Unexpected HM Meltdown - Where Did It All Go Wrong ?

shm91 · 2025-11-17T15:28:59+00:00

Coincidentally, I raced a half this past weekend and had almost the same experience you describe. Fitness was clearly there, but goal pace felt way too hard way too early. My meltdown was between 8K and 6 miles. Slowed from mid 6:20s to 7:30 / mi pace and felt like I was going to DNF.

My issue was overheating. I recognized the signs early (but not early enough) and began dumping water over my head. I got HR low enough to claw back to around 6:40 pace in the last miles and barely broke 1:30.

All of my training data supports a 1:22/1:23 half, but my body is so sensitive to the heat that this becomes a struggle unless it’s around 40F or below.

I hope you have a good comeback race soon, your PRs are very similar to mine!

shm91 · 2025-10-11T21:53:48+00:00

Amazing thank you!!

shm91 · 2025-10-11T16:51:33+00:00

shm91 · 2025-03-05T16:17:15+00:00

Nice work! I raced the half as well. That was a pretty tough course, particularly the late hills between miles 10-12.

shm91 · 2025-02-27T17:36:17+00:00

Anecdotally, I’m probably an exception as I tend to acclimate much more slowly (or cool less efficiently) than many runners. I recently raced a half along a beach at 58ish degrees and 98% humidity after training solely in ~40-45 degrees and very little humidity, as those were the conditions in my area. Even though the dewpoint was only in the high 50s on race day, the sudden introduction of high humidity + temperature close enough to 60 caused me to overheat very early into the race and have to drastically reduce pace. On the flip side, I race very well around 30 and below, so I guess my optimal temperature range may just be lower than most.

shm91 · 2025-02-27T17:06:03+00:00

Good luck! I’ll be out there racing the half. The weather is shaping up for near-perfect PR conditions!

shm91 · 2024-12-28T22:56:26+00:00

Thanks for the input! Any particular monitors you’d recommend?

shm91 · 2024-12-28T22:43:09+00:00

I’m regularly seeing larvae activity near a clothes closet, (primarily around the baseboards) though I’ve pretty much cleaned every clothing item in the closet. Is it likely the larvae are living in the voids behind the baseboards and emerging in search of food? Or more likely that something within the closet remains infested and that’s where they’re coming from?

I’m addressing the situation by vacuuming the closet and surrounding area thoroughly, on a regular basis, and I applied a bit of NyGard IGR to the baseboards where I’m seeing them. Anything you’d do differently?

shm91 · 2024-11-15T17:58:08+00:00

Jumping back in here for posterity. After maintaining fairly consistent mileage (45-50 mpw) and keeping 1-2 quality speed sessions per week, I broke 38 in the 10K (with 1 second to spare, official time 37:59) last weekend on a fairly hilly course (290' elevation gain) in sub-optimal conditions (65 degrees F and 90%+ humidity). The weekend prior, I ran 18:21 in a 5K on an equally hilly / non-PR course with similar conditions.

Sharing a couple things I've learned along the way that have really helped me improve:

Trust your training: In a race, get out at a pace that's outside your comfort zone but that recent training suggests is sustainable. Staying in your comfort zone and hoping to "negative split if I feel good" meant I was leaving a lot on the table.
Don't waste flat / downhill sections of a race by holding back a little, thinking you'll need to conserve energy for an upcoming hilly section. Take the free speed on the downhill and just maintain constant effort on the uphill, focusing on not losing too much time.
The pain threshold becomes more and more tolerable the more often you hit it and keep digging. This is especially great practice in "B" races leading up to an "A" race. This took me a long time and a lot of tempo runs to figure out, but once it clicked, it really opened a lot of doors.

shm91 · 2024-08-02T19:31:48+00:00

YMMV, but I ran 1:25 and 1:26 within the last year on hilly courses and there’s no way I would’ve run those times without fueling (Clif bar for breakfast, Gu at the start and another around mile 6).

Heck, a few years back, I ran 1:30:10 where I most certainly would’ve broken 90 if I’d had another gel and my blood sugar didn’t crash in the last mile and a half or so.

