nasal spray, which has helped, but doesn't seem to be enough any more. We took our son to an allergist (he's allergic to pretty much every kind of tree & grass and has had much more trouble recently), but I don't want to have any tests close to my race, because it seems risky to try to prompt a bunch of allergic reactions in tests. From what I've found online about antihistamines and running, Claritin/Loratadine seems best. Anyone have any experience? Thanks.
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
Did...did I just read this correctly? You, Mark, are going to tackle the marathon??? YOU KEPT YELLING AT ME TO STOP ASKING YOU TO RUN ANOTHER MARATHON I do think sub 1:15 is a perfect goal Mark. Just because you had things fall properly to you doesn't mean you shouldn't reach higher. I got a top 10% day in NYC this fall and ran a 2:46, doesn't mean I was thinking "well that's not going to happen again, better just aim to repeat it." You have to set your goals high because otherwise you'll find easy excuses to take a day off here and there or not head out the door when all you want to do is sleep. Sub 1:15 in 2019, sub 2:40 in 2020. GET IT DONE.
I do think sub 1:15 is a perfect goal Mark. Just because you had things fall properly to you doesn't mean you shouldn't reach higher. I got a top 10% day in NYC this fall and ran a 2:46, doesn't mean I was thinking "well that's not going to happen again, better just aim to repeat it." You have to set your goals high because otherwise you'll find easy excuses to take a day off here and there or not head out the door when all you want to do is sleep.
It's funny watching my almost-2 year old daughter because, you can ask her to do something, show her why it's a good idea, do it yourself to demonstrate... but hell she ain't doing it until she makes her own mind up that's what she wants to do!
The other factor is that I'm working with a finite amount of time at age 38. I know guys locally who have hit PB's at the half and full well into their 40's but you can't outrun father time forever. So, the effort to reward ratio comes into play too. If I hit that sub-1:15, then sub-1:14 will take a lot more work. Whereas that FM PR is just such an obvious outlier with massive scope for improvement that I don't think I could let sit there forever.