How do break 1:30 in half

I am 51. I ran 1:24 this fall on 25 MPW running 4 days per week with cross training 2 days. The only quality I do is one progressive run dipping under 7 minute pace. The other 3 days are at 8:15 pace.

I think that is great. But it also says a lot about you and your talent level.

Do you think your experience applies to others? What about if the OP is 20 and has no experience as an endurance athlete? What if he is 25 lbs overweight?

I think that until the OP gets back to us with these kind of details, this thread is worthless. Honestly, to break 1:30, just go do it (if you are talented) or maybe train with a professional coach for two years and do huge miles (if you are untalented). It depends 100% on who you are.

Hmm. I ran 1:30.20 as a 45 year old woman.

i would argue that you don't need 5:30 speed. Even when i ran just over 3:00 in the marathon, my best mile was like a 5:50 but i was doing 60-80 miles per week.

I was on the downslope of my speed as i had been running 20+ years by then. My best mile at the time was only 6:20 and a 800 of around 3:05 with a 5k of 20:10 3 weeks before that race.

I was running around 45 -50 mile per week as: 1) Long run of 12-17 miles -every other week was hilly 2) mid week session working up to 3 x 2 miles at 6:50 pace and 3) Tempo run of 5-6 miles at 6:55-7:00 with 2 days between the intervals and the tempo.

I also swam around 3000 yards 3 x week, did running specific strength training that was in Running Times "Oregon stability project", and some easy cycling.

It depends who you are, your background and the type of workouts you have been doing.
After a long break, I tried to come back at 40 and it took me 6months with 3 runs a week and I ran 1:17. But that race hurt pretty bad, so I will eventually up my mileage gradually but consistency is key😉

I didn’t start running until my mid 40s. My first half was 1:49 after about half a year of completely unguided jogging and half a year of some Runners World template. A year and a half later I broke 90. it was max 50-60miles during peak marathon training with most average weeks around 40. I liked a mix of long tempo runs and slow recovery paces. Keep aerobic training when injury flairs. I liked the occasional 5k to 10k race to feel what it takes to push through nearing red line. Good luck

Wake up in the morning and do 30 minutes. In the afternoon an hour. If you're exhausted cut it short or skip the occasional run. If you feel good, pick up the pace for a few miles.

Easily, at age 18, after running track and XC throughout high school. I was far from the best in high school, but could run close to 16 min for 5K at the time, so running that pace for a half was easy. Now I’m in my mid forties and I can still break 1:30 but it’s a whole lot harder now than it was a quarter century ago.

I spent a lot of time not being able to break 90 despite 5/10k times which implied much faster.

So bearing in mind I was more 'speed based' I have made big improvements in the last year by

a) doing longer workouts (10-15k) with no breaks

b) learning about thresholds, and using them to help me slow down - for eg 4 x 10 mins between LT1 and LT2 (using HR), whereas in the past I was doing these at or above LT2 and killing myself

c) reducing the perceived effort in my km reps and mile reps