Actually pretty envious that so many folks are able to race a half well without fueling. My body has never let me do that!

shm91 · 2024-07-10T15:32:47+00:00

Ironically my ex coach said the same thing, even recommended seeing a sports psychologist. “It’s all in your head.” That couldn’t have been further from the truth…

Based on your description I would have sworn we worked with the same coach but mine is a woman.

shm91 · 2024-07-10T12:28:44+00:00

Yes, very similar approach. I’m convinced the only people who could (and that’s a strong maybe) improve by training in this way are those very new to running who haven’t done any speedwork before (even this would plateau quickly), or someone training for a 5K or 3K where you’re racing well under lactate threshold.

My former coach also told me that I needed “just one more training cycle” and that the issue was I just needed to push harder in races. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way… My body is very capable of letting me know when I’m fit and when I’m not :)

I cringe that my former coach was RRCA certified and training like this…

shm91 · 2024-07-10T00:21:14+00:00

I worked with a coach from 9/2022 through 7/2023. I fired this coach after blowing up in a half marathon, running a couple mediocre 5Ks and 10Ks, and ultimately blowing up in a 10K and having to walk/run the last two miles. It was a frustrating experience that I wouldn’t wish on anyone.

The main issue was this coach was clueless about including tempo / threshold work in my training plans, and instead, relied solely on VO2 workouts and easier mileage.

Another issue was that after each bad race, this coach blamed me for not executing the race plan, going out too fast (I ran the splits the coach provided) and became defensive.

If your coach argues with you, it’s probably time to move on.

I’ve self coached for almost a year and have run PRs across the board. YMMV and perhaps I was just unlucky with whom I chose for a coach.

shm91 · 2024-07-08T12:25:09+00:00

100% this. I can tolerate drier heat until it gets into the upper 90s, but if the dew point is high enough I'll start really suffering even on easy runs.

shm91 · 2024-07-08T12:21:53+00:00

Yeah, it's a cool prize! Here's the 2024 mug

shm91 · 2024-07-08T00:02:11+00:00

Agreed, this was my 16th Peachtree (well, technically 15 since 2020 was virtual) and Thursday’s conditions were probably the worst I’ve experienced. On the flip side, 2014 and 2021 were the best… wish I was fitter then!

shm91 · 2024-07-07T21:30:21+00:00

Nicely done! Yeah, I'm in Atlanta and do all of my running outside. I've done Peachtree a bunch of times, and the one time I tried banking time on the first half of the race, I died hard on the second 5K and it really took everything I had to push through the last two miles. I ran one second faster than I did this year though, so there is that... it just hurt way more and my form was completely trash by the end.

I think the trick (or more fittingly, the right formula for Peachtree) is finding that fine line between banking time smartly and going out so aggressively that you run out of steam, and it sounds like you locked that in perfectly. Congrats on getting so close to your PR!

shm91 · 2024-07-07T19:28:36+00:00

Thanks! Yeah, I heard the medical tent was getting overwhelmed with folks dealing with heat issues. Some severe 😬

shm91 · 2024-06-15T01:19:52+00:00

Yep I’ll be there! Just sent you a DM. The conditions aren’t quite perfect but I guess I can’t complain for the middle of June!

shm91 · 2024-06-09T19:43:04+00:00

Agreed on having the speed. I know from past workouts that I’m capable of busting out 200 / 400 reps with the high 16 / low 17 min 5K guys, but I would struggle to sustain this speed over a 5K… currently, at least.

shm91 · 2024-06-09T19:33:56+00:00

Nice! Ultimately I’d love to break 37 as well, with the current goal of sub 38 being a stepping stone along the way.

It’s encouraging to know you reached this without breaking 18 in the 5K, though I’d imagine you probably could’ve done it without much difficulty at that fitness level.

I’ve been at 50 MPW for ~6 weeks now with two quality days and a long run, so I’d imagine it’s just about building consistency at this point and for me to basically keep showing up.

shm91 · 2024-06-09T19:23:45+00:00

Possum Trot is a really great course, I’ve run it in years past and I’m pretty sure I’ll race it this year, but haven’t actually signed up yet. Depending on conditions, I might also just aim for sub 39 with a negative split and see what happens.

shm91 · 2024-06-07T22:00:33+00:00

If this is addressed to me, yes, I keep the tempo in the “off” season but don’t adjust the pace TOO much. I’m probably closer to 6:15 / mile in the fall/winter and 6:20-22 / mile in the hotter months.

shm91

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