Howdy, Stranger!
Categories
Options
My #asics262 journey to Paris: Sub-4.30 Isabel
The materials in this website are in no way intended to replace the professional medical care, advice, diagnosis or treatment of a doctor, qualified personal trainer, therapist, dietitian or nutritionist Runners's World, Part of the Hearst UK well-being network © Copyright 2017
Comments
What runs are you/have you done this weekend Isabel? How have you found them?
Hi all, I too will be following this thread with interest as I've decided 2014 is the year for my first Marathon and sub 4.30 seem a realistic goal for me.
The training pace guidelines are really helpful, thanks Sam.
I'm going to be doing Edinburgh, might see you there sub60just, and have just put together my training schedule, starting on Jan 6th - I'll just stick with a few recreational runs over the holiday period before the real work begins!
I'm usually more of a lurker than contributor around here but I thought getting involved might help me when I feel like slacking!
Hi CB69, good luck with your first marathon
Isabel, if you are not able/prepared to post/chat regularly this thread is not going to work! Where are you?
Hello all!!!
Here is the summary of my first week of training.
This is what Sam had scheduled for me and my impressions on each day:
This was day 1 of my training. I ran late in the evening under heavy rain and my main goal was to set some reference points around the park since, as I have mentioned before, I am changing my training from km to miles. Also, I paid more attention to my timings per mile than before and to tried to stick to Sam’s recommendations on the pace.
So far, I felt very comfortable with the 9 min per mile and I could have run comfortably slightly faster but I did not, as I am very aware that on the day of the marathon keeping my pace is key to endure the whole race.
I completed 4 miles in 35 min, which is 8.75 min per mile, so running at same pace as on Tuesday. I also did 6 hill reps, ideally should have been done at 20 second each but I completed each rep at 35 second. I think the fact that it was raining a lot made me run slower; I think under proper weather conditions I should be able to do each rep at 25 seconds.
I completed the distance in 1h 21 min, which is equivalent to 10.1 min per mile. I actually had some trouble to keep my pace because I was feeling like running a bit faster, but only because I am used to run without taking into account the pace. I am aware I have to work on this and that I will actually be thankful to keeping an eye on my pace on the day of the marathon.
I couldn’t actually run on trail today so I did some street running and completed the 3 miles in 28.12.
So my first impressions after week 1 are: 1) try to adjust to miles goal completed
/ 2) changing my running habit from just running to balancing distance, pace and changing speeds: working on that / 3) improving my hill timings: working on that and let’s see with better weather.
And this is how my second week looks like. Sam has increased the number of miles for this week from 20 to 23.
WEEK TWO w/c 23 Dec (approx. 23M)
Hi MadWelshwoman, thanks for your words. I am!!! Are you preparing for any race in particular?
Hi Angela! I agree. Would you recommend me to read the book? I read the Complete Book of Running by Amby Burfoot when I prepared for the HM. Not the entire book, but those chapters more relevant to me.
Hi Ai Lyn!!! Join me on the hill training please
3.30 sounds like a big challenge to me but you are a great and experienced runner and I am sure Malcs programme will help you a lot. Good luck!!!!
Thanks Sam! Great first week indeed. I finally used my gear for the first time yesterday when I finally got the chance to run in good weather and I do feel the difference of running with proper shoes! And you are right, there is much more variety in the marathon training. I am happy to have changed my previous routine.
Thanks Faz1 and good luck! London Marathon must be a wonderful experience. I will be supporting from the crowd
You are welcome anytime to my thread if you find sub 4 too much but I will try to push you back to James 
Hi Jenf!! I am back! I already posted my trainings this week. Unfortunately cannot provide more detail at the moment in terms of timing and pace. I will have my Garmin watch after Christmas and then I will have much more detail on pace per mile. Now I have a very old Polar watch which does not provide too much detail. How was your week?
Thanks for your message CB69 and welcome to my thread! And congratulations on your New Year resolution to run a marathon. Feel free to contribute anytime and good luck with your preparation.
