Beyond #asics262: life after Target 26.2 for sub-3:30 runner Malcolm

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  • jenfjenf ✭✭✭

    image Malcs! as I'm not so speedy as you, I probably won't post much on here of help, but be assured of my support and that I will be stalking this thread every day!

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Not So Great North Runner - many thanks indeed! Where are you at now in your marathon running? Got a target for a spring marathon? If you have the speed then that 3:30 may be closer than you think if you get the training right.

    Minni - never ceases to amaze me how you can get so many long runs in!

    That's one impressive parkrun! 

    DS2 - report is coming. Not sure I can match Ady for humour. His store day report was hilarious. I promise to bring you all the details though. Don't worry, it won't involve any lycra image

    Slowkoala - so have you settled on a target time for this campaign or are you going to wait and see how things go?

    Angela - ha ha image I couldn't possible by shoes for anyone without them having a full gait analysis. Sorry, have to be cruel to be kindimage

    Millsy - another great tip there! I know my brother-in-law suffered badly even in the dry. He ended up buying some industrial looking plastic guard things. Micropore has always been the weapon of choice for me. 

    Hope the hangover isn't too bad today!

    PD - this year was the first time I tried the MP miles in the long run and it really was an eye opener. In previous years I'd run my long runs too quickly so running slowly and then doing a quick set of miles at the end I found much better and a reall confidence booster too. I'm sure you'll be fine.

    Dd1969 - what are your shorter race PB's? Before April your 3:55 was better than any I'd run up to now.

    Jen - many thanks, really appreciate it! 

    Kirsty - ha image I'd never thought of it like that but yes, it does appear that I am indeed multitasking! Or am I just time slicing? Not quite as impressive a feat but I'll take it. Thanks again for your good wishes it means alot.

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭

    ah he's back but is he sober...? image

    Its not hard Malcs as I enjoy them so much.  21 banked today.

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Ha ha - just about Minni, just about. The joys of Prosecco - seems to serve up a more gentle hangover image

    Had the Mini Rugby Christmas party this afternoon where I was on Powerade!

    Must admit I don't feel very powerful as a result but a decent night's sleep should sort that out.

    Wow, 21 already. That's some base you must have built up!

  • malcs so your plan starts tomorrow...........does it follow triathlon schedules and start with a Rest day image

     

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭
    Malcs wrote (see)

    Ha ha - just about Minni, just about. The joys of Prosecco - seems to serve up a more gentle hangover image

     

    You clearly didn't drink enough. image 

  • yay Malcs, so glad you made it image. sorry I'm joining in so late but better late than neverimage



    Minni's sub 3:30 thread is my spiritual home but I will make a conscious effort to follow this one coz I'm sure it's gonna be a good one image



    Now you must work on those drinking skills ..... there is a correlation between plenty of hangovers and breaking 3:30, honest!! In years when I abstained from alcoholic beverages I ran shite racesimage
  • Malcs, saw the pic of you all in your new gear on Twitter. You all look very smart. How many pairs of shoes did you get?



    Well done on the 21 Minni. Is there a time of the year when you don't run long runs at all?!



    I've not decided on my London target yet. Will wait until I've done a HM in February to see how that goes. Would like to beat 3:29 though! 18 miles today which went well (especially considering I had 3 mojitos at a party last night and got back in the early hours!) I find it OK running with a bit of a hazy head but I've collapsed on the sofa now and don't intend to move until I've seen who's won SPOTY!
  • Malcs my best 10k is 45 mins and a half of 1.45 I am just returning from the dreaded plantar faciatas injury so have run little since late August, will your training plan be posted on this thread?

  • Malcs Looking forward to your asics shopping day update. Is there any truth in the rumour you had your own personal shopping assistant? image

  • Prosecco...took delivery of a case of a very fine example on Friday   Malcs from an Italian supplier, I won't be wasting it on the family, how about we put two bottles aside, one for Paris and one for London?image

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Chickadee - thanks very much indeed! Ha image Minni's thread is basically for hardened drinkers only so I've heard. I would never be hard enough to grace it's pages image

    Minni - lol - yeah, probably true image

    Slowkoala - I managed to sneak two pairs in (see report which will follow this post). Well done on the 18 - wow, that's impressive. No SPOTY spoilers, I'm watching delayed! image

    Dd1969 - you've got some speed there then. The plan Steve is looking looks at a 1:37 half so if you can get close to that you can get 3:30 in your sights. Sorry to hear about the injury, that's a nasty one. 

    Yes, will be posting the plan here or if not it'll be accessible from the 262 hub. I'll post a link if that's the case.

    SupermanRuns - thanks image About to post it. And yes, I needed help!

    Mr P - now that is a very fine idea indeed! 

  • MillsyMillsy ✭✭✭
    Hangover wasn't too bad this morning. Tried to stick to the weakest lager as I knew there would be various drinking fines going round. I also had to down a dirty pint as a fine for "missing too many games due to running"

    Managed a very slow 17 today in the mud, wind and rain.



