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

JMac - are you going to also do other races too?  I am racing a 5k this Tuesday.  It is a play it by feel race for me, as I don't know where I am at.

Mikkey - This is the first time I've seen you in this neck of the woods. Planning on sticking around?

 

I wasn’t planning to, but I like the chilled out vibe on here and Piwi needs wants me here!

I’ll be 53 in a couple of weeks time on the 17th of January but I don’t like a fuss as it’s only a number! My only sporting history is golf and I was a fanatic, mainly because my Dad was a fanatic - I got down to 7 handicap in my teens, but gave it up when I moved to London. I started playing again in my 30’s when I moved to Brighton, but eventually realised that golf wasn’t for me (when you sling an expensive driver into the lake you know it’s game over).

At 41yo I was starting to put on weight and one day my wife suggested going for a jog in our local park and I thought why not? The rest is history and was hooked....and got my first running injury 2 weeks later!

My first race was a 10k with a goal of sub 1 hour. I smashed it in 52min!!!

12 years later I’ve run 37 marathons. I’ve been a pacer at my local Brighton marathon 5 times (3:15/3:30)...but 2019 will be the first year I’ve ever raced it and Piwi will be giving me motivation! I’ve also been the 1:30 Brighton Half pacer on numerous occasions...including next month which means I need to get my act together pronto!

JMac - as the Prolific Racer of the thread... I've got a few to kick things off.

Maraetai Beach Half Marathon - March 17 - aim TBC

Waterfront Half Marathon - April 14 - aim 1:15:39

Christchurch Half Marathon - June 2 - aim 1:15:39

Yes I'm gunning for the PB.  Waterfront will be pretty weather dependent as the temperatures could go either way, and wind could stuff up what is otherwise a very fast course.  Christchurch should be a good shot though unless we get an early winter storm.

I'm running Coatesville HM in Feb too but not really racing it.

Marco - No problems with being a bit aggressive with mileage build up so long as your body agrees to it. Make sure to listen to the signs of over training (general tiredness, hard to sleep, elevated heart rate).

Corey - good to see you around

DJ - It’s exciting to see what times you can reach this year.

Piwi - Nah, still a hobbyjogger! Remember those one leg squats I posted a few pages ago on the 2018 thread? Those could help you tremendously with the calf aches.

I think Kayaking and surfing give you a great boost of fitness. Us boring citizens have to resort to the bike though.

Mikkey - you’re damn fast for a 53 year old. Coincidentally, my first race ever was also a 10k, also with a sub 1h objective and a 52 min time.

me - 3000m test didn't happen yesterday as the track was closed. It was great to meet the team, they've got a few beasts for sure, it's funny how many people who don't look fast are actually very fast.

In summary the coach will have me on a 5 days a week regimen with speed workouts. We will focus on speed, and after I become faster then try to transfer that to higher volume and longer races. Volume for next week is only 45km.

And he told me to continue with the functional training, so I'll be doing that on the rest days.

He seems like a no nonsense kind of guy and I liked the methodology.

To be continued...

Now the thread is cooking along like normal!

Piwi - Bummer about the hop test, hope that goes the other way quickly.

Mark - Awesome that you're going for a PR. That will be fun to watch.

Marco - I see nothing wrong with your plan, though flat-out racing a full will require a good amount of recovery time before the half - sometime in June could well be enough, though.
Here's something that I discovered helped me: towards the ends of longer M-pace, 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".

Flavio - I was (and still am) looking forward to hearing about that test, but at least you got to meet the crew. 45km/wk isn't much at all. Planning on a ton of faster work in that? Lots of intervals and reps?

DJ - You're going to be winning the mileage war for quite some time with the way my year is starting off. Hopefully I'll take over the top spot before December! Seeing you list some goals/PRs reminds me that I'm by far the slowest person I know who runs as much as I do.  
What are you coming to Tulsa for? There is quite a bit of good running in Tulsa, but depending on where you are/where you're going it can be from very flat (river trail) to very hilly (almost everything else in Tulsa).
The snow isn't typical at all. It's actually far more common for us to get ice storms, but those are still usually only 1-3 times per season. Three days ago we were forecasted to get 6-7" of snow, and yesterday/last night we ended up with between 1-2" of sleet and snow combined. It will likely be completely melted by Monday, with the exception of some odd places that are in shadow most of the day. I'd be surprised if there were any snow/ice around to mess with your Tulsa trip. 
Low carb? I'm actually somewhat interested in this. Tell me more.

Flavio - I actually have thought of doing a very speed-oriented block. The closest I've been to that was the HM cycle from last spring. 400m in a minute sounds insanely fast, but the sub 5:50 mile I could probably do without much issue once I get back into the swing of things- I did a (GPS measured/1 major road to another) road mile in ~5:40 a couple years go that almost killed me, but replicating that now would likely be a pipe dream.
I wonder how trying to focus more on speed (but with long LRs) would affect the marathons I have planned for spring. Not that I'm planning on making a PR attempt at either, it would be more of a "how does this change how well I can cover the full distance" thing.

Mark - Somehow I've been paired up with a FIDE Master from Turkey in one of my daily games on chess.com. I've never played an actual titled player before. Somehow I think (key word: THINK) I have a slight edge, and I have a plan on how to proceed. It'll be interesting to see exactly how this all comes crashing down around me.
For the non chess-playing, this is approximately like me being paired against a 2:30 marathoner in a race.

Watson - I should have been more clear, but I wasn't planning on cutting volume ahead of the marathon, but rather adjusting workouts. Instead of maybe 2x tempo workouts or a tempo and an M pace workout per week, I've thought of maybe one tempo/MP workout and something like hill sprints, track reps, or intervals once a week, or perhaps twice (removing tempo/MP that week). Then maybe after the marathons focus more on the hill repeats/reps/intervals workouts.