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A Half Marathon against myself
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Have some training banked through the entire season but no races. Going to give a half marathon a go. Probably aiming for around 1:30 but who knows.

Questions for the group:

Shoes. Do I go Kinvara or Nike Zoom Fly Flyknit (carbon plated but react foam not the fancy stuff)?

Course: A walk/run trail that is packed gravel/white stone. Trail runs north/south. North is steady slight uphill/south steady slight downhill. I need to start and stop in the same place but can go both north and south at the start.

Should I run ~6.5 downhill, then ~6.5 uphill? 6.5uphill/6.5downhill? 4down/4up - (pass the starting point) ~2.5up/~2.5down (4down/6.5up/2.5down), 4up/6.5down/2.5up, or something completely different?
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [FuzzyRunner] [ In reply to ]
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With those options, I'd go Zoom Fly and 4 up/6.5 down/2.5 up. Combo of pace (factoring in up/down differential depending on grade of incline) and HR to target goal time.
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [bgoldstein] [ In reply to ]
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I haven't done more than 6 miles continuous on the nike's but have done some low 6 minute miles in them so I know they'll be good at the pace I want. Will be a good test of the shoes.


Yea that is what I was thinking to. The middle miles being downhill is good but obviously uphill finish is not. There isn't any steep inclines but just a steady noticeable incline/decline.
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [FuzzyRunner] [ In reply to ]
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Kinvara. race yourself. not yourself in new technology
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [FuzzyRunner] [ In reply to ]
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+1 for nikes
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [FuzzyRunner] [ In reply to ]
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FuzzyRunner wrote:
I haven't done more than 6 miles continuous on the nike's but have done some low 6 minute miles in them so I know they'll be good at the pace I want. Will be a good test of the shoes.


Yea that is what I was thinking to. The middle miles being downhill is good but obviously uphill finish is not. There isn't any steep inclines but just a steady noticeable incline/decline.
Here's my logic for 4 up/6.5 down/2.5 up:

Better to start uphill because you're less likely to go top fast and trash your race (as is common at Boston Marathon).

All downhill in the middle because you'll be surprised how much downhill miles can trash your legs at race pace. You want to get them all done towards the middle and 2.5 up seems like a nice balance of enough but not too much uphill at the end. If you pace it eight, it will feel like it's uphill at the end no matter what, so a slight incline won't make much of a difference.

And of you've run 6 miles in the Nikes, you can run 13.1 in them, as long as they were comfortable at the end of the 6 (I get some rubbing sometimes, but I think that's just me).
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [FuzzyRunner] [ In reply to ]
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I’d go 6 up, 6 down. Wear the Zoom Fly if they feel faster to you and were comfortable for the 6 mile runs.
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [lovegoat] [ In reply to ]
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lovegoat wrote:
+1 for nikes

+2

I like the ZF2s

https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [wintershade] [ In reply to ]
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Yea I'm pretty sure I'll go up first just to make sure I keep my pace in check out of the gate and bank some uphill miles while fresh. I've done 5up/5down on this trail before so I would mentally be able to hit "checkpoints" along the way.

My one reason I'd want to go down first is to get warmed up a little "easy". I should be able to keep my HR lower and get a good turnover going while going downhill first. Then I'll be warmed and on pace as I start my uphill battle.
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [FuzzyRunner] [ In reply to ]
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I don’t know about you, but I still do a pretty thorough 15 min WU before a 13.1. Dynamic warm up. 5 min easy jog, a couple 30 builds to race pace with 1 min recoveries. You should be warm and ready not warming up as you go if you’re aiming for 6:50 pace.
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [FuzzyRunner] [ In reply to ]
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13.1 miles solo is a really long grind. I would find a friend for company/pacing, even if it is not the whole distance. As for uphill/downhill, I always prefer to finish downhill.
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [cdw] [ In reply to ]
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Yea, I wish I had someone to pace with but don't really know anyone.
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [wintershade] [ In reply to ]
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Yea, I'll definitely make sure to get some warm up in. I should be kind of excited about this so heart rate should be up a little and some adrenaline pumping as well. I've never been a huge warm up guy but like to get some decent strides in plus anything that can loosen my hips up and help range of motion.
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [FuzzyRunner] [ In reply to ]
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Another vote for 6.5up/6.5down & the Nikes
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Re: A Half Marathon against myself [FuzzyRunner] [ In reply to ]
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FuzzyRunner wrote:
Yea, I wish I had someone to pace with but don't really know anyone.

Do you have someone who could bike along side you? My brother in law did that during my duathlon against myself. It helped. And my wife and son are going to bike alongside me (and pass me water) during my upcoming 13.1 race against myself in Nov.
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