Compare your standalone half-marathon to your HIM run time

Triathlon Forum
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So I’m signed up for Eagleman and Timberman next summer and they will be my 2nd and 3rd HIMs. My first was Timberman this year and had a great day … except for the run. To say I was undertrained/inexperienced for the run is a vast understatement, and I ended up walking/jogging/shuffling the last couple miles…misery!

So I plan on being a lot better prepared for next year, and I’m spending the whole winter focusing on running, getting my total volume and long run up, with a little trainer to balance things out (swimming is my strongest event so I figure a couple months off won’t hurt). I’m going to do a standalone half marathon in April to assess where I’m at, but I don’t know what my target time should be. Should my goal pace for the standalone be a minute faster than my goal pace for the HIM run, 30 seconds faster, more, less, etcetc.?

I want to hear what other people have done and your own real life n=1 anecdotal experiences with how your times compare.

Thanks!

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my recent times have differed by about 17 minutes.

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My half marathon PR is a 1:41.

I ran a 1:52 at Timberman, and then a 1:48 as a standalone-half three weeks later.

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Recent Half marathon Times:

1:35,1:33, 1:32x2 (first half of a marathon both times)

HIM Run:

1:50 (DATTT), 1:31, 1;26
.

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Standalong 1/2 Marathon 1h30’

70.3 1/2 Marathon Split 1h40’

Both last year
.

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I did Timberman last year and ran ~1:50.

I ran an open half this year and ran ~1:27. Fitness base a little better for this one obviously.

I think running a good 1/2 IM has as much to do with proper bike pacing as having good run fitness. BTW, I’ll be at Eagleman and Timberman too!

7

I did 1/2s at Lake Geneva in 2005 and Steelhead in 2006. Both times I was way on the low side of training and the runs were very difficult with me walking good chunks of the way because of IT band pain. I did 2:10 and 2:25 on the run portions. I ran the Chicago 1/2 Mary in 1:45 a few months after Steelhead. It was a lot cooler on Oct 1, which did help, too.

FOR YOUR QUESTION: A decent rule of thumb for pacing a stand alone 1/2 Mary would be to take the run pace from an Olympic distance triathlon 10k. That’s usually in the ball park. The other alternative is to run a 5k or 10k stand alone and then plug your time into one of those pace predictors at runnersworld or runningtimes. I did that and it gave me a time that was pretty close to my Oly distance tri run time and pretty close to my actual 1/2 mary performance.

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IMO if trained properly you should be able to run a HIM 3-5% over your stand alone half marathon time.

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1/2 marathon PR 1:45
1/2 IM run PR 1:58
.

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when I was in shape, HIM run split PR was 1:24, open 1/2 mary PR was 1:22. That was about 9 years ago though. :slight_smile: Now I’d be lucky to run in the 1:30’s.

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Should be really close. My good half mary times are within a few minutes of my run times in HIM. Although, I’ve done a 1:37 run in a HIM and a 1:55 (I think) on the same course. So, it all depends on your day.

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I am having a good race if my run is within 10 min. of my standalone time.

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Ran a 1:22 at LP 1/2 mary, then a 1:26 at Tupper Lake HIM 2 weeks later. Holding back on the bike played a big part in my run split at Tupper Lake. See ya at Timberman…

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Stand alone 1/2 PR - 1:33

HIM PR - 1:38…which I attribute to high bike fitness.

Both were run within 4 months of each other.

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HIM 1/2: 1:33

Stand alone 1/2: 1:25 one week later.

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Getting your HIM run closer to your open half mary is mostly a function of bike strength (having it), pacing (not using it all), and nutrition. Generally, 3-5 mins slower for the HIM vs. open means you ran very well, that would be optimal.

My only open half mary was 1:29:2x (I had the flu the whole week prior. According to various calculators my open half mary shoulda been closer to 1:25-ish)

Best HIM run was Harriman HIM 1:35:2x (hilly bike, hilly run)

Best off-the-bike 13.1 run was EpicMan, 1:29:2x (112m bike ride)

I’m hoping to improve my open and HIM runs quite a bit for '07.

Being able to do a weekly L-run of anywhere from 12-16m like it’s nothing, goes a long way towards running well in a HIM. Increased run volume thru frequency is your friend.

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These examples are perfect, exactly what I’m looking for! Thanks a lot and keep 'em coming!

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1:25 Open

1:30 Blackwater Eagleman
.

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1:40 open half, 1:45 HIM
.

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I ran a 1:30 at Vineman 70.3 in the end of July and a 1:22 in stand alone 1/2 about 5 or 6 weeks ago.