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Sub 4.30 Andrea: #asics262
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Hi t4thomas - there really is no need as water stations are small bottles. My advice is to pick one up before the start, which should carry you through to first station, then pick one up and carry it (to sip) whenever you need to. Two years ago I took one every mile, and discarded the previous bottle shortly before each water station. This ensured I took little and often, but could be used as mental focus too.
Ok, thanks CDUB72.
I didn't realise that the water stations had bottles - I was envisioning cup; That is good news.
Ok, just need a way of carrying a few gels then.
opps - teaspoon of jam but butter would be ok as your carb intake is high enough.
Replace half bagel with large banana if wish (35g)
Keep protein low - small amount but you could exclude to keep overall volume and calories down? it won't matter for this one day.
Weight loss for you will be slow and steady as I would not be doing any drastic reductions when training for a marathon as I risk too much - immunity & fatigue which in turn means lower motivation also. It is a slow and steady goal for you and as long as the weight is decreasing slowly that is just great from my point of view.
Falling over: easy! - I waas out running on a n icy trail, up a hill, I put my Yaktraks over my shoes, and tried to run along a rocky path- I think the yaktraks might have shifted slightly on the shoe- down I went!
I've had another hellish week at work, so time to run woudl have been limited anyway, hoping to have a gentle run on the tready tomorrow before work, and if I'm OK, I'll go out properaly over the weekend.
Hey Andrea, just though I'd pop in and see how my fav female member of the #Asics262 Team is getting along
Hi Amy! Seems you're training is going really well. Judging by your speeds are you now aiming for sub 3:30?! No idea how you do your long runs with so little hydration. I heard that 2% dehydration lowers your performance by 20% so imagine how quicker you'd be if you took water every mile! Important question time now - what should I do with my hair?? It's driving me fairly nuts at the minute and am thinking of going shorter to tidy it up a bit. Can't have me appearing in the marathon edition of the magazine looking a mess......
tricialitt - stay away from rocky paths, you are not a mountain goat. Sounds awful. Although it sounds boring, I'm glad I have the safety of the cycle paths around my town. Did you manage the treadmill run this morning?
Ruth McKean 2 - I'm only joking about losing 21 pounds. I'd be too skinny at 120lbs and Cdub72 wouldn't fancy me if I was that weight. He's a bum man
No problem t4thomas glad to be of help. I use a gel belt (SIS as I prefer their gels) but there are plenty on the market to carry up to around 10. Most have a handy zip pocket to for essentials. I've never lost a gel out of it, so they've not been mind that get trodden on
Yes! Another training run in the bag and I nailed it
5 miles along Embankment at lunchtime. I headed out at 11 to avoid the rain that was forecast for mid-day (it's only just started and it's 1:30pm). The wind was quite strong and in my face on the way out, so I was looking forward to turning around and having it on my back but it still seemed to be in my face! Oh well, you never know what the conditions are going to be like on race day, so it's best to train in all weather and just get on with it. The plan was 1 mile jog, 2 miles steady, 1 mile brisk then 1 mile jog. My splits were 10:22, 9:17, 9:14, 8:49 & 10:29, so they were all within my target pace for my plan apart from the brisk mile as it was a whole second faster. Felt really good during the run. Not so many tourists out and about which made it a bit easier.
I feel a bit tired now, probably because I didn't sleep all that well last night. Went to see Elbow in Hammersmith and got to bed later than usual. My boss isn't in the office today, wonder if I could fit a little nap in now...........
Nice run Andrea and love those disciplined paces at bang on the guidelines. I think I might have to take on your hydration recommendations as I have left the house to do a 16 or 17 miler with no water at all.
Re: tonsorial advice, I'd recommend you cut your hair like mine (crew cut, no.3 setting on shearer thing). It's a very low maintenance style
Erm, thanks for the suggestion Tony, I'll give it some thought...
Can't believe the number of people who don't hydrate on runs - crazy! Take a bottle out with you and take a couple of sips every time your watch beeps at the mile mark. No point leaving it until you're thirsty as that means you're dehydrated already. There's no need for big gulps of water, that might actually give you a stitch further along.
I now realise why I was chosen as one of the famous five in this competition. It was my sensible pacing and practical approach to running that did it. I obviously need to teach you kids a thing or two
and obviously having the Pope acting as my campaign advisor helped....
andrea westcott I'm enjoying your posts and following your training for Paris. Bramley 10 is a great race which is very close to me and I really loved doing it last year as a warm up for Reading Half and then Edinburgh Marathon. I paced it pretty well and ended up with 1:27 which I was extremely pleased with - it was one of those races that just worked out perfectly. I may have peaked too early though because I then found Reading and Edinburgh didn't quite work out as planned!
