Sub 4.30 - Vote for David - First Timer

Thanks for visiting my thread for the Asics 26.2 competition, I’m still on a huge high following my shortlisting for the project!

I took up running one year ago after my wife attended a beginners running course and came home saying how friendly and great the club were, so the next week I went along to the Slinn Allstars in Swindon – big shout out to all the Allstars! – and she was right, they are a great bunch and extremely friendly! It’s a trait I’ve found in all runners actually, and I certainly wouldn’t have achieved the progress I have made without the support of the group.

Since joining the club they have encouraged my running to the point where I have now completed two half marathons (1.59 and 1.56…. getting gradually quicker!) and have really enjoyed both of them…even though it did chuck it down at the Swindon half in October! I have now set my sights on upping the distance to become a marathoner.

I entered the Asics 26.2 project after reading about it in Runners World magazine and, after some encouragement from my sister who ran the London Marathon in 2013, she’s passing the marathon baton on to me now she is Pregnant! I’ve also always had an ambition to do a marathon before I am 30 – it’s next September but don’t tell anyone! - and what better place than in Paris. The beautiful city also holds a special place in my heart as it’s where my wife Eve and I got engaged!

Bootcamp was a fantastic experience, the 5.30AM alarm not so much, but it was well worth it when I got there. I had a bit of time to spare so I started with a tour of the campus to visit my old university days, including a barrier that once hit me on the head when I wasn’t looking. Actually, maybe that explains a lot…

Then it was up to the café at the Munrow Sports Centre to meet my fellow boot campers. Everybody was very welcoming, approachable and we quickly started chatting about running. There was a real mix of experienced marathoners and first timers. Following a quick introduction by the organisers we headed to the comfort of the sprung floorin the gym for an excellent talk on injury management and prevention. It was then outside to complete a timed 5K run under the watchful gaze of Steve Smythe. After lunch we had a really informative chat with Mara Yamauchi, and the overriding thing I took from the session was to keep it simple and enjoy your running. Following an Asics gait analysis session we finished the day under the stadium lights with a pacing session lead by Sam Murphy.

It was a fantastic and very inspiring day made all the better by the rest of the sub 4.30 group. We all had a lot of laughs, picked up a lot of new information and supported each other on all the runs. Since bootcamp I have been putting into place some of the pacing, stretching (“activate the glutes!!!”) and nutrition tips into practice.

I’m so happy to have been shortlisted for the next stage, I really didn’t expect it. So, if you want to see a slightly below average height chap realise his marathon ambition then please vote #TeamReeve. And as you can probably tell by the #, I tweet more than your average garden sparrow, so also please give me a follow me at @davidreeve.

Thanks again and good luck with you running!

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