I guess it depends if you're running it in less than 75min - 90min - or 2hours.
But let's say if you're running it in 1h30-1h45.
When is it starting to get hard ? And when does it feels like it's really hard and you need to go deep and focus mentally to keep the pace to the finish line ?
AHAHAKKF wrote:
I guess it depends if you're running it in less than 75min - 90min - or 2hours.
But let's say if you're running it in 1h30-1h45.
When is it starting to get hard ? And when does it feels like it's really hard and you need to go deep and focus mentally to keep the pace to the finish line ?
It usually starts to get hard around 13-14km and really hard around 18. I've ran it in 1:14
If you pace properly HM is still fast enough that you must always be mentally "on".
Though I'd say first 4 miles you should feel great, 4-6 miles quite good.
Usually after 6-7 miles that's when you'll feel the fatigue building up.
And the last 4 miles is when you have to dig deep.
AHAHAKKF wrote:
I guess it depends if you're running it in less than 75min - 90min - or 2hours.
But let's say if you're running it in 1h30-1h45.
When is it starting to get hard ? And when does it feels like it's really hard and you need to go deep and focus mentally to keep the pace to the finish line ?
That’s a top secret we can’t tell you.
I broke it into three pieces. The first three miles really feel easy and I ran them on the watch to keep from going too fast. I start to feel it out in the next 5 miles and then really gunned it for the last 5.
It should feel easy for at least 14 k. Gets harder as tempeartures rise and dehydration starts.
Did my first HM in Valencia last year (69:2X), was fitter than that but was high humidity and somewhat hot so had to adjust expectations, also just a bit nervous about tackling that distance for the first time and din't want to crash and burn after 10M.
Split it 16:28, 16:24, 16:32, 16:28 + whatever the remainder is.
I'd planned to go out quicker than that for the first 5K so was caught offguard and then passing groups. Made an intentional decision at the 10K mark to slow down a bit because I was starting to get rolling too much.
14.5K/9M is where is started to get tough, this only lasted for about a mile and then didn't feel as bad, but still tough. A clubmate had advised me that 'a HM/Mara will have bad miles, but that doesnt mean all of the following miles will be bad' and that rang true. 10M-20K was uncomfortable but not terrible.
20K I realised I probably needed the finish line to come soon, but this could've just been a mental thing. I ignored any water or a gel because at that point no sustenance is going to help you within the next 3-4mins. About 600m to go my legs almost dropped out from under me and that was a worried push to the line.
All in all at no point was it ever truly comfortable but I put a large portion of that to the weather conditions. Through 10K and up to 14K I was solo and chugging along fine, it was only from that point on there had to be a concerted effort to see it out. Maybe better nutrition mid or pre race.
I think HM pacing should be more intuitive. I've run some good 10K's where I've thought from the gun I wouldn't be able to sustain it and have, but HM is a very different, you need to keep leaning on the line without crossing it.
Starno wrote:
If you pace properly HM is still fast enough that you must always be mentally "on".
Though I'd say first 4 miles you should feel great, 4-6 miles quite good.
Usually after 6-7 miles that's when you'll feel the fatigue building up.
And the last 4 miles is when you have to dig deep.
This sounds about right. The final 5k is "I've made a terrible mistake" thought territory.
I've run a slew of half-marathons in the 1:30-1:45 range (getting slower as I got older) and some of those were "good" for my age and fitness at the time.
If you don't feel good at the 10K point, you're in trouble. I'd say it starts to get hard around 8 miles and "really hard" around 10-11 miles.
Easy, good, uncomfortable, hard, hard, oh so very hard, unbearable
A good half marathon should feel more/less like you're redlining the entire time. Splits should be relatively even, effort increases as you get deeper into the race. The first 5k should feel in control, especially if you're dialed into pacing & even start ~5s/mile slower than goal pace. 5k-10k should feel good, now that you've settled into goal pace. It should start to feel pretty tough after that. The legs might be threatening to cramp or might just start to feel tired around 7 or 8 miles. 15k-20k you should feel like you're working harder than the splits you're seeing. Hopefully you're seeing the same pace but you feel like you're giving more effort. Push the last 1k & maybe you can find a few extra seconds.
amkelley wrote:
I've run a slew of half-marathons in the 1:30-1:45 range (getting slower as I got older) and some of those were "good" for my age and fitness at the time.
If you don't feel good at the 10K point, you're in trouble. I'd say it starts to get hard around 8 miles and "really hard" around 10-11 miles.
I agree with this. First half feels right on the verge of conservative, Gets hard after that, last 2-3 miles feel terrible like you are going to blow up.
Don't agree with the person who said you are redlined the whole way. That doesn't make sense.
For me it went from feeling easy to a grind around the 10 mile mark. Sub 70