Isabel I would certainly recommend that book. Although I have never followed their training schedule as the midweek mileage is just too high for me, I really do like the way they explain everything, although I've just been reading another book called running anatomy which has a lot more on strength work. They make a really good point that ur success in a race is actually going to be determined by the weakest part of you, so if your legs are trained well enough to run a 3:30 marathon, but your core/arms whatever is comparatively weak, once they tire, they are likely to alter the efficiency of your running, causing you to slow down. Definitely makes a lot of sense to me, and definitely a reason to fit in that strength and core work! are you staying in London for Christmas?
Hi Isabel, congratulations on making the team. Sounds like you've made a good start to the training. It's really important to follow Sam's schedule and not add lots of extra or faster training as it's the accumulative effect of marathon training that gets you.
I have tried to call so those random missed calls from a strange number are probably me!! Hopefully you've not got any niggles or injury worries, let me know if you have any concerns. Remember prevention is better than cure so try and schedule stretching and core into your routine now.
Have a great Xmas and enjoy the training.
Sarah
Many thanks Angela, I will go ahead then. I fully agree with your point. I really saw the difference in the HM. Strengthening is really important, especially your core and arms. For me, protecting the lower back is really important too. And the good thing is that it is not really difficult and you can see a great difference by doing some simple exercises at home. I am back in Spain for Christmas, it is good to be home and I am happy to enjoy some running at "normal" hours and some sunshine too! I hear the weather in London and in the UK is not very good these days so I wish you safe trip if you are traveling.
Hi Sarah, thanks for your message and your advice. Ah! Then it's you!!!
Sorry, I am in Spain and I am using my Spanish mobile phone more these days. I saw I have some messages but somehow I cannot access my voicemail. I will call you then after Christmas. So far, I feel very fit and keep doing strengthening and yoga at home, I think this will certainly help. My biggest concern is to protect the lower back and knees, so I will ask for your advice on this!!! Merry Christmas!!
Merry Christmas everyone! Feliz Navidad!!! I hope you enjoy this time with family and loved ones.
And today it's about running, but from a different perspective. I strongly recommend you to watch Town of runners, a really beautiful and heart touching documentary about three children as they move from school track to national competition and from childhood to adulthood. I had the chance to watch the film in London at the Somerset House and I really enjoyed it.
http://www.townofrunners.com/
Hi Isabel, loved Town of Runners - a great film - and a very useful source of drills too! They spend a lot of time on rhythm, coordination and elasticity building in the drills and we 'borrow' them for our running club frequently
Glad you're getting to run in slightly better conditions there than here. I did my long run on the 23rd and was literally at a standstill at times with a strong headwind. But wanted to get it done before the Xmas onslaught began! Had a lovely time but looking forward to Devon for a few days, where it will be muddy trail runs and long walks.
Will be interested to hear how you get on with those strength exercises I gave you (on the two-sided sheet). A good no-equipment option for when you're away from home! Enjoy
Hi Sam! Great to read you also loved Town of Runners and that it is useful for you and your running club too!!! I think the movie is really inspirational and beautiful, also for non runners. And some of the people featured in the movie show a really stylish running technique!
Unfortunately the weather has changed here too
It is not as bad as in the UK I think but we had an awful Christmas eve and Christmas day, pouring and really windy. Some parts in the North of Spain were left without electricity supply for a couple of days due to the strong winds.
My Christmas onslaught has lasted for three days but in my defense I will say that yesterday was my birthday
) so today I was in desperate need to do some running instead of resting. I just ran 5k at very easy pace. Promise it will not happen again but it was a matter of survival 
The exercises are really good and very easy to do anywhere, I use them for strengthening and some of them also for warming up before running. When I go back to London next week I will write a post with details and pictures.
Aside from yesterday, so far my week goes according to your plan, keeping an eye on the distances and pace for each distance. It's really good and I do feel a difference from last week and definitely from my previous training when everything was very much the same. I am looking forward to training with the new Garmin and have more details.
And also looking forward to my long run tomorrow!
Hi Isabel
Congratulations on your selection. Sorry I was unable to attend bootcamp and introduce myself in person. I am Ruth the Asics Pro Team Nutritionist and I am here to answer any questions about nutrition and running!
I like your "theory of the 40 steps"!
Mercy given for the xmas day only!
I will be on your thread a couple of times a week usually a Sunday or Monday and a Thursday or Friday. Look forward to hearing from you when you are back in the UK.
