What should my Half marathon pace be?

You can almost certainly run closer to 1:20. Most of these guys are encouraging you to puss out. There is no real wall in a half.

I think it will have no bearing on my race, but last night's easy run felt horrible. Wednesday was my final quality session according to Daniels plan. 3xmile @ tempo with 2 minute recovery. I didn't think it took that much out of me but I felt dead last night. It was also directly after dinner, so that probably didn't help. It was also 80 outside when it's normally 60.

Weather report says it'll be 47 at the start time and 50 at the finish

MiRunr wrote:

Ideally you'll have some other runners with similar pace to run with, that is such a huge help vs going it alone. Best of luck, a fast 1/2 is the best way to qualify for NY Marathon if that ever interests you too, skip the lottery!

This will almost surely be a solo effort. Last year's results had 1 guy at 1:10 and 1 guy at 1:20 and the rest were close to 1:30 or higher

I didn't realize NY had a half qualification as well. I do have interest in NY but I thought you had to meet the full qualifier

Jimmy21 wrote:

Im 33 and I've been running for a little less than a year. I've been at about 45 mpw for the last several months and built up to a high of 52 for 2 weeks. My long runs had only been about 10 miles but had gotten up to 14 (plus 10+ mile HM workouts in the same week) before tapering down. I have been trying to follow Daniels half marathon plan (adjusted down for lower mileage) The only real predictor I have is about a month ago, I did an 8k road race in 29:05. 5:51 pace. I've been calling 6:10 my tempo pace. My goal had been 6:15 pace or 1:22. I have no idea if im way off base.

If you have been running 6:10 tempos (what distance?), then you can easily run 1:22 (I'm assuming 10k+ tempos). Some thoughts:

1) If 1:22 is your realistic goal given your fitness, then the 6:10 is way too fast for a tempo run.

2)Your volume is a bit low for a HM and you don't have the experience.

However, you can meet your goal providing you don't go out too hard, i.e. at "tempo" pace. I would go out at 6:20~6:17 or so for the first 10k and then start cutting it down. When in doubt, negative split. Since this is probably your first HM, try to finish hard and fast rather than fading away to a crawl.

The tempos I have been doing have been from Daniels. Most have been things like 10 minute repeats with 5 minutes rest. 3 miles @ tempo.

I've always understood tempo to be the pace you could race for an hour. In between 10k and half speed

If my 10k pace was 6:00 and my half is 6:15, 6:10 seems to be about 1 hour pace

No idea what Daniels plan you're running, but have never seen him advocate 5 minute rests with 10 minute repeats. They're usually 10 minute repeats with 2 minute rests.

If you're comfortably doing those cruise intervals at 6:10 than I think 1:23 or so should do it. If you were equally trained, then 1:21 is in the cards, but given your lack of experience in the distance, you don't want to crash and burn with 3 to go. I'd say go out in 6:25 or so and see how it goes.

You can pick it up at the 8-9 mile mark in a half.

Jimmy21 wrote:

MiRunr wrote:

Ideally you'll have some other runners with similar pace to run with, that is such a huge help vs going it alone. Best of luck, a fast 1/2 is the best way to qualify for NY Marathon if that ever interests you too, skip the lottery!

This will almost surely be a solo effort. Last year's results had 1 guy at 1:10 and 1 guy at 1:20 and the rest were close to 1:30 or higher

I didn't realize NY had a half qualification as well. I do have interest in NY but I thought you had to meet the full qualifier

1/2 qualifier for sure, got me in this year. Had to run sub 1:25:00 for my age group. They don't "guarantee" a slot to non NYRR runners/races, however if you apply early I haven't heard of anyone not getting in. They want "faster" runners there as the general field is "slower" :)

If you can do a 5:51 pace 8k, a 6:20 HM pace should be a piece of cake.

I've run sub 80 minutes with a 5:45 pace 10k time. You have to commit and believe it.

Do not start at 6:40 pace if you want it.

As others have alluded, don't go out at goal pace, you will blow up. Your tempos are too short and I assume your long runs are not long enough. For a good HM, you should be able to run 6mi+ at about HM+10-15s pace at least every 2-2.5 weeks in your buildup. I don't think you have the strength to go sub 82 just yet. Your best bet would be as the person above suggested, go out in 6:20 and cut down at about the half way mark. Your 5k-10k performance might be much better than your HM performance.

Nonsense.

He's easily doing enough to translate his 8km time into whatever McMillan says it equals to.

Well, race is over. I have mixed feelings about my time and execution. At the time, I felt like I ran a pretty smart race. The race was advertised as "flat and fast.". I mean, I guess it wasnt up a mountain or anything, but flat and fast is a bit of a stretch. According to my Garmin, it was 8 hills. The longest being 200' over a mile and a half.

6:18

6:08

6:15

6:31 (uphill)

6:03 (down hill)

6:04 (down hill)

6:21

6:14

6:49 (up hill)

6:09 (down hill)

6:25

6:17

6:31 (short steep hill absolutely killed me and gave me the worst side ache I've ever had)

Final .1 6:32 pace

Finish time 1:22:45, 6:19 pace

The seconds mile probably screwed me up a lot. It had an uphill that felt easy being the beginning of the race and then I let myself get going too fast on the down hill.

There were 4 guys under 1:21 and then me. Definite solo effort. Per letsrun code, I immediately gave my finishers medal to my daughter and I did not collect my age group award.

After the race I saw Evan Jager in the crowd and I talked to him and got a picture with him.

Congrats, and also gotta give you credit for following up on the site with your results.

Well done, especially not listening to the take it easy crowd. You can chop a minute or two off on a flat course.

I was in your fitness a couple years ago. I ran a low 1:23 but I also felt like I could have done an extra 6 miles at the end. I was happier that way though.

I'd take it out around 6:25-6:29 and pick it up as the race goes along. Any faster might get funky if your tempo pace is only around 6:10.

something like this wrote:

I was in your fitness a couple years ago. I ran a low 1:23 but I also felt like I could have done an extra 6 miles at the end. I was happier that way though.

I'd take it out around 6:25-6:29 and pick it up as the race goes along. Any faster might get funky if your tempo pace is only around 6:10.

Some people like to race hard though.

You're late for advice wrote:

something like this wrote:

I was in your fitness a couple years ago. I ran a low 1:23 but I also felt like I could have done an extra 6 miles at the end. I was happier that way though.

I'd take it out around 6:25-6:29 and pick it up as the race goes along. Any faster might get funky if your tempo pace is only around 6:10.

Some people like to race hard though.

I, on the other hand, felt like I needed to go to the medical tent because i had ruptured something​ internally. I'm really curious how much faster I would have been on a flat course.

Well done dude- 1:22:45 is around where I thought you'd be on a good day. A solid mark on which to build.

Go with the 10 add 2 formula. 10K best and add two minutes. If all you have is an 8K then extrapolate to a 10K time and add 2 minutes.That will give you the 10K split time, and you can work out mile tiles etc from that. You likely have a 1:20 in you.

Jimmy21 wrote:

You're late for advice wrote:

Some people like to race hard though.

I, on the other hand, felt like I needed to go to the medical tent because i had ruptured something​ internally. I'm really curious how much faster I would have been on a flat course.

That's because you don't have hobbyjogger mentality. Find a flat course and run it the same way.