To prepare for this, I skipped my usual weekly runs so my last run was the HUHM 10k last Sunday.
My HM route is mostly downhill on the way out so I aimed to run the first half faster than the last. My plan was to aim for a pace of 5:50 on the way out and just to see what I could maintain on the way back.
Checked my pace for the first time after 100m or so and it was 4:43; I’ve never been very good at starting off slow. My splits for the first 10km varied between 5:20 and 5:58 (that’s ignoring the hill where it dropped to 6:00). For the latter half, my pace was around 6:15. It dropped to 7:22 for the 18th km where there’s a 40m climb. Average pace for the run was 6:01/km.
I think the hardest part is that which covers part of the Pomphrey Hill ParkRun course (although I don’t run up the hill because it’s too muddy for road shoes, I run up the grass close to it). The second hardest has to be the 40m climb up Mill Rd.
Having put in extra effort, I found this run hard going. I didn’t feel quite as worn out as I did after the 10k so maybe I could have put more effort in but I think I was close to my limit. Be interesting to see what I can do on a flat course! Anyhow, completed the HM in 2:07. I’m in awe of those who do most runs at this kind of effort.
It seems that if I put a lot of effort in like I did on this run, I can shave maybe a minute off the time that I can achieve with a moderate effort. With a more relaxed run, I add another 7 minutes or so. For now, think I’ll focus on doing my long runs at a moderate effort with a few relaxed runs thrown in. I’ve found that increasing cadence gives me a speed boost so I’ll experiment with that a bit. Hopefully, that will allow me to build speed and distance without blowing a fuse!
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SkiMonday
Ultramarathon
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Fabulous, well thought out run! That's quite a pace for the first kilometre of a half marathon 😅. Definitely want to avoid blowing a fuse - happy (safe) experimenting
One of my recovery goals was to be able to do Pomphrey hill PR plus run there & back. That's now comfortably in range so I'm sure I'll be there. Friday afternoon is when we go to the Dining Room Arms so I'm not sure how I'm going to arrange it yet. Still, running with a mild hangover should be OK!
Likewise, I've done a few virtual HMs and I've just treated them as regular training runs so no additional effort (less pressure / stress).
Something inspired me to put the effort in for the HUHM runs although I did a long run two days before the 10k. As it turned out, the extra effort shaved about four minutes off my 10k time but only a minute or so off my HM time.
Somehow, I suspect that a long run two days before an event isn't the best way to prepare!
Anyhow, I'm dropping my long runs back to moderate / easy for a while now.
Thinking about it, I usually do the first part of this route reasonably quick (probably because it's downhill). On previous runs that hasn't been the plan. With having planned to go out a bit quicker on this run, maybe that gave me some psychological boost for the second half of the run?
Impressive pace SkiMonday ! I sympathise with the climb at 18km. All I'll say is that I'd obviously taken leave of my senses when I planned my HM route 😬 🙄
Thanks Cmoi, it does seem to take a lot of pace zapping effort!
Yep, 598m (with bunny ears) is a lot of climbing! Although a 208m climb (without bunny ears) is a fair bit for a 10k! By comparison, the total climb on my HM was 157m.
Even though you did a lot of climbing, you’ve trained for it and can obviously handle it so I don’t think your choice of route was that unreasonable.
I run hills all the time, as it's not optional around here. This HM was emotionally-fuelled though, and I wanted to run some of my favourite tracks and roads, places that my late brother-in-law never got to see. So that's what I did - and in the process contrived to assemble a route that just kept going up and down. Funnily enough, in the toughest ascent - a delightfully symmetrical 81m over 1km, at 18km - "Defying gravity" came on the playlist!
Of course, the idiot in me is now wondering what might happen if I ran the same route without bunny ears and on a cooler day. 🙃
No, my brother-in-law wasn't a runner - he was sporty, though, and particularly loved sailing. I think he'd find it utterly hilarious that I've taken up running. To be fair, I'm still trying to get my head round it myself! 🤣
Yes, that route is definitely calling me again. I'm also pondering at least one other even dafter route. Put it down to an unholy combination of "What if?" and stubbornness! 😈
Thanks Scott. One of my goals is a sub 2hr HM. It's gradually edging closer but it seems to be taking a long time to get there.
I can definitely see a benefit in moderately paced runs: for me, they require much less effort, allow me to increase distance and deliver results close to what I get if I put in a lot more effort. I reckon that training runs at an easy pace feed into that.
One thing that might be worth you trying is to increase cadence. I found that it boosted my pace without me having to put in extra effort (although it felt like I was shuffling on the spot at first). I learnt that from post run coaching tips from the Map My Fitness app.
When discussing sub 2hr HMs, one of my colleagues pointed out that all I had to do was maintain my 5k pace. Not sure that was much help but it does seem that I'm gradually getting there so I reckon that, with training, you should be able to extend your 10k pace to an HM.
Somehow, this reply has turned out to be a lot longer than I intended!
Thanks, good reply though. 😀. I manage to run 10km at my average 5km pace ok, so it doesn’t seem entirely impossible to maintain it for longer distances. Just going to keep trying to increase my longer run distance and see how I get on. Not paid too much attention to cadence before, but just looked over last few runs and I average 170 spm. Not sure if that’s any good.
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