{"id":1434,"date":"2015-03-13T19:37:34","date_gmt":"2015-03-13T23:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/?p=1434"},"modified":"2015-03-13T19:37:34","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T23:37:34","slug":"prague-half-marathon-training-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/?p=1434","title":{"rendered":"Prague Half Marathon Training Recap"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><a href=\"http:\/\/www.runczech.com\/en\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.runczech.com\/img\/u\/logo-run-czech.png\" alt=\"Logo RunCzech\" width=\"136\" height=\"33\" \/><\/a><\/h1>\n<h1>Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon 2015<\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/media-cdn.tripadvisor.com\/media\/photo-s\/03\/9b\/2d\/fb\/prague.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This weekend I will do my last long run for the Prague Half Marathon. \u00a0I have been training for this race since January, right through consistently frigid temperatures. \u00a0I&#8217;m not sure how to measure this training session. \u00a0In 2014 I completed a little more mileage by this time of year but I feel like I increased the quality of my runs this time around. \u00a0Most notably I saw significant improvement in my hill work and speed intervals. \u00a0Well, to be honest, i have never really tried speed intervals before, but I am doing them better than I thought I would. \u00a0I once again, however, managed to almost completely avoid tempo runs \ud83d\ude41<\/p>\n<p>A very brief look at my training tells me this:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>five\u00a0hill repeat sessions, where I learned I can do 480m hill repeats below a 5:30 min\/km pace.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>three\u00a0speed interval sessions, (one more to go) where I discovered that I can comfortably run 800 and even 1200m \u00a0intervals below a 5 min\/km pace (and in fact on the shorter intervals was finding myself below a 4:30 pace)<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>two\u00a019k runs (one more to go) and three\u00a016k runs &#8211; hopefully enough longer runs?<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>January total &#8211; 143 km<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>February total &#8211; 133 km (I&#8217;m sure if it hadn&#8217;t been a short month I would have matched January&#8217;s total)<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>March total as of the\u00a013th &#8211; 74 km<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I admit I had hoped my monthly totals would be more but somehow it just didn&#8217;t happen. \u00a0In April and May I would like to work my way back up to 160 or 170 km each month.<\/p>\n<p>While all my speed, hill and LSR\u00a0work has gone quite well, I am still not feeling confident that I can run 21 km at a sub 2 hour pace\u00a0like I did last year (three times&#8230;still excited about that accomplishment). \u00a0It is definitely possible but I think I will need a perfect day. \u00a0Certainly the elevation of the course is ideal. \u00a0Check it out:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/elevation-map.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1437\" src=\"http:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/elevation-map.jpg\" alt=\"elevation map\" width=\"1187\" height=\"58\" srcset=\"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/elevation-map.jpg 1187w, https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/elevation-map-300x14.jpg 300w, https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/elevation-map-1024x50.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/elevation-map-624x30.jpg 624w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1187px) 100vw, 1187px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It is hard to see but the vertical scale is only from 184m to 209m. \u00a0That is not much of an elevation change!<\/p>\n<p>The temperature might work to my advantage as well. \u00a0Forecasts have ranged anywhere from 7C to 14C in Prague on the 28th. \u00a0Of course with two weeks to go anything could happen. \u00a0If it gets hotter than 14 degrees I simply won&#8217;t have adapted yet to that kind of temperature. \u00a0One big weather consideration will be wind. \u00a0Virtually all of the course runs along the Vltava River. \u00a0That should make for a scenic run, but the potential of having to fight wind in an open area is a significant possibility.<\/p>\n<p>So what is my plan for this race? \u00a0First priority &#8211; ENJOY IT! \u00a0Realistically, I won&#8217;t run this race again. \u00a0Who knows if I will ever even get to Prague again? \u00a0I have to make sure I soak in the day. \u00a0That is a promise I have made to myself each time I have run in a new city. \u00a0It is not that there have been that many, but I have been fortunate enough to have raced in NYC, Vancouver and Philadelphia. \u00a0All three of those races have given me lasting memories. \u00a0Of course I have also run in Toronto and Hamilton, but they don&#8217;t really count. \u00a0I&#8217;ve been to Toronto more times than I can count, so nothing new to see there and as for Hamilton&#8230; well, they put on a great race but you don&#8217;t really go to Hamilton for the scenery.<\/p>\n<p>As for my goal times, I very much hope to be between 1:58 and 2:02. \u00a0Short of injury, not feeling well, or wicked weather, this should not be an unrealistic goal. \u00a0If I could come in under 1:58, I would be thrilled. \u00a0I did it in Vancouver, but that race offered some great downhill in the first half of the course, not to mention no wind or humidity. \u00a0It was truly a perfect day. \u00a0I also did it in last fall&#8217;s Mission Possible race, but it was not a certified course and my Garmin showed under the 21.1 km. \u00a0As a result, I don&#8217;t count that 1:56 time as a personal best, though I was damn proud of it given the difficulty of the course and the fact that my previous best time at that race was 2:06.<\/p>\n<p>Taking in the scenery of a city I once lived in for 5 months will truly be the highlight of the race. \u00a0How can I not enjoy a city that looks like this:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"http:\/\/www.hotels-in-czech.com\/clfiles\/news\/big\/203-hervis-prague-marathon.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"764\" height=\"507\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Photo montage from\u00a0http:\/\/www.hotels-in-czech.com\/news\/Hervis-Prague-1-2Marathon.html<\/em><\/p>\n<p>If you are interested in some of the other views to be seen during the Prague Half Marathon, check out the following\u00a0helicopter video:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hotels-in-czech.com\/news\/Hervis-Prague-1-2Marathon.html\">http:\/\/www.hotels-in-czech.com\/news\/Hervis-Prague-1-2Marathon.html<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Prague, here I come!<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sportisimo Prague Half Marathon 2015 This weekend I will do my last long run for the Prague Half Marathon. \u00a0I have been training for this race since January, right through consistently frigid temperatures. \u00a0I&#8217;m not sure how to measure this training session. \u00a0In 2014 I completed a little more mileage by this time of year [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-running"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3amQ2-n8","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1434"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1447,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1434\/revisions\/1447"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/raz-family.ca\/RunKristi\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}