So, I've decided that I'm not doing it this year & I've got a niggly hamstring which isn't really helping things either. I'm trying to keep everything slow until I do Reading again.
Hi Andrea
Another great week of training in the bag and hope you are all set for Sunday and the Bramley 10. That's if you can drag yourself to the start line after the carb loading
Good to see how it 'sits' with you a good few weeks out from Paris.
I think you are in shape to run under 1.31 on Sunday, conditions willing. But your strategy of starting out conservatively is a wise one. GOOD LUCK!!
I just want to make a few comments about hydration. While hydration is important, it has been somewhat overstated and the science has definitely backtracked in recent years and the performance detriment from being slightly dehydrated is not great. For example, Gebresalassie was actually 9 per cent dehydrated when he set the marathon world record and it didn't exactly slow him down! The current advice is not to drink on a schedule but to simply drink on thirst - it isn't correct that thirst is a poor indicator of dehydration (though this was once believed to be the case and is still frequently wheeled out). It is in fact a good indicator - the only issue is that you might not be 'listening to your body' very well if you are in the middle of a hard race and fatigued. So yes, everyone will perform better if they don't become significantly dehydrated. But what that actually means in terms of how much to drink, or how often is unqiue to you. There's no one size fits all advice.
That said, I'd say that for someone like Tony, doing 16 or 17 miles with no fluid, that is not a great idea. Even if can just drink a little here and there...
Hope that helps. Totally agree T4Thomas, btw, about not needing to carry water in the marathon. Would only carry fluid if it was a unique sports drink that is the only one you can stomach or something...
Haha vital question Andrea! I love your hair with the curls, don't get rid of them!!!!! You take a great pic whatever, you are a natural in front of the camera, unlike my awkward posing! I used to love drama at school, but being someone else in front of a camera is very different to being yourself! Def keep the curls, let them bounce! (Andrea and I did both turn to the Asics store day armed with straightners in our bags!)
Yes training going good thanks. Still on track for the sub 4 and nothing more though! One day maybe. I have surprised myself how I have got on. What about yourself? You sound like you are cracking out some fab runs #gogirls
Really interesting to hear the info re hydration SamMurphyRuns, I have never taken on board fluid during runs, don't know why, just never have. Good to hear that I have not been doing any damage. I have been working on my hydration on a day to day basis as opposed to the runs, so hopefully this is helping me.
Hi MacFinbob, how did you find Edinburgh? What was your time? Its a great city.
Hi @tricialitt, thank you for your knee strap suggestion - I might just get one. Sorry to hear about your fall. Hate that feeling when you know you are going over and just can't stay upright. Get well soon.
Had a great morning today. I wanted to see if I could do 18 miles but was prepared to stop early if I had knee problems. Pleased to say no ITB issues at all. My knees are definitely my weak area so will spend some time stretching and strengthening. Anyway, back to the run ... I set out really early (6.15am) and did 14 miles before joining in the back of the Bushy Park parkrun. Speed was good and may try to do a 20 miler next week.
Sam, I understand that ITB can be caused by downhill running. Would I be better off not doing hills in my training? I am running Manchester so I understand it is pretty flat.
Hope you all enjoy your LSR this weekend as much as I did. It was really beautiful being out early along one of the loveliest stretches of the Thames (in my opinion) from Teddington to Richmond, and then on into Bushy Park - fabulous!
Interesting discussion on hydration here. I must admit I've been very complacent about this. I've taken water and sips of Lucozade sports drinks at half marathons and 16 milers (e.g. Kingston Breakfast run), but I've never got into the habit of taking water on my ordinary runs even when they've been 10 + milers. Now I'm getting into the practice of 16 + milers, it's definitely time to rethink this.
Here's what I'm taking on tomorrow's 19-mile progression run:
It sort of looks like I'm going on a picnic!
Hi Sally Boulton 2 - glad to hear your running's going well. I might take your advice and try that stretch of Thames on one of my runs.
Hi Ant, that looks very tasty indeed! Are those jelly baby look a likes in the Rainbow packet?
We do live in a nice part of London don't we (I think you said you live in Kingston?) I find it amazing that I was able to spend most of my run today on grass to save my poor old knees!
