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

SteveChCh


Hot Weather Complainer

     

    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.

     

    It might be a bit of a lonely slog on that course Mark, the second half is in the residential red zone which is pretty desolate these days with all the houses gone.  It used to be great pre-quake, people around the river out at their gates cheering people on.  Personally I don't care about how quiet and lonely a course is but for a full it could get a bit tiresome, especially if it's a cold day.

    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

    flavio80


    Intl. correspondent

       

       

      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.

       

      You will lose speed first. You can still beat that marathon time anytime in the next 10 years. the half times though are not as easy.

      I'm saying this assuming you like HM better than the full.

      PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021

      Up next: no idea

      Tool to generate Strava weekly

      Marky_Mark_17


        Oh god I contemplate possibly doing a marathon next year and look what I've started haha.

         

        Steve - Yeah I'll decide probably November after Kerikeri Half.  If I was to do a marathon, Christchurch appeals as a flat and fast course.  I'm OK with cold and lonely, it's my preferred running modus operandi, and certainly even Christchurch will have a few more punters than the marathon Keen did!  None of the NZ courses, aside from perhaps Auckland, get a lot of supporters and Christchurch has a lot of advantages over the other options.

         

        Flavio - you're probably right, although the effort/reward equation is still stacked heavily in favour of me having another go at a full marathon some time in the next 2-3 years, unless I have a really dud year this year.  But yeah I do prefer the HM distance.  Having said that, I only have 1 full marathon to go on, and that first one is normally a bit of a 'learning experience' for all of us.

        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"

        watsonc123


          All my PRs were hit at 37 and 38.  Also the 2 year old is pretty easy, when they get bigger they start having their own hobbies which takes up a lot of my time.

          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

            I'm taking most of this week off to recover a bit have had a few little niggles and just want to get rested up a bit.

            Jack put me down for the follow races

            March 16th Seneca half marathon GOAL 1:34:59

            May 18th Mountains to Main half marathon GOAL 1:31:30

            PR's

            1m  5:38 (2018)

            5k    19:59 (2019)

            HM  1:33:56 (2018)

            FM  3:23:07 (2018)

            dj_dubb


              On goal times - I'm up in the air on this one and I go back and forth on what the "right" goal time is. I too am not getting any younger at 34, and want my goal times to at least be PRs. I used to have two goals for any race - more like a primary and secondary. My primary is simply PR (even if it's 1 second), and secondary would be pretty much a "moonshot" goal that history shows is almost never going to happen. I think I like the 60-70% chance Mark mentions. Seems like a tough one to really gauge though on what exact time that may be.

               

              Hopefully we get Piwi back even if he's not running. I need to talk to a fellow Thunder fan if nothing else...

              JMac11


              RIP Milkman

                On goal times - I'm up in the air on this one and I go back and forth on what the "right" goal time is. I too am not getting any younger at 34, and want my goal times to at least be PRs. I used to have two goals for any race - more like a primary and secondary. My primary is simply PR (even if it's 1 second), and secondary would be pretty much a "moonshot" goal that history shows is almost never going to happen.

                 

                 

                I think having multiple goals for a race is good. Mine are almost always as follows:

                 

                A Goal (or "moonshot" as you put it): everything goes absolutely perfectly and I run faster than my training paces have indicated

                B Goal: Run what training paces indicate I can run

                C Goal: PR, unless I'm coming off a hiatus or injury, at which point there is no C goal

                 

                I will say though that when I'm actually racing, this goals go out at my head and I run just based on feel. During my last marathon, I had absolutely no idea what sort of finishing time I was looking at until mile 25. I just refused to think like that and was taking it one mile at a time.

                 

                As you guys alluded to, PR'ing has always been my goal. I'm not sure how I'm going to do when that isn't possible anymore. I think the appeal of the sport will die away unfortunately.

                 

                For now though, let's keep this thing going! We have no races over the next 4 weeks, but we do have 3 races over 2 days for the weekend of March 16/17.

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

                 

                 

                JamesD


                JamesD

                  I expect to have a race either March 2 or March 9, depending on the weather.  Will announce details when I decide, probably sometime next week.  A goal will be 1:29:59, B goal will be 1:31:52 (PR), C goal will be to finish without walking or suffering serious injury.  I'm with JMac as far as running by feel, and I rarely even wear a watch to race.

                  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

                  JMac11


                  RIP Milkman

                    James - sorry for not answering your earlier question, I just have no experience so I'm of no use. Otherwise, let us know about your schedule.

                    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

                      Mark - I just heard about that podcast and subscribed. Haven't been able to listen to it, though.
                      Bravo on the race! I don't know how you race like that in those temperatures - I would have melted into the pavement. Wahoo for going for a marathon PR!

                       

                      Corey - Awesome 5k! Great job on going sub-20, plus that's a huge PR margin for such a short race.


