My #asics262 journey to Paris: Sub-4.30 Isabel

Hello running world!!!

Welcome to my thread!!! Here begins my journey to Paris, as sub 4.30 candidate for the Paris Marathon and new comer to an incredible team.   

So, April 6th already marked on my calendar with a big smiley face. Until then, we have 114 days where I will do my best to share with you this amazing experience that is about to begin. I hope I can make a good contribution here, learn from you, boost our running and encourage others to join the club!!!!  

I feel privileged to be here and receive great knowledge from the team with my colleagues Malcs, Roger, James and Gareth and I hope I will find a place here to share my experience and support and encourage each other. And of course have fun too!!!  

So, this thread is dedicated to all the readers who wish to join and participate.

Thank you very much for bearing with me along the way and see you soon!!!    

Isabel  

PS: I think the word that I have repeated more these days is thank you to those who have helped me and encouraged me to be here today and...I would really like to say this again in my initial post. THANK YOU image 

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Comments

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Isabel - congratulations on making the final 5! I'm sure this is going to be a very exciting journey.

    Look forward to seeing you on Saturday!

  • Hi Malcs!!! Thank you so much and congratulations to you too!!!!

    See you on Saturday!!!

  • Hi Isabel!  Firstly, congratulations of reaching the final five stage!  I am sure you will have a blast.  Secondly, without wishing to sound condescending, for a non native English speaker your command of a second language is humbling and puts many of us natives to shame!

  • jenfjenf ✭✭✭

    Hope you have a great shopping spree on Saturday image pictures please!

    Looking forward to sharing your journey to Paris.

  • Ok, so a little speech now. This comes from my previous posts during the voting stage and apologies if you have read this before, but since I hope there will be lots of new people here and this is a new thread, I would like to introduce myself.

    I come from Spain and I have been living in the UK for two and a half years now. Before that, I have also lived in a few other places but I am a happy Londoner now. I got into running a few years ago. I remember well the first time. I was living in Vienna. I went out for my first jog and decided to go to a park two minutes away down the hill from my house. And... Down the hill, that's all I could run!!! When I actually got to the park, I was breathless, speechless, exhausted. Not to mention I couldn't even move! But! I decided to run the next day for three minutes, then 10 min, then a bit more... till today image

    I did my first half marathon this summer in London and I still beam with happiness when I remember that day. The preparation, the butterflies in my stomach the night before, the race itself and the amazing support on the street. It was one of those special days I will always remember!!!

    A very dear person messaged me the day before to give me encouragement for the race and said "run two-thirds with your legs, one third with your heart". And that's what I did!!!! All the training had been done and the day of the race it was me, my legs and my heart. And this is a very special feeling to put into words, how you constantly challenge yourself during the race, encourage yourself, and feel the support of your loved ones. It is something really special and difficult to describe. I am sure in this forum many of you have experienced the same feelings.

    Running has become a beautiful part of my life. It is not just exercise, it is something that only brings good values. When I am happy, I give it all at the park; when I am stressed, running does wonders; when I'm traveling, running shoes on my suitcase!!!! And when seems like everything falls apart, I go for a run and try to find my peace.

    During the voting stage I was also asked about my inspiration for running and I mentioned that I can't give just a single reason but I have my top 5 inspirers image

    The first one is my family and friends because they always support me. Last year it was definitely my dad, he was my engine and I am also doing this thanks to his support. Also, a great inspiration for running is a very dear person who had been running with me for a while at a time I was not a great runner, and whenever I was tired he used to tell me: "run just as much as you can but always 40 steps further", so that has somehow evolved into the "theory of the 40 steps" which I also try to apply in life in general image My friends who run are also a great inspiration.  They know who they are and I hope they also join this forum sometimes image And finally, inspiration comes from short time goals. It really depends on the moment but sometimes it's good to have a small goal in mind.

    I am thrilled to run the Paris marathon and be coached by Asics because it is a great and amazing challenge and a wonderful experience. If preparing for the 13.1 miles was amazing, I can't imagine multiplying this by two with such a great team!!!! So far, the whole experience has been great and with all the support I have received from my loved ones to be here, I just can't wait to get started and do my very best!!!

     

  • Hi Isabel,

    Oh dear - I've just realised that I've hardly spoken to you in the forums. I'm really sorry - been fighting my own corner and campaigning to get where we have arrived.

    I'm sure we will speak more on Saturday.

