Was did it take you to run between 1:14 and 1:17 for a half?

I'm probably what you had in mind as an average runner. Didn't even start running until a high school freshman, by the time I was a senior I joined track but was still pretty awful, 11:40 2 mile pr. In college, wasn't anywhere near good enough to run for the team, ran a ton of miles by myself and worked my 5k down to 16:38. Kept at it and eventually ran a 1:16:xx when I was 24 or so.

I had no speed and instead of fighting that, focused on mileage(70-80 per week, peaking at around 100) and tempos. My training leading up to the 1:16 included gradually longer tempos at about 5:45-5:50 pace (starting at 4-5 miles and working up to 9). The other workout that I did during the week was half mile repeats in 2:30-2:40 or so. Also a long run at a decent pace.

If you don't have talent you have to make up for it with hard work. Being a world beater is basically impossible but you can do relatively well for yourself. I won that race, and even though I realize that it was a thin field and my performance was nothing in the grand scheme of things, it was a good feeling and a nice memory to look back on.

One day at cross country practice my senior year I went out and did 13 miles in around 1:17:30, so I assume I could've raced a half at least a couple minutes faster. My fastest times that year were around 16:30. During the summer I peaked at around 50 miles per week for 2-3 weeks nad was hitting 30-35 miles most of the season. Then winter I built up to almost 60 miles per week and my PR's were 4:34 and 9:54 with 35-40 miles per week during the season. I am definitely not a speed guy. Hope that helps you out some.

He's saying he doesn't want to hear stories about kids that ran a 15:xx 5k in high school then got bored one day and went out and ran a 1:14-1:17 half marathon.

He wants to hear about what normal people did to get to the 1:14-1:17 half marathon times, you know, people that don't read letsrun and actually have lives outside of running. But you obviously wouldn't know anything about that.

You certainly need some kind of talent to run 1h14m to 1h17m. I'd say less than 5% of men have those kind of times "in them". If you don't have talent then sub1h20m will be WAY TOO MUCH effort.....for what? You don't earn a lot of bragging rights with sub1h20m.

Let me rephrase if i was unclear.

-Looking for opinions from people who were NOT studs in high school or college

-How many miles were you running?

- What times did you have for other races during that period?

60-70 mpw year round and a low to mid 33 minute 10K ability.

Broke 74 twice.

I was a mid 17 guy in high school, then few years after college I was just a mid 18 runner. I decided to try to run every day for a year and halfway through started taking my mileage up. Next thing I know I'm hitting 100 and ended up staying there for 52 weeks in a row. Somewhere around 35 weeks in I ran my first mini and hit 1:14:05 - obviously didn't taper because I was more interested in my mileage streak. Zero workouts (aside from road races where I had gone down to about 16:20 for 5k) and did all my running around 8 min to 9 min pace.

I know folks who meet your criteria who achieved so. But they all had talent which WOULD HAVE allowed them to run well in high school. What are your PRs?

Let me see...I think I'm NOT what you're looking for.

Ran 15:48 in high school

Was bored one day and went out and ran a 1:15 half marathon at age 24 (I was running still though).

I'm not sure what you mean by "stud", but I was a 15:30 guy in college and ran about 1:17 during a long run the same season. I was doing 90-100 mpw for about 8 weeks with 4 or 5 doubles a week. Main runs would be about 10 miles, secondary runs 4-6. All I was doing for workouts at the time of the HM were 6 mile tempos and the occasional stride. A lot of my runs were progressive, starting around 7:30 and working to below 6:00 pace at the end.

Oh hush now you slow, fat, old, balding white man.

Flagpole wrote:

Let me see...I think I'm NOT what you're looking for.

Ran 15:48 in high school

Was bored one day and went out and ran a 1:15 half marathon at age 24 (I was running still though).

Flagpole wrote:

Let me see...I think I'm NOT what you're looking for.

Let me guess...is this your usual pick-up line?

just thinking wrote:

Let me rephrase if i was unclear.

-Looking for opinions from people who were NOT studs in high school or college

-How many miles were you running?

- What times did you have for other races during that period?

you might look to further narrow your criteria to greasers, high school dropouts, and/or anyone raised by wolves.

'just thinking' seems like you're syntax isn't too clear, which is why you're getting a bunch of snarky answers.

To run 1:14 to 1:17 you'd probably want to be in the mid-low 16s to about 17 for 5K, 34 to 35:30s for 10K, and 2:40 to 2:50 for marathon. Hope this helps you a little.

I ran just under 1:15 in my first half marathon. About 2 weeks prior I ran 16:08 for 5k (this was a huge PR at the time, and the first time I had broken 17 mins) and a few months prior I ran 57:30 for a 10 miler.

I was running around 70 mpw at the time, maybe 1 workout a week and a long run of 16-18 mi, and then some kind of tempo run. Most of the time the long runs would turn into a tempo run.

Last Fall I ran 1:15:15 for a half marathon. I was running 16:40's for 5k and around 27:00 for 5 mi. By December I ran a 33:30 10k. I was averaging around 60 mpw, and doing 1 workout on the track, usually shooting for around 5 mi of speed, and a long run around 15-16 mi and another medium run around 13 mi. I was also taking a day off every week. I was worried about getting injured.

This spring I ran 1:12 for a half marathon. My mileage increased a little bit, to around 70 mpw most weeks. I have been taking a day off every other week, or if I feel run down. I also was doing a track workout, and my long runs increased to 20 or 22 mi every other week or so. However, my 5k times are still 16:30!

Moral of the story: I suck at 5ks.

You can try using the McMillan calculator. I don't think it's always dead on, but it can often give you an idea.

I was a mid-17s guy in high school off decent mileage for a high schooler (up to 75 miles/week), so I think I fit the OP's criteria of not studly but average runner.

Of course, this being letsrun, people have a distorted impression of what is "average". But I digress.

I kept on running mid-17s into my early 20s with 60-75 mile weeks, and then at about age 23 had an epiphany, time on my hands, and a marathon to train for. Bumped weekly miles up to 80, then 90, then 100 and ran 16:09, 33:51 and 1:16:42, latter at the end of a track season where I kept the mileage around 80 (100 in base phase before that).

Did lots of long runs throughout the year leading into the half. Staple workouts included 40 minute tempo at about half marathon pace or a bit slower. Now that I'm older I realize that a 60 minute run at marathon pace would be a good one to add to the repotoire for half training as it gives you practice in holding a solid pace for a long time.

If you want to run a good half you have to work the 3k-10k paces as well, and I would typically do that in sessions of 4 minutes at 10km pace, 2 minutes rest, 2 x 2 minutes at 5km pace and repeat that 3 times. Throw in some strides and 300s at 3km pace every 2-3 weeks to work the quicker paces.

The long and the short of it, is to run a 1:15:30 half you need to be comfortable at 5:45 pace. So spend a lot of time running at 5:45 pace. It should feel pretty comfortable for 20-30 minutes. Then stop. Do it again in a couple of weeks, and in the alternate week make your tempo a longer (40-60 minute) effort at a slightly slower pace.