After my great run on Tuesday I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit disappointed not to get nearer to 1:30 (or even under). I actually finished with a 1:33:25 which was under my "middle" goal of sub 1:35 (based on relative lack of expereince of half marathon racing & training) but short of my "dream" goal of sub 1:30.
If you look at any of the race time predictors (like this one) you'll see that based on a 19:21 5K, they all come up with sub-1:30 times. Of course all predictors only work if you've only done the appropriate training for the distance and I think my WHW training runs may have built my endurance up well but not provided me with the combination of endurance and speed over the half marathon distance. If I was serious about getting a sub-1:30 I think I'd need to concentrate on improving my 10K times first but in the buildup to the WHW, 10Ks have always felt like a very low priority. Perhaps if the right race comes up at the right time before the WHW I might have another bash at a half marathon but for the moment, I'll have to settle for being 10th V50-54 out of 68 in Inverness. (Yes, they were quoting 5 year age groups in the results). Meanwhile Ian finished an excellent 8th out of 130 in his age group.
Three photos from http://www.northsport.com/ who were the official photographers. One of Ian (looking like he's out for a spot of power walking), one of me and one of a guy who passed me at 9 miles (a real "heartsink" moment).
If you look at any of the race time predictors (like this one) you'll see that based on a 19:21 5K, they all come up with sub-1:30 times. Of course all predictors only work if you've only done the appropriate training for the distance and I think my WHW training runs may have built my endurance up well but not provided me with the combination of endurance and speed over the half marathon distance. If I was serious about getting a sub-1:30 I think I'd need to concentrate on improving my 10K times first but in the buildup to the WHW, 10Ks have always felt like a very low priority. Perhaps if the right race comes up at the right time before the WHW I might have another bash at a half marathon but for the moment, I'll have to settle for being 10th V50-54 out of 68 in Inverness. (Yes, they were quoting 5 year age groups in the results). Meanwhile Ian finished an excellent 8th out of 130 in his age group.
Three photos from http://www.northsport.com/ who were the official photographers. One of Ian (looking like he's out for a spot of power walking), one of me and one of a guy who passed me at 9 miles (a real "heartsink" moment).
3 comments:
One of the main things which has improved my performance speed-wise (I've never been a very fast runner) is the Garmin 205 I recently purchased. My pace has become a lot more consistent and I used it to run tempo runs at sub 1:30 pace prior to the MK half.
I reckon having the Garmin for training and during the race got me sub 1:30. Have you got one? They are £50 off on the Halfords web store.
Hi Brain, I must admit I've given up on the high-tech stuff as the years have gone by. I used to have the old Timex Speed & distance system (still have it in fact) but now I find, even timing my runs sucks of the joy from them. The real reason I suspect that my speed isn't better is that I haven't done any tempo runs for a couple of months as my favourite tempo run route is a trail that gets very muddy & slippery at this time of year. Guess I need to find a nice non-muddy route for my tempo runs.
Hi Brain, I must admit I've given up on the high-tech stuff as the years have gone by. I used to have the old Timex Speed & distance system (still have it in fact) but now I find, even timing my runs sucks of the joy from them. The real reason I suspect that my speed isn't better is that I haven't done any tempo runs for a couple of months as my favourite tempo run route is a trail that gets very muddy & slippery at this time of year. Guess I need to find a nice non-muddy route for my tempo runs.
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