                      Watson - No taper is certainly worth a good amount of time.

                       

                      Piwi - Come back!

                       

                      JMac - Glad the calf is doing better. Even though absolute PRs will eventually stop for all of us one day, we can always chase age-graded PRs.


                      I'm back from the mountains! Had lots of fun going down the bunny slopes with DD1 & DD2, and even managed to get on the Strava leader boards for a couple runs. Red River is a very small little town (about 500 people, a bit larger than my home town), but I was shocked at how many "local" people I saw there. Multiple people wearing shirts from towns quite close to my home town, plus two runners from my local area were also on the slopes there at the same time.
                      Zero running was had while I was there, which was what I expected. Just not enough time in the day. The two marathons I have planned for this spring are seeming more daunting now, even when treating them as long training runs. Definitely trying to take the long view regarding running, though I can't help myself wanting to try getting in 10k+ or so in the morning, then another shorter run a bit later in the day.

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

                       

                      Upcoming Races:

                       

                       

                      matthewfschwartz


                        Corey- Great race, always a bonus to PR, especially breaking a milestone like sub 20!

                         

                        Mark- Great race to you as well, without such a speedy opponent, you likely would have won that one. And a sub 1:15 HM is in reach for you I think. With consistency and staying healthy, you should have a solid shot at that.

                         

                        Jmac- Hope the calf is better as well as your PTT is progressing nicely. Looks like you're doing well on strava and you'll be all geared up come time for Boston!

                         

                        As for me, I have been continuing to run 3-4 times per week, and have now graduated from 3 to 4 miles at one time. PT has been going well and the difference between last Monday and Sunday was immense. My knee was really bothering me on Monday after PT and biking but Sunday felt good even after 4.5 miles the day before. I was able to get some moderate pace in on Monday (7:00-7:30 at this point) and the knee was a little more tender after that, but nothing bad.

                         

                        Today I had what could be my last PT appointment (depending on whether insurance thinks it's necessary for me to continue) and my PT and I were discussing what my training should look like going forward. He recommended keeping it to 4-5 runs per week to minimize the building up of stress on my patellar tendon, supplementing those runs with bikes on the off days as well as strengthening and stretching throughout. So if I would like to get a 16-17 mile long run in a couple weeks out from Boston, is it okay to only hit 35-40 miles that week, or would that be too much stress coming from one day? I have never trained with limited days per week, so I am in uncharted territory.

                         

                        Also, I have been considering, since Jmac brought it up a week or two back, running a 10k in early March. What do y'all think about a shamrock shuffle type 10k about 5 weeks out from Boston? How beneficial would this be in helping determine my goal pace for Boston?

                         

                        My three days late weekly summary from last week:

                         

                        Weekly Summary
                        Monday, Feb 04, 2019 thru Sunday, Feb 10, 2019

                        <tfoot> </tfoot>
                        Day Miles Pace Description Link
                        Mon 14.5 3:06 Moderate day strava
                        Tue 3.0 8:16 Beat KU strava
                        Wed 12.5 3:35 Easy post PT strava
                        Thu 3.0 8:28 Are we sure the groundhog didn’t see his shadow?? strava
                        Fri 15.5 2:54 Progression (moderate —> tempo) strava
                        Fri 2.0 4:59 CD strava
                        Sat 4.5 8:25 Still feeling good in the knee strava
                        Sun 14.0 3:12 Afternoon Ride strava
                          69.0 4:01    

                        PR's: 800 - 2:01.9, 1600 - 4:34.4, 3 mile - 16:00, Full Marathon - 2:54:49

                        Goals: Break 1:20 HM, Break 2:45 FM, Break 34:00 10k, Break 16:00 5k

                        Upcoming Races: 

                        Strava link

                        Marky_Mark_17


                          Keen - the mental skills ones from Running Rogue are all quite early on (the one where they introduce the overall framework is episode 6).  There is normally some quite good discussion around current events to start with too.  One of those episodes started with a chat about drug testing brought on by Sumgong's positive test a little after winning the 2016 Olympic marathon gold, interesting discussion even though it's relatively old news now.  Anyway sounds like you picked up the snowboarding pretty quickly even after a bit of a break.  So much fun and there's just absolutely nothing like hitting a really good run down the mountain.

                           

                          Matthew - great news on the rehab and hopefully it is all positive from here.  I still limit myself to normally 5 days running a week.  I actually find the down days really helpful for ensuring that my legs get a bit of recovery and enabling me to normally hit workouts pretty hard.  I feel like having a long run that is close to half of your weekly mileage is probably a little aggressive... my long runs would generally not be more than 1/3rd of total weekly mileage and I'm lighter mileage than some of the guys on here.