Sounds like its all going well here. I always did a lot of my running on the tready, and it's so hot in the gym that I'm in the habit of drinking lots. I do most of my runs with a camelback, but just use a small bottle in a belt for races- you can top it up with water at the stations, and add a bit of lucozade sport, if you like that (diluted- it seems lethal neat), ir electrolyte tabs, and throw the rest of the bottle they hand you overyour head if it's hot ( as it always is on race day).
Not recovered from my fall yet= knee is OK now, so did a recovery run on tready on friday as a test, but I've bruised/ sprung/ cracked a rib-it is very sore for certain things like driving, leaning on my arm to do plank/ use faom roller, so I was a bit wary of going out for a long run in case it got steadily worse as I went. I couldn't take th erisk of having to be "rescued" by my OH ! Did a tough hill session on the tready:
10min WUP, 10kph @ 1.0%- increase by 0.5% every minute until 5%. 1min recover, 10.4 kph @1.5%- increase by 0.5% everyminute until 3%, then every 30sec until 8%, than 1 min recover, 10.7% @ 2%- incrase as above, 11kph @2.5%etc.
Well................that was the plan! I've never managed it all, obviously!
I was able to get to the 5% stage at each speed, then walked the last bits at 6kph, doing the increases in gradient as planned- topped out at 9%!.
Must be good traiing for a hilly race!
Thnks I will aim for a LSR on tuesdayafternoon, after my night on call ( provided the on- call Gods are kind to me).
MacFinbob - Very wise not to race on a niggle, you would only cause more damage as you'd push yourself harder than a usual training run.
Pocket Rocket Amy - Still undecided about my hair. The trouble with curls is that I end up looking like I've been dragged through a hedge backwards if it's windy outside. My hair is really fine, so even a tiny amount of product is too much and I end up looking like I've used Soul Glo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGrasobHcKA
Sorry, did you hear that? Was that somebody sounding the pb klaxon??? Must be as I knocked nearly 2 minutes off my PB at the Bramley 10 yesterday as I finished in 91:33
. Things did not go as well as expected though. I felt great at the start and the first few miles felt quite easy as I got in to a nice rhythm. After 4 miles, my legs started to feel heavy. After 5 miles I felt like I had run 8 miles. Hit an incline just before the 6 mile mark and that just did me in. My legs were feeling quite dead and I ended up walking while taking a gel coming up to the 7 mile mark. Another couple of inclines followed before the course flattened out a bit then headed downhill to the finish. My splits were 9:08, 9:05, 9:02, 9:07, 9:04, 9:00, 9:43, 9:11, 9:00 & 8:49. Not sure if I just went too fast up the incline and wore myself out? Annoyed to say the least as it cost me a sub 91 minute time.
Went out this morning for my 4 mile easy run and felt fine, no leg issues. Splits were 9:49, 9:33, 9:40 & 9:32, all well within the target pace.
Well, we're half way through the training plan for Paris. Eek!! Things seem to be going well so far. Yes, I still have a slight niggle with my Achilles but it's getting better rather than worse, so I'm not worried about it. I'm managing to fit in my training runs without too much difficulty (have only missed one session - wasn't feeling well) and am running well at the paces set by Sam. I'm eating more protein (getting a bit sick of yogurt, must admit), have cut down on booze (boo!) and am losing weight (yay!!!) weighed 139.6 this morning......
Hi Sally - no, despite being in a children's picnic bag, they're not jelly babies but Clif Shot Bloks (a couple are the turbocharged caffeine variety)! And, yes, I live in central Kingston (near Fairfield Park and the library) and we are lucky to live in such a great part of London for runners. For my 19 miles yesterday, I think about half of it was on grass (Home Park and Bushy Park) with other bits along the Thames. Hope your running's going well.
Hi Andrea - great running from you on Sunday although I can't help thinking that if you'd taken my advice on hair styling that sub-91 minute PB would have been in the bag, Jus saying ...
Only this morning I put link on Tim & Tom thread on hydration I will go cut and paste and be right back.....
and here it is....
As much as Tim Noakes comes out with some over the top statements!!! I do agree that the best advice for most runners is to drink to thirst. For older runners or on very hot days, I would say drink little and often. I will write up an overview article on hydration in the next couple of weeks.
http://www.outsideonline.com/blog/outdoor-adventure/tim-noakes-on-the-serious-problem-of-overhydration-in-endurance-sports.html
Andrea - most men are bum men
Hair... don't ask me. I go between fringe and no fringe... grow it out, get bored of fringe and grow it out and so it goes on!!!