    Best wishes

    Gareth

     

  • Hi Roger, see you on Saturday!!  Gareth, no worries! I think we have all been busy. Congratulations and see you on Saturday

    Many thanks Xyloid!!! I am really happy to have made it to the final five and a bit relieved it's over now. I am also looking forward to beginning my training and, as you say, I am sure I will have a blast. Thank you for your compliments, I try my best but I am sure there will also be mistakes, specially after tough training begins on Monday image

    Hi Jenf!!! Nice to see you here. Yes! I am looking forward to Saturday! And of course I will take some pictures too!

     

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Hi Isabel - well done on making the team. I will be following your thread with great interest and hope you will keep my mate, Malcs, on the straight and narrow!image

  • Hi Isabel, congratulations once again. It has been a crazy couple of weeks, so exciting though. Looking forward to catching up properly on Saturday, in between a busy schedule.

    Good luck and see you on Saturday!

    James

  • Hi DS2, thank you very much and welcome to my thread! hehehehe, I will try to put some order in the group (just if neededimage) Malcs is actually the first person I met at the bootcamp!

    Same for you James!!! Indeed, amazing two weeks! See you on Saturday!

  • Well done Isabel, I look forward to following your progress. Have a good day out Saturday. image

  • Thanks a lot Superman image Very excited about Saturday and trying to enjoy as much as possible before training plans arrive image Running indeed, but from Christmas concerts to Christmas dinners!

  • Good idea, best get Christmas dinner out of the way before Ruth gets to you! image

    I'm sure you'll enjoy lots tomorrow, we'll be waiting eagerly for your report on the shopping trip! image

  • hehehe, yes!!! Trying to stick to chocolate before carrots make their way in! I will also try to beg Ruth for some mercy from the 24th to the 26th of December. Let's see 

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  • Aha! found your thread.  Many congrats, and enjoy ur shopping day tomorrow image

  • Thanks Angela!!! Good to see you here and will surely enjoy tomorrow image 

  • DS2DS2 ✭✭✭

    Have a great day today. Make sure you keep them men in orderimage

  • Thank you DS2!! We had an amazing day indeed, it was really nice to meet the team and we had lots of fun! I will make a post tomorrow with some pictures!!!

  • Good morning all!!!

    I hope everyone has enjoyed Sunday run. Mine is about to start after I update you on the fantastic day we had yesterday at the Asics store so here I go!!!

    First all, big thank you to the Asics and Running World teams, they were all really nice and are as excited about this journey as we are. We were really taken care of from start to finish, the atmosphere was very cheerful and I know we are in very good hands. So thank you!!!

    It was also really nice to meet the other four members of the team: Malcs, James, Gareth and Roger. This time we had a bit more time to talk and we were all happy and excited about the day ahead !!!

    The Asics flagship store is located in Oxford Street, very close to Hyde Park. It was my first time there and the store is beautiful. It is set over three floors, the ground floor for men, underground floor for ladies and second for injury clinic and running lab. It is really modern, colorful and for example if you are at the injury clinic or having your gait analysis done, you can also see people browsing downstairs.

    After meeting the Runners World and Asics store members teams my day began with shopping, so not bad at all image The gents remained on the ground floor and I was whisked downstairs. The whole ladies floor to myself !!! I had great support from the wonderful Asics store people which helped me a lot to select the right gear.

    After I finished my shopping, I went upstairs to the ground floor and the gents were no way near finishing their shopping!!! One of the staff from the store told me that they where very indecisive, hehehe.

    Then I went upstairs to the Running Lab and had my body composition analysis done , it is amazing the amount of information you receive just by stepping on the machine and holding for a few seconds the hand grips!!! I was a little bit scared about the results but so far, so good!!!! My fat mass and muscle mass are both very good, I just have to improve a little bit the muscle mass for the marathon by half k g or so. The analysis also reports on the muscle mass balance and in my case arms where very good and I have to work a bit more on strengthening my left leg, I will have to discuss this with Sarah, the Asics physio.

    After the body composition analysis, it was turn for the gait analysis and I had my foot ID done for my very first time image Your foot dimensions, the level of pronation and your footprint are measured and your foot motion is also analysed. The results include information such as foot length, ball girth, arch height, and pronation type. I am over pronator so I chose my shoes accordingly. I had a 3D scan of my feet done, with I think it was a scanner which measures everything about your feet. How they do it is that they put like some tiny blue stickers on your feet and then you have your feet scanned. Interesting! And then you see the results on a big screen, like a 3D picture of your feet. This is very important to select the right shoe, because in my case I will be running for I hope less than 4 h 30 min so all the support I can have is more than welcome (wings as well image So, with all this information I was recommended to get the Gel Kayano 20 with structured cushioning. They are very light and I am looking forward to running with them.

