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Sub 4.30 Andrea: #asics262
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Well hello there and welcome to my thread! Come on on on on in! Get yourself comfy, grab yourself a drink and join me in (what I hope to be) a huge success story.
With only a short distance travelled in this journey, I have already experienced lots of new things. I have set up a twitter account (@WestcottAndrea) and tweeted the likes of Santa, God and half the people in Ireland in order to gain votes for this competition. I even used the Pope and dancing elves to grab the attention of you adorable voters out there. My Mum was praying for me though, so I did have an unfair advantage - sorry!
I've competed in my first cross country race for my running club (Fairlands Valley Spartans, based in Stevenage, you're more than welcome to come along and try a few of our sessions, we're all very lovely). The weather was awful that day so we were sploshing through huge puddles. I can't quite tell what colour my new trail shoes are now, sort of 50 shades of grey. Looking forward to cleaning those....
I've been treated like a superstar at the asics store day with a foot ID showing off my fabulous black toe nails (I currently have three, can any of you beat that?). A huge bear of a man, Andrew, gave me a big squeeze and told me lots of interesting things about my body. Actually, it was a techy machine that sent loads of electronic signals around my body and printed out charts for me but I know which one you'd rather believe. Turns out that having 2 glasses of red wine the night before results in being dehydrated - huh. I also found out that 30.7% of me is fat. That's something that I really need to do something about, so luckily I have 16 weeks of marathon training coming up!
I will be sharing my training plan with you scrummy people in the next few days. Churchill once said ‘Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential', which is just as well in my case. Feel free to join me on the path to go sub 4:30 if you’re targeting a spring marathon. Even if you’re not, you’re more than welcome to keep track of my progress and ask any questions.
Go on, it’ll be a laugh.
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Comments
Hey Andrea - I see you've a nice new forum.
31% fat eh?
I'm sure the training plan Sam has for us will sort that out!
Pop in for a cuppa on First Timer Ant; #asics262 when you get a chance.
Well done again Andrea!
Great to hear that you enjoyed Store Day but then again, who wouldn't?
Look forward to hearing how you get on. Best of luck!
Santas little Tigger x It depends on what Sam thinks I'm capable of. I believe we're starting low, just under 4:30, then seeing how the training goes for the first 4 weeks. If all goes well, we'll step it up a bit and aim higher
Hi Andrea, and congratulations on making it this far. I will follow your thread: I was (sort of) aiming for 4.30 on my first marathon last year, I came in at 4.36 and was pretty happy with that. I'm doing Edinburgh again this year and will definitely be aiming SUB 4.30 this time.
Good luck!
Hi Andrea Iook forward to seeing your bespoke plan. Best of luck with it and training. Catch up with you soon.
Hi Andrea! glad your doing well, looking forward to following your training plan! will you be posting on here?
Cant wait to get going with a spring marathon!
Congratulations on being part of the final 5.
I'm sure you will have great success and look forward to sharing your journey.
Good luck
I will indeed be posting Sam's plan on here when I get it. She's currently beavering away at it, trying to fit sessions around Christmas plans
Congrats in making the final 5! must admit I am very jealous but I think I'll apply again next year as it sounds even more amazing hearing your story! Still unsure if I'll run a spring marathon but if I do I'll def be following you plan to try and get a sub 4.30. Looking forward to reading more!
Moustachioz Thank you! Please do apply again next year, it's too good an experience to give up on.
Bethlehem running bunny Cheers - I'm excited already at the prospect of running around a traffic free Paris!
Whoa, Andrea, who told you it would be traffic free?
There may not be any cars but there's plenty of traffic - people walking their dogs, old ladies crossing the road shaking their fists at the pesky runners getting in their way, cyclists, marching bands, herds of elephants you name it!*
(*may have stretched the truth a bit on those last two items)
Malcs Yes, I saw some of that on the telly during this years race. Crazy eh?
Andrea: due to some complete lunacy which involved running an off-road marathon on 14th Sept then a 40 mile Ultra 6 days later, I can easily beat your 3 black toenails! I'm currently the proud owner of 8 black nails, 4 of which have already dropped off. Thanks goodness it's not flip flop weather!
Congratulations Andrea! I'm looking forward to following your training and plan- I haven't quite decided if I'm going for a spring or autumn marathon yet but interested to see the speed/"other" training runs in the plan.... I've never really delved into much beyond "just" running before but bootcamp has got me interested in adding in these extra elements (the track session was fun . . .maybe, I felt a bit sick in the final sprint?!)
Bethlehem running bunny OMG, 8 black toe nails?! That's really something. Do you paint the others so they all match?
running-rosie Thank you! I've done Spring and Autumn marathons and the weather during training makes a big difference. Although it sounds lovely, going for a hard run on a really sunny day is tough. The alternative could be snow or rain though, so it's something you need to consider. Sounds like you put everything in to that track session at boot camp. It wasn't intended to be a race, more of a judgement of pace. I'd done a bit of track before, so I knew roughly what speed I should have been doing and how much to hold back for the finish straight. It's all about experience I guess. My husband dry heaves sometimes after a race and he's been running at the track a long time.
far too long
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kcYmsKcRZQ
Hubby (CDUB72) found this for me, pretty cool
Hi Andrea, I am not sure if I will do Manchester yet but will be following your plan as I might be going back to Germany in June so It will give me a few more weeks of training.
The best of luck for Paris. only two black toe nails for me at the moment.
Many congratulations Andrea!!! Looking forward to reading your progress and the amazing weeks ahead. I had the same approach as you, going for a sub 4.30 and then Sam adjusted the paces as the training progressed. Sam is an excellent coach and I am sure you will do great in Paris. I am going for a sub 4 this time and my training will start a couple of weeks later than yours as Madrid marathon takes place April 26. Enjoy the journey!!!!
I hope you enjoy following the plan, whatever marathon you end up choosing x
You absolutely smashed your target this year and I really hope I can do the same. My aim is to go sub 4 too in a couple of years, so I'd love to know how you get on with your training for Madrid. Could be hot there in April ????