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Apr 2010
9:18am, 30 Apr 2010
4,149 posts
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Bree
For those who want to go sub 1.30 in a half marathon and/or those that have already done it and want to give advice. Share your journey here.
Sub 1:30 half is my next target and I'm looking at what training sessions might help. The advice so far seems to be include a 6-8 mile tempo run at lactate threshold pace which as far as I can tell is somewhere around HM pace. That would be 6:52 for a 1:30 half. Sounds like a tall order, but I will give it a go!
Any one else out there with the same target?
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Apr 2010
9:21am, 30 Apr 2010
2,635 posts
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JohnnyO
This is my target at present. I am 4 minutes off, but I was holding back a bit as my knee was dicey.
6.52 all the way round sounds tough. I would hope to do 7's and then use one of my fabled sprints over the last 3miles to catch up.
In my head this sounds reasonable. Reading it on here, it looks like nonsense.
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Apr 2010
9:52am, 30 Apr 2010
2,040 posts
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Sloggerian
I want to give this a crack, but probably not until the autumn, so may just be lurking a bit for now...
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Apr 2010
10:04am, 30 Apr 2010
1,704 posts
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paul the builder
You'll still need a decent aerobic base for a good half, so a long run and a couple of other 'easy' runs in the week are important. Although the 'long' run needn't be 20-22 as if you were marathon training (but it wouldn't do any harm if it were). It should still be 16+ though, week in, week out.
And then the quality sessions in each week of:
- a tempo run (start at 3-4m at whatever your current HM pace is, and gradually work towards 6-7m at 6:50m/m or better)
- mile reps (or 2m reps, or 1km reps) - something to get you moving at 10k pace or a little faster.
I found it a frustrating barrier to cross, although I was predominantly marathon training at the time. But at the 3rd attempt, with a training week more or less like the above I got there.
Good luck all.
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Apr 2010
10:16am, 30 Apr 2010
235 posts
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DuncanG
There was a RW article about this a few months back and the guy being interviewed said his key session ended up being 4x2k intervals and I think he was doing each interval in 8 minutes.
I would love to do a 1:30 half but am some way off ... 9:52 at the moment.
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Apr 2010
10:47am, 30 Apr 2010
43 posts
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Rod the plod
I ran Brighton half in 1.31.26 so am getting closer to this target and would like to go under it this year. I found the threshold runs (similar to what Bree describes above) the most useful way to get my time down. I ran them between my HM and 10k pace. This gave me the confidence to run sub 7mm at Brighton.
Going forward I want to do a lot of track work to get my time down further. I think this helps to feel that HM pace feels slow! My brother swears by it and has got his time down from 1.25 to 1.13 in HMs which he largely attributes to track and speed work.
Agree with ptb though. Running 16+ mile runs will be really helpful to build a base. Anyone coming off marathon training should be in a good place.
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Apr 2010
10:50am, 30 Apr 2010
2,637 posts
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JohnnyO
I have no idea where to find a track, and I find it hard to motivate myself for intervals.
I think I need to shed a few kilos too, but I start to look ill if I drop below 80kg.
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Apr 2010
10:53am, 30 Apr 2010
8,816 posts
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HappyG(rrr)
Good luck all of you. Are you looking for sub 1:30 on the way to your sub 3:15 marathon or is half marathon your only target goal? I think it makes a wee difference how you would train.
Half is only target then train at target half pace i.e. 6:50 min/mile for e.g. 10 miles out of your long run. Longest run would only need to be 12 miles. Lots of speed work, 10K races etc.
If mara is the target then just go long, LSRs, put in some target mara pace miles in your long runs i.e. 7:25 for up to 15 of your 20 mile LSR. Don't worry about 10Ks so much. Like PtB says, lots (even more) aerobic base.
My experience last year was that I went in 18 months from 1:37 half to 1:28:30 half mostly off the back of increased mileage, lots of LSRs and only a small amount of 7:30 pace stuff. Mostly 9 min/mile + But my target was the faster marathon, the faster half was just a bonus along the way.
Very best of luck all! :-)G
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Apr 2010
10:57am, 30 Apr 2010
2,638 posts
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JohnnyO
I think I will stick to half mara targets. I get a bit obsessional, and the training required for a mara time like that would drive me mad whereas I can happily find the time for a 16miler once a week. For me the key is doing the speed work. Of course, I say this now, and then when I hit the target......
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Apr 2010
10:59am, 30 Apr 2010
246 posts
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Windsor Wool
PtB's advice is sound as ever. I originally did it without ever running more than 12 miles in training but it's got easier as my longer runs have increased in length.
For me the key session is the tempo: once you can run 6-7 miles at 6:45 - 6:50 pace then I think you are there. Start at 3-4 miles and then build it up bit at a time. I wouldn't suggest that you try and run a 7 mile tempo at 6:50 as your first effort - tempos are supposed to be hard but this is pushing it too far. Note also that in my original training I also extended my tempos up to 10 - 11 miles. This was probably a mistake for HM training as it just left me knackered for the rest of the week.
DG: I like Fartlek too although I think this is more powerful for bringing down 10km time. Note that HM performance improvements CAN be done in relatively large jumps - for me: Oct 2008 1:39, Mar 2009 1:29:40 (next HM). Go for it!!
Good luck - I'll be checking in and out of this thread as this was a massive target for me and I'm more than happy to opine.
Bree - I need your mara tips....you know where you should be posting them!
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larkim 
Sub 80 min Half Marathon Support
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