    My schoolboy error of the day is. if you start to feel a niggle in a run, try and run it off. I've now found so much better to take a couple of days rest rather than risking it and missing 2 weeks training.
  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    ASICS 26.2 STORE DAY

    So this was it. I'd read all the reports from previous winners about the fabled store day. Last year I'd even dared to dream about being there. But now it was a reality and I couldn't be more excited.

    /members/images/448713/Gallery/store1.jpg

    On arrival we met Claire from Asics and were taken to a secret underground bunker where Andrea, Gemma and Katie from RW were all waiting for us. I was disappointed that access wasn't via fireman's pole - I think any secret underground lair worth its salt should should have this kind of entry system. I'll be feeding that back to Asics.

    Once inside the first thing I noticed was a number of croissants and other pastry based items on the table next to us. Could this be some kind of Willy Wonka-esque test of our commitment to the programme? Well I wasn't about to jeopardise the day ahead by yielding to temptation. They would have to be a bit smarter than that if they wanted to out fox me!

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    [ above pic shows the afore mentioned table of treats. The fact that Gareth is looking down at exactly the spot where they were located is merely a coincidence. I can confirm that he did not succumb and is still in line to inherit the chocolate factory

    Having passed the pastry test we were led back up into the store to have a browse. Now, I'm not the best of shoppers. I usually buy my kit online and selection is often a matter of picking what's on special offer.

    I feel quite self conscious shopping in a store for any kind of clothing. In my mind I'm thinking that everyone is watching me, sniggering each time I pick up an item that would never suit.

    Usually I'd convince myself that I was just imagining this. However, on this occasion everyone really was watching me! What's more I had a photographer snapping every moment as well. It's quite a surreal experience. Now I know why they have a psychologist on the teamimage

    After browsing for a little while I was summoned to a very high tech looking lab area where I was informed that I was to receive a body composition analysis. This involved standing barefoot on a machine, holding some metal paddles and being mildly electrocuted. 

    I was quite confident that I was in decent shape and the results started well when my body fat was reported to be 15.1% - not bad at all. Muscle mass was normal and weight was ok too. However, the smile was wiped off my face when I was told that I was lop sided! Drilling down into the data it the cause was revealed - apparently I have a fat arm. Who knew? 

    I didn't think my right arm was any more neglected in terms of physical activity than my left but apparently. If anything it's the other way round. But hey, who am I to argue with technology?

    I tried to put this shocking revelation behind me as I was swiftly moved on to the gait analysis. Many of us have had gait analysis before but this was no ordinary gait analysis. It started with a 3D foot scan! This involved the poor unfortunate Libby (our gait analyser for the day) having to stick dots on my feet before placing them, one at a time, into the the scanner. 

    It's quite an amazing thing to see your foot being represented in 3D. From this picture, various foot and, crucially, arch measurements could be taken. Libby was able to assess that I statically pronate. Basically my arch is pants (2nd bad news of the day).

    ...

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭
    /members/images/448713/Gallery/store2.jpg

     

    This is the modern equivalent of the wet foot test and it suggested I needed a support shoe. However, Libby said that she needed to be see me running too in order to complete the assessment.

    To do this I was handed the running equivalent of bowling shoes (I'm no fashion guru but even my gran wouldn't be seen dead in these). Thankfully these were special shoes for doing the gait analysis and not the latest in retro styling. I did 30 seconds on the treadmill with the usual camera setup looking at my foot strike. 

    Rather bizarrely it appeared that my feet are pointing outwards to the right on ground contact? I'm a freak! Could this be a consequence of my fat arm? Hard to say but it looked freakin' weird (3rd bad news of the day).

    Interestingly the dynamic assessment showed that there was no over pronation and that a neutral shoe would be best for me. I tried a pair of Asics Gel Nimbus 15 and they did the job nicely. First shopping item in the bag!

    Next stop was the one I was really looking forward to, talking training with Steve Smythe. I said earlier I was really excited about having Steve as my coach for this process. RRR and A.W had spoken so highly of him and having talked to him now myself I can see why.

    We talked about where I was currently at with my running (pretty much back at the drawing board) and if there were any weekly commitments I had to work around. I came out of the discussion feeling really inspired and raring to go. Steve has already emailed a plan to me but we're just seeing if any adjustments need to be made. I will share it here as soon as I am able.

    Next stop was apparel (that's kit to the rest of us). Given my earlier revelations about my fear of shopping it won't surprise you to hear that I needed help and the staff at the Asics store were just brilliant. 

    I made a few selections and we totted up the value. We had been given an incredibly generous budget of £500. I thought I would be over budget but was quite shocked to hear that I was £200 under! 

    Time was running out now and thankfully Andrew from Asics was on hand to take charge and sort me out. He found me an amazing Gore jacket and with the remainder he suggested some racing shoes. Who needs training now? I could probably shave 3 minutes off my time running in lightweight shoes and a pair of underpants image

    I went for a pair of Hyper Speed 5's. With a name like that I surely must be able to run faster! Here's a pic of all the loot.

    /members/images/448713/Gallery/kit.jpg

     So with my kit ready it was time to suit up for the photos. Tom, the photographer (who was at last year's bootcamp) was very good at getting us organised and keeping us smiling. We were arranged in what looked like order of luminosity with the more 'glowing' among us in the centre. After that we had a few individual shots and we were all done.