I would not worry about drinking little and often - everyone is different. some can lose 4% or more other less and they will feel the effect however in hotter climates (which Paris could be..or not ) you will probably tolerate losing less % of body weight and you should end a race dehydrated a this is a natural thing but certainly not gain weight by drinking! You are not in any danger over drinking with what you are doing and it is why I have not changed it.
Doing great..
PB KLAXON PB KLAXON!!!! Whooooaaaa go Andrea!!!! Nic running. Pah, nearly wet myself at the Soul Glo clip! Haven't seen Coming To America in Years, will have to rewatch. So, we are def over half way now eek! Seems like you are well on track
Hey Everyone ... Sorry I've not been posting as much but most importantly I have been keeping up to date with the plan!
I'm amazed what a difference a plan makes (I know that sounds obvious!), last year I thought I was prepared for Manchester Marathon but boy did I get figured out mid race, the best lesson ever. I am currently feeling stronger and quicker than ever (I've never been that quick!), I just need to keep going and keep building up the distance or in other words, stick to the plan.
Sounds like most people have remained motivated even with the cold temps, I'm following a few people on Strava and there is some great running going on, keep it going everyone!
P.s. Ruth & Andrea - I'm declining to pass comment on the "most men are bum men!"
Hello All
Sorry I have been quiet as well as Ian not had much to report as not been feeling very well for the last couple of weeks and been taking it easy I was not that worried as my Marathon in not until the May bank holiday so I started my plan a few weeks early.
Andrea you are going to wear the PB claxon out and your doing fantastic with all the training and staying off the drink I am sure your are going to do that sub 4.30 in Paris and will be close on the heals of the others nearing that sub 4.
I am going back a few weeks in the plan from tonight and just going to do a slow 8 miles to get some miles in for Eastbourne 1/2 on 1st March.
I am saying nothing about hair or ladies bottoms either see Ian and I were Gentleman in the Sub 4.30 group
Craig and Ian - you guys are obviously well trained
Beautiful day for a run here, can't wait to get out and bust those hills
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp43OdtAAkM
Hi Andrea!
Congratulations on your 18 miler, you have very consistent splits! And many congratulations on your PB! You must be very happy to see that the training is going so well. How is your niggle with the Achilles going?
I am doing fine. I think my foot is recovered although for some reason I can't explain, I feel there is something. So when weight is on the right foot, it's a bit painful. My x-ray say everything is ok so I will stick to that
I am on week 6 and improving my fitness by the minute but still struggling with the faster paces.
I did my longest run last Saturday and was cramp free afterwards. Cramps were my biggest concern last year so I am very happy with that. I am following Ruth's nutrition plan pre and post long runs. Although I was quite tired for the whole day, but I think that was because of the rain!!!
Thanks guys! I must admit that having you all monitor my progress keeps me plugging away. There's nowhere to hide in this game
Sorry that you haven't been feeling great recently Craig. I hope it's just the usual seasonal sniffles and nothing more serious. Take it easy and you'll be fighting fit for the half marathon.
Isabel - that pain in your foot is concerning. It's not good to be feeling pain every time you put weight on it, especially when you're training for a big race. I'd get a second opinion just to be sure.
I thoroughly enjoyed my hill session yesterday. Started with my 1 mile jog in 10:06 which finished at the bottom of a slight hill, so I did my first 4 minute rep there. I did 0.5 miles up and down constantly, then recovered for 1 minute while making my way up a bit further to a slightly steeper bit. Another 0.5 miles in 4 minutes, then another recovery when I went further up to a lovely steep bit where I did the other 2 reps, each one another 0.5 miles. Really happy that I was keeping the same pace each time, despite the increased incline. Slightly more than 1 mile jog home in 9:50 (downhill). The session should be great prep for my club 5k handicap race on Thursday night. It's a horrible course as it starts and finishes uphill. It will be interesting to see if I can beat my course PB.....
I've had a good week - particularly because (touch wood) I am injury free! The 18 miles on Saturday went well, and then I have followed the plan for the week (Sunday was a rest day for me). Mixed bag of weather - sunny on Saturday and yesterday, and rotten weather on Monday and today.
Decided to do sprints from the previous week on Tuesday as I didn't want to risk hills - well, the downhill bit with my dodgy old knees. I did 2 minute bursts, and ran very even splits of 0.27m, 0.27m, 0.28m, 0.28m, 0.30 miles. Shows I probably couldn't have run much faster.
A slow 3 miles for me today, followed by parkrun on Saturday and then 20 miles on Sunday!
Andrea, have you got the next few week's plan yet? I am finding it really good and varied.