                           

                          JMac/DJ - I used to have an A goal and a B goal.  The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined towards just having an A goal, which is a little bit of a stretch but not too much so.  The risk in having multiple goals is that it can be a little distracting and it also invites the risk that if you miss the A goal but hit say the B or C goal, you may not ask the hard questions about why you didn't hit the A goal.  And don't get me wrong, sometimes you just have a bad day, but you want to be really sure that's the reason why and not something else.  Failing to hit a goal sucks but it sure can be motivational too.

                           

                          Bearing in mind that JMac's starting position is that his C goal is a PR, that's still a relatively aggressive position though so the above doesn't really apply.  I mean, the B goal, based on training paces, is probably the actual goal and the 'moonshot' A goal is probably more of an aspiration.  Ditto DJW, same kind of situation where he's got a goal (PR), and then an aspirational target above that.

                           

                          As much as I think you should stick to one race goal, I also think that you've got to be a little flexible with it for things like weather, conditions, etc. too.  The goal should assume conditions aren't a factor, but if they are, you've got to adjust.

                           

                          Finally, the '60-70% chance of success' goal is the concept I'm applying to the long-term goal - i.e. a 12+ month objective with a goal race in mind.  For an individual race in the shorter term - like Maraetai next month - the goal isn't going to be a 1:14 because I haven't had a chance yet to do the work that the 1:14 will require (plus, it's a summer race with around 3-4km on trail/farmland).  I think the goal for Maraetai is actually just going to be to race most of it at maximum effort, or very close to it, because that's the gear I need to hit for Waterfront and Christchurch.

                          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"

                          CommanderKeen


                          Cobra Commander Keen

                            Mark - I always like starting from the beginning of a podcast, rather than the current episodes, so I'll hit those not long after starting.
                            I meant to mention it, but I only snowboarded for half a day before trading it in for skis. There was just no way I could stick right with DW or either daughter, who were all just learning, while I was on a board. Skis were a must.


                            Got in a nice TM run during lunch. Sorely needed, and much appreciated.

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

                             

                            Upcoming Races:

                             

                             

                            JMac11


                            RIP Milkman

                              Mark - Good to see you back with the good guys in this thread. I definitely think my goals are stretches, and certainly I've already failed at the A goal of sub 2:39 unless a miracle to end all miracles occurs. More realistically I think my B goal is PR, and the C goal is just running the damn thing because I've had so many injuries (including new inner knee pain that is very sore) this cycle that I'm afraid I'll keep pushing too hard and miss out. Either way, I think it's good to start a cycle with a moonshot goal to keep you motivated. For you, that's 1:14:59, and you can certainly still be happy if you miss that goal due to the myriad of reasons you stated.

                               

                              Matt - You're in a tough spot. I tried to vigorously come back from injury this cycle, and I keep getting injured in different areas (including this new inner knee pain). I've learned that trying to get back to marathon mileage in a short time span can lead to disastrous results. For you, don't go crazy trying to get in shape for Boston. You may just have to put a PR on the shelf and worry about building up a good base this summer when you're off of school and can just go out and run 60+ MPW of easy running. Anyway, I try to follow Mark's rule of no more than 1/3 of my mileage in one single run. I also wanted to comment on something you mentioned regarding your PT's suggestion: generally, I think it's less stressful to actually run more days per week, having the same amount of weekly mileage. Therefore, if you want to hit 30 MPW because you think your body can handle it, it's better to do it over 5-6 runs than to do it over 3-4 runs.

                               

                              Keen - Good to hear from you. This world of you never running is still shocking to me. I do like that you skied though!

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

                               

                               

                              matthewfschwartz


                                Mark- Yeah I was thinking the same that a 17 mile LR if I'm only running 35-40 mpw would be a little high. At the bare minimum, I'd like to get in a 15 miler long run a couple weeks out from Boston, but ideally 17 is the goal. Maybe I will be able to come back to somewhere around 50 mpw by the end, but it really all depends on how the knee reacts.

                                 

                                Jmac-  I'm definitely not going to rush the mileage at this point. As long as I can reach 35-40 mpw I think I'll be fine to at least finish Boston, and maybe if training goes well, sub 3 or a PR, but right now I'm just taking it one step at a time. I'm not even sure how much I should be running at a pace faster than easy/recovery I should be running in the coming weeks. I'll likely throw some moderate paces in there along with some strides, but I might not hit a tempo for another 4-5 weeks. The way my PT said it was that I would have less overall stress on the patellar tendon if I only run 4-5 times a week because I would have 2-3 days with no impact whatsoever (biking would still help or at least maintain aerobically/muscularly). You mentioned that you disagree, would you mind diving into that a little more for me?

                                PR's: 800 - 2:01.9, 1600 - 4:34.4, 3 mile - 16:00, Full Marathon - 2:54:49

                                Goals: Break 1:20 HM, Break 2:45 FM, Break 34:00 10k, Break 16:00 5k

                                Upcoming Races: 

                                Strava link