90 minute 1/2M - can I pull it off?

Guilherme wrote:

I did tempos of 2 and 3 miles at 6:30 to 6:50/mile pace but nothing further. And yes, I still believe a 30 second per mile improvement over 13.1 miles is pretty damn hard to pull off in your late 30's. But I don't know much about running anyway. I still havn't done it after 3 years. I agree that I need to get the mileage up to at least 40 or so miles per week and see what happens. Maybe I could do that by the end of the year. My legs do not tolerate high mileage. My family probably wont either for that matter.

Yeah, the mileage will help you a lot. You're close, it's quite possible. Good luck!

Chic Harley, that is a very nice progression. Another solid year of training and racing should yield great results. For me, last year was the first year that I got all the training right, even though I had run a marathon in each of the previous three years. I had no business going that distance before last year. I am running a bunch of shorter races this summer and hope to get as close as possible to 19:00 (5K) and 40:00 (10K) as possible. Where you crush me is the marathon. Despite all the marathon calculators that suggest it should be possible, I am 0 for 4 on getting under 3:20:59. Maybe this fall...

I think you are reading intent into my comments. See from my perspective. As recently as winter 2007 I was 280 pounds and had never ran, didn't think of running, had no desire to run. I lost weight by cycling, plateaued, and switched to running in Dec 2008 as a way to kick start my metabolism. Ended up liking running, ran some races, and here we are.

So perhaps you can see why I think that something I have done isn't that special ( because I didn't think I was that special ). When I was growing up, I was among the slowest guys on the football team, and my brother smoked me in any running race (that kids do, not organized).

So in one of my comments, I tried to be helpful with what I was able to do when I broke 130, but you keep concentrating on the fact that I don't think it's a big deal.

We're cool. Your achievements are in fact special in my book, probably added about 20 years to your life as well. When I was growing up I was actually one of the fastest (in baseball, PE class, Field Day, etc.). Pretty much stopped exercising in my 20's, had a kid in my 30's and started running. Isn't that every fat kid's dream ... to upstage the jocks, cool kids, etc. in adulthood?

Guilherme wrote:

... Isn't that every fat kid's dream ... to upstage the jocks, cool kids, etc. in adulthood?

Now we're way off topic, however I don't mind sharing ...

I grew up thin, but got fat and then obese from about age 24 (150s) to 34 (280). And as far as being really fat, I spent about 5 to 7 years in that realm, and it made me pretty unhappy, and of course I felt that everyone in shape was laughing at me.

So now that I am in shape, I do use that for motivation, rightly or wrongly. Even now at 5'11 and 175, I could probably stand to lose 25 pounds more. I'm always surprised at the end of a race when I see people who appear to have a much better runner build finishing after me.

I'm another Distance2010 clone. About to turn 45, took up running a few years ago. Recent PRs of 3:22:10, 1:30:45, 41:39, 19:45 and 5:31. I race 5 or 6 times per year. I'm carrying about 15 lbs of excess weight and trying to keep a job, wife and 3 kids happy. 50 mpw during peak marathon training is about all I can muster and still have a life. I think if I added 20 miles per week and dropped 10 lbs of muscle and fat I could go sub-3:10, 1:28, 40 and 19, but I would pay the price somewhere else in my life.

1:30 - 1:35 is a great level of fitness for folks like us and it is more than enough to provide us with the ability to drop in to other recreational endurance activities like xc skiing, long-distance cycling, and hiking.

What helped me lower my HM time from age 45--when I returned to training and racing after 19 years away--and 51 was putting in the miles. 40-50 MPW pretty much year round, with 15 milers on as many Sundays as possible. Also, this time around, several tweaks:

1) fast finish long runs of 15-17 miles with the last mile or two at HM pace after running relaxed most of the way--i.e., 11 miles ez, then 3 miles MP, then the last mile or two at my planned HM pace.

2) An 18 miler about 3-4 weeks out from the race.

3) In that last 3-4 weeks, lots of pace work at HM pace, plus or minus. I ran 17 miles at HM pace, three weeks out, divided over three runs: two tempo runs and a FF long run. This grooved me solidly for the race that actually unfolded and put my aerobic engine in very strong shape. In the last week or two, I did some shorter faster stuff--10K miles w/1:30 rest, etc.

I felt extremely well prepared for the race that actually unfolded.

Well said

Ai, ai, ai, I've got a lot of work to do. I actually will be running the Rio de Janeiro 1/2M in July on a course that I know only has one hill and must be one of the most beautiful courses in the world. It's along the coast the whole way. We shall see. thanks

go out "easy" meaning it should feel like training pace. But the pack will pull you out harder, guarenteed. Just don't TRY to go out hard.

Good luck... you can run 1:27.

I did not read all replies and I can only tell you what I would probably do. I finish eating 400-600 calories of good food 2 or more hours before racing. I would not eat during a 1/2 marathon unless I had to for blood sugar reasons. Lately, I've eaten light yogurt, an apple or a banana, some oatmeal and a big spoon of peanut butter. Those are good for me.

I would be ready to drink water and the race's sports drink. I would probably rotate those drinks at each station.