Big hello to everyone following Isabel on her journey.
Hi Ruth!!!
Thanks for your message and nice to hear from you, thanks for getting in touch after Christmas
I have to say I have behaved myself pretty well, aside from learning to make tiramisu and extending Christmas mercy to 26th (my birthday 
).
Please, please, please, if I can still have a Christmas wish, don't take cheese away from me
)))) ( I may have to develop a whole new theory to face that 
)))
Talk to you soon!!!
Hi Isabel, many congratulations on your place in the team. I now have a London marathon place through my club. I am delighted but also a little scared! I am following your progress and I am going to start following the training plan for a sub 4.30 marathon.
In the plan it says 4M inc hill session......is this a 4 mile run which has hills in it? Or a session running hard up hills with recovery down? Hoping you can help. Thank you.
Good luck with your training.
Hi IsabeI I've now read back through your training session and I see you did 6 x 20 secs reps up hills then recovery.
Many thanks Littlemissactive and welcome to my thread! Congratulations on your place for the London Marathon!!! Is it your first marathon? I hope my training helps you with the preparation of the LM and happy to read how your training is going as well.
Regarding my plan, as you say, I did 4 mile run plus 6 hill reps. I struggled a little bit with the speed but I recall they weather was terrible. I don't have hills this week but I see they are included in next week's training.
I am off to my Sunday run and will post details about my second week of training later tonight.
Have a nice day!
Hi Isabel, thanks for the reply. This will be my first marathon. I ran 9.6 miles today at 10.31 pace. A bit quicker than the plan but difficult when running with the club and you are at the back!
My half marathon pb is 2.03.54 so very similar to yours.
Hope you had a good run.
Hi Littlemissactive, good! So we have really similar timings. If I remember well, with proper training, you could finish a marathon in around 4 hours 17 min. Sam showed me a race equivalency chart when we met at the Asics store.
Oh! I found this which may be useful for you:
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/rws-race-time-predictor/1681.html
So, it's end of week 2 and here is my report. I think I will be able to provide more details by the end of next week as I will back in London and hopefully with my brand new Garmin on my wrist
WEEK TWO w/c 23 Dec (approx. 23M)
Unfortunately, I don't have record for this as the battery of my Polar decided to take a well deserved rest
Sam, I would like to clarify this with you as I am not sure about the pace in the first and final parts.
Although I should have rested, I have to confess I ran 3 miles at a really, really easy pace, almost walking (40:32 / average of 13 min per mile). I was in need to do this after Christmas eve + Christmas + Bday celebrations
I completed the 11 miles in 1:56:32 which on average represents 10:35 min per mile. This means I still need to work on keeping an eye on my pace and try to stay within the guidelines. But almost close!
Same as last week, I couldn’t run on trail so I did the same street running as last week and completed the 3 miles in 30.58, average of 10.19 per mile. My impressions after week 2 are: 1) I enjoy having a different routine each day / 2) changing my running habit from just running to balancing distance, pace and changing speeds: still working on that and improving / 3) I feel good and fit!!!
And this is my Week 3 schedule:
WEEK THREE w/c 30 Dec (approx 20M)
Isobel
Have a great new year. We will get started on things when you are home...how much cheese do you eat and what type????
Happy new year Ruth! I will be home and back to normal tomorrow.
I usually follow a very balanced diet with a good variety of greens, wheat, fish, meat and fruit. I don’t drink milk because I don't tolerate it very good but I can have all kinds of dairy products like cheese, yogurt, etc. Even coffee with milk. It is just the milk itself that I can't drink. I must confess I have a weakness for cheese but I usually have limited amounts and healthy cheese (like cottage cheese, etc.) but sometimes I also go for the good ones
I think I have cheese everyday but maybe one portion of Laughing cow for dessert after dinner or as a little treat.
I am looking forward to your advice and to going back to normal meals after Christmas. I have done pretty well but being home in Spain and in Christmas period it has been a bit difficult to follow a regular diet.
Hi Isabel
Happy New Year to you - hope you've had a great time in Spain and are raring to go for the next few months
Training appears to be going well - I'd like some feedback from you on the overall mileage and paces when you get a mo. A general overview rather than specifics: are you doing considerably more than you were prior to starting the plan? Does it feel OK? Are the paces 'fitting' the descriptions or are they too fast/slow? I tend to leave them as they are for the first 4 weeks but then it may be time to make some adjustments.