    Like bootcamp it was quite a busy day and I didn't get to talk to the others as much as I would have liked. However, we all got on really well and it was clear that they are all an incredibly nice bunch of people. James (sub 4) lives not far from me so we ended up taking the same train home. Hopefully we'll get a chance to meet up for a few runs and races along the way.

    So that was it - a day I will never forget. Quite an unreal experience in many ways but I loved every minute of it. I can't thank Asics, Runners World and Steve enough for this opportunity. Now the hard work begins and I can't wait to get started!

  • Good to hear you had a good day Malcs, those hyper speeds are super light, tried some myself but went for ds racers.

    Will be interested to see what the next few months training for you are like.

    Is tomorrow the first official day of training?

     

     

  • Oh no wait till Angela reads you've got a fat arm. You've had it.

    it does sound fascinating, I read Gareth's post earlier with interest, though I don't think I've spent £500 on gear in five years let alone a morning. 

  • Chocolate factory? I'm a bit confused.

     

  • I will say that I found it very tough spending £500. As I mentioned in my thread, at one point I had to sit down and take it all in as the whole morning was overwhelming.

     

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    welshgje - sorry Gareth, gosh don't take that the wrong way - it was meant to be a reference to the Willly Wonka-esque  pastry test which we all passed. I do have a tendency to ramble on image

    Totally agree about the overwhelming nature of the day. I hope you enjoyed the rest of your weekend in London. It was really great meeting you, just a shame we didn't have more time.

    Millsy - ah the dIrty pint, a firm family favourite. I'm just sorry to hear that running has become a criminal offence! 

    Nice one getting 17 in and another great schoolboy error of the day too! image

    A.W - yes training starts today! It's 3 miles at 9mm pace if anyone plans to join in.

    Mr P - Ha image Me neither. I think I'm probably the same with my spending.

  • Morning Malcs! What a great write up, it's almost like looking through a camera lens at you guys on the day, with the added secret thought bubbles image.

    I'm intrigued by the 2 pairs of shoes, in particular the racing pair. I know as the name suggests, it's 'for racing', but I would like to know when exactly you wear it, and when not to wear it. How much of it can you wear during training, or not at all? I'm due new shoes, and wondered if I was to go with a racing pair, I would still need another 'hardier' pair for long training runs etc.

  • Brilliant write up Malcs. So jealous of all the free gear! Looking forward to seeing what your training plan looks like too.
  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Sticky - thanks image

    I won't claim to be an expert on the two shoe system but I will tell you what I learned in the brief time I was there. The main difference between the two is cushioning. There is far less in the racing shoe. This means that it's not ideal for day on day training.

    However, you can use it for some training runs. Shorter speed sessions would be fine and you could even use them for the odd long run too. Coincidentally Steve was wearing a pair and told me that he has used them for occasional long runs.

    There's quite a noticeable weight difference between the two shoes. Andrew showed me another pair which he said would be an even better choice (possibly the DS) but I didn't have the budget by that point.

  • MalcsMalcs ✭✭✭

    Freemers - cheers! I have the plan already. There's loads of variation in there and I think 4 x 20+ milers.

    Our main issue is fitting it round my weekend commitments because it's harder for me to do LSRs on a Sunday. The Saturday sessions are either parkruns or short hilly circuits and so a straight swap of days is not really possible.

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭

    Sounds like a great day out malcs.  I would have had no problem spending £500 on running kit!

    Racing shoes: I got racing shoes this year for the first time, Adidas Adizero Adios, and I love them.  Don't believe those who say they will knock 10s per mile off your times!  They are extremely light weight and fit like a glove.  I now wear them for racing every distance HM and under and although I wore them once for a training session when I first got them just to test, I don't wear them for training now. 

    Malcs - I wonder whether or not you'll be advised to wear them for the marathon.

  • Malcs - I may just join you on those 3 @ 9mm....I need some recovery miles today so that sounds perfect image



    I've never had racing shoes - I think I'd be a bit worried about the lack of cushioning and whether they would work with my orthotics....I've had achilles and knee problems in the past - the achilles in particular always used to flare up whenever I tried different shoes so I am a bit paranoid and now always stick to the same ones (Asics Nimbus). Touch wood I've not had any problems now for a couple of years, so am not about the change. Even for racing I would be too worried about it to try them!
  • morning

     loved the write up malcs.

    but I think you are missing the main point here..........you are talking about your training programme..but i want to see the training regime they have given you to sort out that fat right arm............prioritiesimage

  • Malcs - it sounds a really fascinating day. I am rather worried about my arms now.. and my slightly lower left shoulder... not to mention the tummy (which is going down slowly!) and big toe.... And we thought running was just about throwing on a pair of trainers. I think you have made it into Really Serious Running image

  • MinniMinni ✭✭✭

    Sorry Malcs forgot to mention your *ahem*  thick arm. 

  • Day one today...The schedule will largely follow the RW sub 3:30 but obviously adjusted for Malcolm's requirements. Clearly Malcolm has good speed and the 3:30 is within his capabilities if he can stay fit and healthy. 

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