For a long run I would run at least 2 hours once a week. I'd prefer to run 150 minutes though for a 90 minutes 1/2. In other words I'd want to be able to comfortably run 60 minutes longer than goal time in a 1/2 marathon.

I don't do tempo runs. I don't like them. In there place I run Fartlek runs where I only take 60 seconds recovery jogs. I don't look at pace per mile. I run by feel. I will run things like 13 minutes 4 times with 1 minute jogs. Or 4x10w1. Or 2x 9,6,3 w 1. That's on Tuesday. On Thursdays I will sprint by time 40 secs. 30 secs 20 secs 10 secs all with recovery jogs long enough to equal 2 minutes. So maybe one day I'll do 15x30 seconds w 90 secs jog. Then 5x10 secs w 110 secs jog. My warmups and cooldowns are 20 to 30 minutes each and include exercises, stretches, striders ETC. I race at least 1 time a week, especially Saturdays. I turn 41 this week and have been runniing all my life. Good luck with your goals. Oh yeah, make sure it's FUN. I can't do it if I don't keep it fun.

I like this thread a lot. It's very supportive and informative for the more "average" LetsRunner.

I'm coming from a different background than some of you posting in this thread. I ran competitively, though not well, in college: 27:00 XC 8K, 15:40 track 5K were about my best. Also, 10 mi tempo runs in 58-60 min were the norm (once hit 56). This was at 60-70 mi/week.

These days I'm on the wrong side of age 30, and hitting just 25-30 mi a week. This is while battling plantar fascitis, so no real speed work outside of up-tempo runs. I've actually never raced a half-marathon, but I've always felt like it is a distance that would be perfect for me (always been an endurance and strength guy).

I'm surprised by some of the workouts listed here because I can easily beat most of them. In recent months I've done 10 mi hard training run in 70:30, 3 X mile at 6:00, 10K on a treadmill at 95% effort in 41:05 (this was yesterday and I still felt it today), 5K race in 19:10. And yet I feel like I would be thrilled and shocked to hit 1:30 in a half-marathon! Am I underestimating myself? What's my limit here? I have a lifetime of endurance already, and it's not like my mileage is any lower than other people in this thread.

Really, I'm jealous of you guys who are on the upswing and aiming for new thresholds. I don't ever expect to even come close to my old PRs or abilities with my current limited training and aging. For example, the 15 mi run at 6:30 pace wasn't even that hard at the time. Ouch! I like this thread because it makes me excited to see what I can manage now.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

I ran 1:27 off of 20 mpw for 4 months and change.

If you are such a smart arse why didn't you train properly?[/quote]

uk you are THE jackass of lets run

creep wrote:

ukathleticscoach wrote:

I ran 1:27 off of 20 mpw for 4 months and change.

If you are such a smart arse why didn't you train properly?

uk you are THE jackass of lets run[/quote]

Maybe, (although with name changers like yourself I think I would have more chance of winning OG than claiming that title) but is there anything wrong in what I was actually said? The guy was arrogantly claiming that anyone could run under 1:30 - having run only 1:27.

He has made 1:30 + runners feel bad so I returned the favour

"Tempted...", I read a year or two back that an elite (I can't remember who) felt he could hit a pace in a race if he could do that same pace for 2/3 to 3/4 of the race distance in training. You said you recently did a 10m training run in 70:30 (7:03 pace), that's nearly 80% of the the 1/2 marathon distance, a 7:03 in a half marathon is ~1:32:10, I think you could certainly give sub 1:30 a shot with that as a guide. It looks like you just need to up your mileage from the 25-30 per week to more like 40. I'm a novice, so take that for what it's worth!

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Maybe, (although with name changers like yourself I think I would have more chance of winning OG than claiming that title) but is there anything wrong in what I was actually said? The guy was arrogantly claiming that anyone could run under 1:30 - having run only 1:27.

He has made 1:30 + runners feel bad so I returned the favour

Except that you utterly failed, because I have no illusions of being a great runner.

Tempted to use real name...

I think your workouts probably put you in the realm of 130 already. Regretfully I didn't do any shorter races when I did it, however at the time I thought I could run about 19 flat for 5k based on various training runs I did.

i agree, you've set you bar really low man. If your first HM was a few months after you started running, your dream goal really ought to be more than 7 minutes faster than that finish time. Come on, you've got to be mentally tougher and dream bigger.

I bet if you set your sights higher and convinced yourself that you could run, say, 1:20 for example, you would easily break 1:30 (and possibly also get close to 1:20, who knows). But you would have to run a little more than it sounds like you are. OR maybe not, maybe it's more mental.

didn't mean that to sound as scummy as it kinda does. Only meant that where we set our goals, what we shoot for, can increase our capacity to some extent. I don't mean people running 4:00 miles can move to 3:50 miles. Not people who are that far along. But us beginners, we have to be careful to not limit ourselves by our thinking.

Keep working man. You'll get there.

thanks. I actually dont think it is mental during the race itself since I was utterly destroyed throughout the last 5 miles of this race but kept going and still outkicked a kid I saw at the beginning of the race and finally caught up with. I need more volume more than anything. But thanks, that would be pretty hilarious if I got well into the 1:20's. I've taken off at least a minute a year without upping the mileage so we shall see what more mileage does.