Forums >Racing>The Waltons aka Advanced Half Marathon Training Thread - 2022 edition
Fred good call on the early run. I love the peacefulness of early runs. I can generally run on the road too.
I see Eric is looking into the server problem. I've had some small progress on my sync. When I go to log-tools-applications I get a connect button now for garmin connect.
When I click it I get taken to my app with an agreement page. Accepting that but nothing showing up under connected apps for RA at that end yet.
Zeb nice job by your son. How old is he ? My16 yr old gym junkie is making nice progress. He's always been very small. Right now he's about 5'5 and 130lbs but getting very solid through his arms and shoulders.
When he play fights me now I struggle to beat him. I have to resort to tickling him to win
There was a guy who tried to kayak from Australia to Nz. They did a documentary on it as he had footage etc. It was very sad as he perished withing sight of NZ.
55+ PBs 5k 18:36 June 3rd TT
" If you don't use it you lose it, but if you use it, it wears out.
Somewhere in between is about right "
Got RA back on Garmin Connect, had to use PC rather than phone.
Doubleposting with the other thread... the Running Events team have been doing video's of some of their courses... if anyone wants a look this is the video of Omaha HM which I ran back in March. It made Runners World's list of top 10 bucket-list half marathons. Stunner of a course (surprisingly tough for a flat one given the mix of terrain though). Just watching it has made me want to run it again.
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"
Waltons ThreadLord
Mark - Omaha looks like a lovely course indeed. How many people usually run it? I ask because some of it looks pretty narrow. I can see on the overhead that the pack spreads out, but it's hard for me to say how many runners there are. How much does running on the sand slow you down? Around here, the sand is pretty soft, even right at the water's edge.
I've been having a discussion in another group about point to point courses vs. out-and-backs. The latter have advantages in organization and logistics, and some safety benefits, but point to point courses can cover more unique terrain and thus be more interesting. I've run 29 different half marathon courses of which only 5 were point to point and 4 were loops with the start/finish within a mile of each other. I prefer races that don't cover the same ground more than once, but that can be tough to do in a densely populated area.
One of my favorite courses is a full 13.1 mile loop without any out-and-back segments, but the start and finish are at a college gym, where there's ample access to rest rooms as well as locker rooms to change in, and the parking it close to the start so runners can shed any extra clothes just a few minutes before the race.
Today's run was great. 70º (21C) with less than 60% humidity (in August!). I ran 8 miles with 5 at HM pace, hoping for an average of 8:20 for the HM miles. My actual average was 8:17, though it was 8:19 until the last ¾ mile that was all downhill.
5k 23:48.45 (3/22); 4M 31:26 (2/22); 5M 38:55 (11/23); 10k 49:24 (10/22); 10M 1:29:33 (2/24); Half 1:48:32 (10/22); Marathon 4:29:58 (11/23)Upcoming races: Clinton Country Run 15k, 4/27; Running is Back 10k, 5/12
Piwi - my son is 15 but he's 5'11" and 175lbs so both bigger and taller than me now. I can still out wrestle him because he doesn't know how to use his legs for power . I'm just glad he's found an active activity that he looks forward to and I'm curious if it will help him come swim season.
Mark that looks like a great HM course. I'm not sure how I feel about running on a beach however =)
Fred - what's the name of your favorite HM race?
I'm actually struggling to come up with Halves I've run that were out and backs, almost all of them were loops or 90% loops with a little bit at the start/end repeating. I think I've only raced 4 however (plus a few 20ks)
1600 - 5:23 (2018), 5k - 19:33 (2018), 10k - 41:20 (2021), half - 1:38:57 (2018), Marathon - 3:37:17 (2018)
It's the E. Murray Todd half marathon run in Lincroft, NJ. It's put on by the Monmouth County Parks department, so there's not a lot of publicity, but on the other hand registration is relatively cheap. It's been around for 40+ years and attracts some veteran, hard core runners. No glitz to this race - no expo, no face painting, etc. - just running. The local running club provides volunteer pacers, which is pretty cool. The race is run in early March, which means weather's big variable. When I ran it earlier this year it was 27º (-3C) but sunny, so it was pretty good weather for me.
Zeb I think it's the opposite for me with most half marathons been out and back.
Fred I like the loops better, psychologically it seems better.
Nice super moon last night still visible on my morning Run.
I like loops better too. My least favorite are out-and-backs with a hard, 180º turn around a traffic cone.
It's not a huge race... most recently only around 500 (it was held literally 2 days after gathering restrictions were lifted) but typically around 1000 or so. They did change the course a couple of years ago to remove a fun and beautiful but rather narrow trail section for this reason.
The beach section is not nearly as bad as you might expect. Once you are below the tide-line it's quite hard-packed... it's actually easier running than the grass section around the back of Pt. Wells and the concrete pathway around the back of the dunes which is constantly rolling and turning and hard to find a rhythm on. Getting in and out of that section is harder work but it's only around 50 feet each time so not too bad.