    I then met with my great coach Sam Murphy. It was really nice to see her again and we had a long chat about my running style, my background, lifestyle, etc. so she can prepare the best training plans for me. I will receive them in the next few days and so I will update on this later. In my case, I have always been a constant pace running which is great for the marathon but I am going to work on improving that and introduce some speed and hill routines. She also explained some exercises for running strength and stability, very easy to do outdoors. We also discussed about my previous times on other races and with a 2h and 3min in a half marathon and proper training I should be able to complete a marathon in 4 hours and 17 min but no pressure please image

    Then it was time for pictures and we had group pictures and individual photos taken and we had great fun!!! The atmosphere was very relaxed and friendly and I am sure this will be reflected on the pictures!!!!

    And then it was time for goodbyes and wishing us all very healthy Christmas image

    I will upload pictures later today.

    Have a nice day!!!!

    Isabel

  • sounds like a great day. I esp. like the sound of the body composition. Would u recommend?

  • Afternoon Isabel image. That is a fantastic write up, thank you for sharing your experience in sich detail. I could almost feel I was there with you. Except I wasn't!

    The pictures on twitter look really good, looking forward to more!

    Hope your run was enjoyable, perfect weather for it!

  • jenfjenf ✭✭✭

    Sounds as though you had a great day! I'm looking forward to hearing more as the plan starts.

  • Hi Isabel, nice to hear your report.

    May I ask, can anyone book in to get a body composition analysis at the Asics store? Do you know how it would cost?

    Thanks in advance image

    anthony

  • Anthony - I believe the whole thing is £200

  • Congrats Isabel, looking forward to reading more about your journey. London is my first marathon and I'm also targeting sub-4:30, so I'll be chasing you round on the day!

  • jenfjenf ✭✭✭

    Hi stop running away, I'm doing London tooimage I'll be chasing you!

    Have you started your plan? how was your first run Isabel? photo of kit needed please!

     

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Isabel - how did your first run go? Are you away on another business trip? I know you had problems getting onto the forums last time you were away.

    I hope today's run goes well!

  • jenfjenf ✭✭✭

    Morning Isabel/ Sam. Any chance of posting the first few weeks of the plan with paces please.

  • Thank you very much EastEndJogger and Anthony. Regarding the body composition, it was my very first time. I think I would recommend it if you are about to start a comprehensive or intense training programme and you want to improve your running with a more focused, efficient and smart approach.

    I have confirmed with the Asics store that the body composition analysis is offered as part of a much more comprehensive full body lab analysis and you can check the details here: The total cost is £200. You can call them on 020 7629 0154 or email .

    In my case, before joining the Asics challenge, I always thought that running could be improved by running more, or changing the routines, including some speed, hills, etc… and of course keeping yourself fit. But with all the information we are receiving now I realise that there are other things that complement the physical exercise and this is good specially for an intense physical effort such as the one you do in a marathon, and also  where you want to improve not only your running but your endurance. So for example you may feel great but find out with this analysis that your trunk muscles are weak and that may lead to big problems in your back after preparing for such an intense exercise. With this analysis you get very detailed information that may help you to improve your core strength or focus on strengthening areas you were not aware of. In my case I honestly would have never even thought about focusing on improving more my left leg strength but now I know I have to do so image

    Our body composition analysis included a number of things like:

    • Weight, fat %, fat mass, fat free mass, muscle mass, total body water percentage, body mass index and bone mass. For this, you get your own results which are compared to the normal results.
    • Segmental analysis with some charts showing your muscle mass rating in the trunk, arms and legs
    • Muscle mass balance
    • Fat rating in the trunk, arms and legs and visceral fat rating,
    • A recommendation on the kcal your daily diet should have

    By the way, I found this which may be interesting for you:

    Good luck!!

    Hello Ai Lyn, glad you enjoyed it!!! I will try to upload more pictures tonight, I had a bit hectic weekend but I promise the pictures are on its way image And the weather is great for this time of the year, fingers crossed!

    Hi Jenf! I will officially start my training today. I think I will receive the programme and all the guidelines today or tomorrow but I am already in touch with Sam and today is 4 miles with the middle 2 miles at 10k pace (approx. 9 min miling). I am looking forward to beginning my training!!! Yes, pictures coming soon, I promise!

    Many thanks stop running away, I am also looking forward to it. Congratulations on the London marathon and good luck with the preparation. As soon as I receive my training plans I will upload them and happy to share my experience with you. 

    Hi Malcs! How are you doing? Did you already receive your training plan? My first run officially starts tonight!!! Luckily for me Mondays are my rest day and I also had my office's Christmas dinner. I am already in touch with Sam and have homework for today so I'll keep you posted!!

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