I really enjoyed the festive break - did some great mud-splattered runs and races and had lots of lie-ins, but quite happy to get back to 'normality' too.
Happy New Year all.
Isabel
Perhaps over the next few days when things get back to normal you could write down a typical days eating...breakfast, morning snack if you have one, lunch and what you eat before running and how long before you run do you eat? what are your evening meals like and do you eat something before you go to bed? The times that you eat your main meals and snacks would also be useful!
Hi Ruth!
I follow a very balanced diet from Monday to Friday. I had some anaemia in the past and the doctor gave me this meal plan (1500 kcal). I usually follow it because it is very easy and convenient with set menus easy to follow during the week (I provide some examples for lunch and dinner) and I have to say I am not a great cook
I always cook with olive oil. My typical day would be:
Breakfast, 7.30 am:
Morning snack, 10.30 am:
Lunch, 12.30 pm:
Evening snack, 5pm:
Dinner, around 9 pm:
* I always have some side salad
Before going to bed:
At the weekend, it really depends on my plans. I don't drink because I don't like alcohol much (maybe some wine
). I usually go out for lunch or dinner a couple of times and then I like to enjoy a nice meal but I never have junk foods.
In the weekends, I always run in the morning. I usually have breakfast first and then wait for maybe 30-45 min. During the week, it depends on the day and my work schedule. For example, if I run in the morning (6am!!!) I usually wake up and go for a run and then have breakfast later. Usually time is a bit tight as I have to be ready at 8am. I am not sure if it's good or not to go jogging without proper breakfast. So far, I never had a problem but I am looking forward to your advice. If I run in the evenings (7 or 8 pm) I usually have a snack before, like a rice cracker, fruit or raisings….
Hope this helps and looking forward to your advice!
Nice weekend,
Isabel
Isabel, I'm a cheese fiend too!!! But I'm being good for January and sticking to cottage cheese and feta... its just not as tasty as brie, camembert, stilton, gorgonzola dolce latte though, is it
Happy New Year Sam!!!
Glad to read you enjoyed your break. I am now back from holidays and ready for my 11 miles run tomorrow. I think training is going very well and although it's sad that holidays are over, I am also very happy to be back to a more structured routine and back to my familiar training venues.
I will prepare a post on Sunday with all the details and I think I will have more detailed information after using my new Garmin for the first time tomorrow!!
So far, the only issue that I had is trying to adjust to the different paces, but I think this is because it is the first time I run with a pace goal. It took me a couple of days to adjust to focusing on my pace but I feel much more comfortable now, enjoying and seeing the improvement.
If the weather continues as it is, I will also have mud-splattered runs soon!!!
Have a great weekend!
Isabel
Hi Angela!!! Happy New Year!!! How are you? I hope you had great holidays. Let's share together the no cheese survival resolution during the coming months
I am happy to be back in London and looking forward to my first long run with the new watch. I received it this morning and looks great!!! Have a lovely weekend!!!!
Had a good break thanks- my sister got married last weekend, so a LOT of partying! glad to be back to work
You will love having a garmin - are you set up on Garminconnect yet? We should connect - I'm Isheang based in Colchester
Hi Isabel... don't get too hung up over watching your pace - it takes all the fun out of running. You're allowed the odd mile where you go 'OOPS! That was a bit fast (or slow!). But do get used to watching your mile splits so that you can start to associate what a certain pace FEELS like with what it actually is. You want to get to the point where you can think to yourself 'I reckon this is about 10 min miling' and then glance down to see you're at 9.59 per mile or somewhere close! The Garmin does jump around a lot during the run itself which is why looking at the mile splits is more useful than looking at its second-by-second pace, which might veer from 14 mins per mile to 7 mins per mile in the space of a few strides as it locks on to a different satellite or something!
Your diet looks very healthy. Will be interested to hear what Ruth says. I wonder if she might say that your overall calorie intake is too low....
thats why having the lap pace with laps set at 1 mile is useful as apart from the first few metres of each mile it shows you your average for the mile and is pretty accurate
always have that on my scren as well as distance , time and overall average