Re courses - Omaha may well be my favourite from a scenery point of view, although on a good day Southern Lakes is very hard to beat as well, and Queenstown is pretty one-of-a-kind. I probably like point to point or courses that are one big loop the most, but equally I don't mind lap courses (max of 2 laps though...), or out-and-backs (as long as they avoid any congestion problems).
I agree on multiple loops. I avoid races that cover the same ground more than twice. I'll have to make an exception if I ever run my town's ultra, which takes place on a 0.8 mile loop....
Fred - yeah I'm not sure what it is, I'm OK with the same loop twice, any more than that is a lot tougher mentally! An ultra on a 0.8 mile loop though?!?! That sounds like a recipe for insanity. Having said the, the National 24 hr running champs here are held on a track...
Me - last week of work for a bit... Auckland 10k champs next weekend and Nationals 2 weeks after that. Enjoyed running in Sydney, the waterfront there and Centennial Park were both great spots. Centennial Park in particular was just brilliant for a workout, nice long 3km loop on roads closed to traffic, a few undulations to keep it honest.
I don't have any major objectives for next Sunday's race other than as a bit of a rust buster. The course is flat but not especially quick due to some annoying turns, and the area it's in is more or less a giant wind tunnel so that often plays a part. The course at Nationals 2 weeks later should be a lot quicker.
Workouts:
Tues: 4 x 1k
Thurs: 50 min steady
Sat: 3 x 3 x 800 / 400 jog (increasing pace each set)
Mark - Good luck with the race (and the wind).
Didn't get a track workout in this week due to the high temps earlier in the week. The weather was much nicer at the end of the week. My long run today was great - it took me three years of training before I ran a 9:09 pace in a half and now I'm doing it in a training run at less than full effort. My son joined me for the last four miles. For the first two he kept me moving along as we discussed Arthurian legend and Beowulf/Grendel. Then we hit some hills in the last couple miles and he stopped talking, so I kind of pulled him along. It was great to have company for the end of that run.
45.1 miles for the week - my best total since February. I'm starting to feel pretty optimistic about this fall's HM races.
JamesD
Mark - Omaha’s course is beautiful. The multiple changes in surface would be interesting and might help break things up. Not much shade, though. The only significant change in surface I’ve had in a goal race was in the Albany (GA) half where I set my PR in 2019. About 100 meters before the end, we left the road and ran into the breezeway of a darkened building with what felt like a wet concrete floor, turned right down a ramp while avoiding a hip-high handrail, and ran out onto a wet stone path that became a paved bike path after a while. It was apparently the only way to get from the street to the bike trail where we finished, but it seemed like a really dangerous way to end a long race. Good luck in your rustbuster 10K.
Fred - Congrats on the long run & your progress. Good luck in your fall halfs.
My hamstrings were a little more sore this week, but I guess that’s to be expected since I’m lengthening my tempo runs (got up to 3 miles today, though slow). It doesn’t seem like a good sign that they’re sore when I wake up, though during runs they usually get to a moderate level of soreness and then don’t get any worse. I’ll hold off until the end of this week about signing up for an August 27 5K. It’s at midnight, which should be an experience.
Sun - 9.6 miles in park @ 8:20, temp 87/31, TDP 157
Mon - 6.2 miles very slow treadmill (72 minutes) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 mins
Tues - 6.8 in park incl. strides & 2 miles @ 6:57, temp 89/32, TDP 161
Weds - 46 minutes swimming
Thurs - 10.1 in park @ 8:23, temp 81/27, TDP 151
Fri - 7.8 very slow treadmill (90 minutes) + 0:40 walk breaks/6 mins
Sat - off taking son to university; first day since July 9 with <37 mins running or swimming
Total - 40.5 miles
YTD average - 35.5 mpw
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
Cobra Commander Keen
Items and comments not in the marathon thread below. Not sure why I started over there this time.
Fred - Nice week! Isn't it awesome to be able to look back and see running progress like that?
James - More good work bringing up that TYD average mileage. A 5k starting at midnight? On one hand I'm intrigued, but on the other I'm reminded that I prefer to be asleep by 9.
Course designs - I prefer single loops and lollipops, myself. No 180* turns around a cone, no doubling back or lapping slower runners. Just speed the whole way through.
I had a pretty great week, largely owing to snagging a new 5k PR Saturday. A RR is possibly in the works.
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
OKC Memorial 5k - April 27
Bun Run 5k - May 4
Keen congrats that's a great 5k pr. So close to sub 18 which should give you a nice target to go for.
Fred so nice to have your son run with you alot. Your conversations sound fairly intellectual my son and I would likely be discussing surfboards
When you see your old race pace becomes your daily training pace it hits home how much fitter you have become.
James solid week. Midnight for a 5k would mess with my internal clock and I probably wouldn't sleep after, however new experiences are cool !
Mark good luck this weekend. I know you love to race and it seems too long a break when we don't hear of you racing each weekend
I hit my 50km goal last week. Because of the relatively low mileage, my runs are slightly faster than if I had more volume.
I see the uploads on the log here are still an issue. At least we have strava as a backup if this keeps failing.