Forums >Racing>Sub 1:30 Half Marathon in 2019
RIP Milkman
Mark - if you can, can you provide me your pacing for your 3 fastest half marathons, split by 5K? I'm just curious how your pacing has looked. I think you usually run your first 5K the fastest, but I want to see how the rest look. This half I plan on running in 2.5 weeks will require near perfect pacing to get a PR given I'm coming off of a marathon rest period. I think it's probably 50/50 at best that I can snag a PR.
5K: 16:37 (11/20) | 10K: 34:49 (10/19) | HM: 1:14:57 (5/22) | FM: 2:36:31 (12/19)
Wind is not my friend.
So there are 74 pages of reading to go but I thought I'd jump into the fray.
Name: Ben
Age: 34
Location: Maryland, USA
Running History: Grew up running in HS and 2 years of college. Burnt myself out from all of that training and some bad coaching in college. Ran off and on for several years after college but nothing crazy and really struggled with keeping accountable. I'm a cross country coach since 2012 and have been coaching track as needed (even learned a little high jump!)
Current Running: I started a streak on the 1st of the year for absolutely no reason so I'm at day 123 today, with approx. 5 miles per day average (assuming I run) and have a half marathon in 2 weeks. In full disclosure, I've run 5 half marathons before this one and I've broken 1:30 before but this group seemed to be welcoming and some runners well below 1:30. After this half, I'm hoping to get a better training plan together for the Summer and prepare for a solid effort in October.
"Current" PRs
5K - 18:00 (4/19) | HM - 1:19:28 (4/22)
Next Race: A 5K of some sort (Goal: Sub 17:30)
Ben - welcome! Awesome to see a new face around here. My favourite band (Clutch) is from Maryland. Impressive streak you've got going there too - what HM are you running in a couple weeks?
JMac - this was surprisingly easy thanks to Smashrun and thanks for the prompt as it was actually quite interesting. The Waterfront ones might have some slightly errant GPS reads due to steep cliffs next to the road in places. On a flat course my strategy is almost always to hit target pace/effort and get it dialled in, which generally means the last couple of km I am really hanging in there if I've got it right. As you thought my first 5k tends to be the quickest but I'm mostly pretty consistent after that.
Here goes:
Waterfront HM 2018 - 1:16:08 official (totally flat course)
17:41
18:00
17:56
17:59
4:34 (measured 1.3km)
Dunedin HM 2018 - 1:15:40 official (flat with a few small undulations)
17:44
18:16 (this had a long slow climb in it)
17:58
17:55 (there was a short hill at the start of this)
3:51 (measured 1.1km)
Waterfront HM 2019 - 1:14:42 official (dead flat)
17:23
17:24
17:46
4:28 (measured 1.2km)
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"
Ben - welcome aboard! We love new faces. Most of that 74 pages is nonsense but we do get into some good discussions. As you said, this group is welcoming of all abilities and those that break 1:30 are certainly good with us!
Mark - Interesting stuff. I'm actually surprised the most by your PR, which had your second 5K as your fastest, and you positive split every single 5K. It would make sense to me that your second 5K would be the slowest in the other races. I still struggle with what optimal is. I don't think the first 5K being the fastest is it for me. I also have learned that negative splitting probably means I left something on the table. My guess is that the first 5K being the slowest is right for me, but then the 4th 5K being second slowest, with the middle 10K being the fastest.
JMac - that strategy makes a lot of sense. I’m ok with my fast starts as I’ve learned that most of the time, that 2nd 5k is when I feel the best and normally that’s the point where I have to consciously avoid speeding up too much. I do think that if that last 5k is the quickest you’ve probably left a bit much in the tank. That middle part of the race is when most of us tend to feel the best so it’d make sense to push that middle 10k the hardest.
For me personally I’m not a great believer in negative splits for a half, if I get it right I’m even or a slight positive because I tend to be the sort of runner that dials in the effort and maintains it.
Cc4 - welcome.
Marco - good luck.
Sorry for the late notice, but today Saturday I have our club cross country race which is 8.4km. I have new cross country shoes to race in.
This week has been an accidental easy week. I was in Sydney Monday to Friday and was really busy and had very little time to run.
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
Watson - belated good luck. Did you get a pair of spikes?
Yes, 4 Sikes per shoe.
Good stuff. They feel a bit different to run in but they do help massively with XC.
Cc4 welcome!
PR's
1m 5:38 (2018)
5k 19:59 (2019)
HM 1:33:56 (2018)
FM 3:23:07 (2018)
Intl. correspondent
Ben - welcome aboard. Going forward I'm going to call you cc4 since I'll probably forget you're Ben pretty soon. This is a cool group with a lot of cool advice. Also your PRs are a few seconds faster than mine, I hope you don't get too much faster too soon so I can use you as a rabbit
Mark/Keen - I was talking to my running coach today in the Whatsapp group and apparently there is no correlation between heart rate reserve (HR max - rest HR) with performance.For a while I had thought that meant you guys had an extra gear available but apparently it's not the case.
On a separate note he agreed that absolute weight IS a factor when it comes to performance and there's a ceiling of weight for high performance. Not that we didn't know that since it's obvious that no elite distance runner weighs more than 65kg, but it's good to hear that from someone who actually studies this for a living.
We were talking about vO2max and factors for performance. He was stating that vO2max is not necessarily a predictor of performance and proceeded to give an example. One of the fastest dudes in the group has a vO2max of 62 yet runs low 15's for 5Ks. One of the fastest females also has a vO2max of 62 and she obviously cannot run that fast. On a similar note, he posted an article about a study where they found out that there's a variation of how much % of your vO2max you can use. Meaning the faster people can stay close to vO2max for longer.
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
Thanks for the insights Flavio! This confirms what I mentioned earlier: before investing in vapor fly or others, I have a lot to gain by simply losing weight this is good
Welcome Ben!
I'm up tomorrow! if it's a good day I'll target 7'50 per mile, otherwise 3h30 will be my target. First goal is run it all (no walking this time!!!)I'll let you know
PRs since re-started in 2013:
5km: 19:43 (Belfast park run Sep-16) | 10km: 40:16 (Belfast Lagan side 10K Sep-18)
HM: 1:30:09 (Belfast city Half Marathon, September-18) | FM: 3:25:05 (official chip time Belfast city Marathon, May-19, marathon was 0.3/4 longer, original time 3:27:20 for 26.5/6...)
Upcoming races:
???
Go Marco! Is there any way to track you during the race?
Marky - I've got St. Michael's on the Eastern shore on MD. Supposed to be really flat so should be able to roll on it. Not exactly sure what that'll end up with pacing though. Never thought about the half in 5K's. Always just looked at the mile splits but that's a good idea.
JMac - Thanks for the welcome. I'll probably be more active during the weekdays during work...weekends are when kids keep me busy!
watson - Thanks and good luck (after the fact) for today.
Flavio - I'm a coach, teacher, and professor. The liklihood of someone calling me by my first name during the day is very small so I'm not sure I'd answer to Ben anyways! Our PRs are pretty close although I haven't run a 1500m since 2005 and never run a full.
Ocra - Good luck tomorrow! Hope the full goes well and the weather cooperates for you.
I got in a good 10 with 2 local guys this morning (which is rare since I usually run at night) that are probably a bit faster than me but it felt smooth for the first time in a while. Probably the longest run I'll do before my half in 2 weeks. Hoping for a solid 30-35mpw for the next two weeks.
Nah... this is Belfast no tracking yet ... they’ll get there... for now just old style chip with mat at the beginning and end
thanks Ben
I’ll post tomorrow night