sub 1:30 half , pace fluctuations

Your 5k indicates that you can run 1:25 or better. When running a half you have to realize that you should be running faster than you may think you should be. It's the perfect distance to really test out where your redline pace is. You can tiptoe up to your 10k or even 5k pace for portions of the race when you feel your energy is flowing nicely.

no

SMJO wrote:

Your 5k indicates that you can run 1:25 or better. When running a half you have to realize that you should be running faster than you may think you should be. It's the perfect distance to really test out where your redline pace is. You can tiptoe up to your 10k or even 5k pace for portions of the race when you feel your energy is flowing nicely.

I'm not sure I agree with this. Particularly for a first half, I think it's better to go out conservatively, shooting for even splits. My guess is that it has a lot to do with what type of runner you are and what type of training you've done (i.e. a marathoner running a half for fun or a 800/1500 guy running a half for fun at the end of the season), but I've found that my best halves come when I run nearly even splits, which feels really slow and leaves me feeling pretty good at 8/9 miles. If I'm running faster than that I will completely die at the end. The last three are always really rough but when I get to 8 or 9 and tell myself that I'm feeling so good that I should pick it up, I ALWAYS end up dying at the end.

So to the OP I would recommend going out at goal pace or even slightly slower if it's crowded at the beginning.

You guys don"t know how to race hard.

SMJO wrote:

You guys don"t know how to race hard.

Running precisely equal splits and being absolutely spent is the very definition of as fast as you can. Or are you one of those guys who thinks running as hard as you can over 13.1 miles is equal to running as fast as you can?

I did get one decent day this winter. Ran even splits, and ran 7miles 6:53 pace so I think i should be close to a sub 1:30 I know there is still 6 miles left. Jus sayin.

Thinkin of shootin for 6:45- 6:53 pace til mile 10 then pick it up for the last 3 if possible.. I'm a 5k'er so this is a whole new animal to me.

Why would you tiptoe up to anything near 5k pace?

As with all distances 5,000m and up, a perfectly paced half marathon will have a small negative split.

For this guy, 6:50 pace is exactly where he should stay for the first 10 miles. If he has the ability to throw down and feel great at the end, then fine. Faster goal next time.

Putting down 6:00 miles in the middle of a 90 minute effort when your goal pace is 6:50? As silly as it sounds.

SMJO wrote:

You guys don"t know how to race hard.

You don't know how to use punctuation.

Typing on an iPhone dude. You guys still don't know how to race. I ran 1:24 with his 5k speed. You have to go for it.

A 5k and a half are two completely different beasts. Just because a particular 5k time is correlated to a particular half time for you doesn't mean that they're correlated for the OP. This is the OP's first half, and his goal is to break 1:30. He should go out at 1:30 pace and then kill the last part. If he ends up running a wildly faster second half than first, then he'll know to go out faster next time. Or, he could end up barely hanging on, which means he'll have run as fast as he could for the half.

Who said that you should run the first third of the race with your head, the middle third with your legs, and the last third with your heart? They were spot on.

What's your concept of a perfect race? I'm assuming majorly positive splits since you push it so hard at the beginning? You are the type of person who could easily beat me who I fly by during the last third of the race, because I ran smarter than they did.

No. I did not say to run crazy from the start. A half is probably the only distance where your body perfectly warms to the task and you can go with your energy flow recklessly. I always negative split by a minute and often I gain that minute over just a few kms past the 10 mile mark. The first half I ever ran was a 1:23 with a 18:00 5k best. I went for it and did not die.

Well if you negative split, then we run the exact same way, so I'm not sure why you think that none of us who even-split know how to race...

I disagree that you can "go with your energy flow recklessly." I ALWAYS feel as though I should be running faster during miles 4 through 9ish, but by 12 I am barely hanging on, at the exact same pace. If I had gone with my energy flow recklessly, I would have been finished at mile 10 and crawling on all fours through the finish line, and I would have done a lot worse, for sure.

As my old coach used to say, if it doesn't feel unbearably easy during the first third of the race, you're doing something wrong.

So I should line up just ahead of the 1:30 pacers?

I understand what SMJO is sayin i'm half tempted to go out w/ the 6:30 guys and see how long I can hold on. Pretty sure I could maintain that half the race, or maybe for 7 or 8 but that aint good enough.

Seeing how this is my first half i'm gonna set my goals a little lower.

From what i'm hearing this isn't the easiest course and there are some hills at miles 9,10.. That's also where I'm gonna start feeling uncomfortable I would imagine so don't quite dare go out w/ those guys. Also it's a race of 2300 people and the winner last yr ran a 1:04 I don't plan on winnin it or nothin that's for dam sure haha..

My original plan was to go sub 18 5k then quit running. Guess you could say I caught the bug in the meantime ;)

We'll see how i'm feeling the day of, etc..

I mean that I'm going out harder and still negative splitting.