Asics training starts now...!!

20 k on treadmill today, didnt brave the elements, wimp I know...

Morning everyone!

Well done on last night Mel. It was AWFUL weather wasn't it? My group was doing a really similar session to you last night actually - so we know how it felt. Did you have massive wind in one direction? (Hmm maybe I should rephrase that)

Louise - 20k on a treadmill isn't in the least wimpy. It takes mental strength!

A few of you have been asking about Mel's plan, so I'm posting the first 4 weeks below along with some explanation of how it was devised.

Mel’s target is predominantly to complete her first marathon, though she says it would be ‘nice’ to run around the 4 hour mark. Using current PBs,  I predict her potential as being somewhere between 4.15 and 4.26, so, erring on the side of caution to begin with, I have used the MyAsics tool, which predicts a 4.27 marathon, which equals a race pace of 10.10.

I’ve adapted it to make 4-5 days a week as Mel is quite flexible about when she trains. I’ve adding some extra runs in (to take advantage of Mel’s training availability) and scheduled a couple of races she already had in the diary.

Mel’s current typical mileage is around 25 miles/week, with a recent longest run of 13.1 miles (a half marathon in 2.06.26), so I’ve felt comfortable adding extra mileage – especially to the long runs, to lessen the steepness of the increase from week to week. I’ve also changed some of the Comfortable runs to Steady-paced ones to add more variety and replaced some of the constant-speed ‘fast’ runs with intervals (as both speed work and tempo intervals pace)  as Mel already runs with a club on Wednesday evenings. Like all plans, this will be adapted along the way in accordance with Mel’s response and progress, as will the pace guidelines.

PACE GUIDELINES
Jog (Recovery) = 11.15-12.15 mins per mile

Comfortable (Easy) 10.15-11.15 per mile

Steady = 9.15-10.15

Fast (Tempo) = 8.45-9 (Or for intervals 8.30-8.45)

Speedwork 7.20-8.25 per mile, depending on distance

Week 1 w/c 17th December
Monday 3 MILE COMFORTABLE 
Tuesday REST OR LOW IMPACT CROSS TRAINING
Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 3 X 7 MINS FAST WITH 90 SEC JOG RECOVERY. 1 MILE JOG (5 MILES)
Thursday REST
Friday 5 MILES HILLY
Saturday REST
Sunday 10 MILE COMFORTABLE (most of Mel's long runs take place off-road)
MILEAGE 20

Week 2 w/c 24th December (May need to jiggle for Christmas week!)
Monday 3 MILE JOG
Tuesday 5 MILE BUILD UP (From 10.30-9.30)
Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 5 x 400m (or 2 MINS) at 7.20-7.35 MIN pace with 2.5 min jogs in between each. 1 MILE COMFORTABLE (4.5 MILES)
Thursday REST or non impact cross training
Friday 3 MILE COMFORTABLE
Saturday REST
Sunday 8 MILE STEADY (ideally on level, flat terrain to maintain pace)
MILEAGE 23.5

Week 3 w/c 31st December
Monday 4 MILE COMFORTABLE + 3 ACCEL STRIDES
Tuesday REST (HANGOVER ACCEPTABLE!)
Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 3 X 8 MINS FAST INTERVALS WITH 90 SEC JOG RECOVERY. 1 MILE JOG (5 MILES)
Thursday REST
Friday 5 MILE HILLY
Saturday REST OR LOW IMPACT CROSS TRAINING
Sunday 11 MILE COMFORTABLE
MILEAGE 25

Week 4 w/c 7th January
Monday REST
Tuesday 3 MILE JOG
Wednesday 1 MILE COMFORTABLE then 3 x acceleration strides then 6 x 400m (or 2 MINS) at 7.20-7.35 MIN pace with 2.5 min jogs in between each. 1 MILE COMFORTABLE (4.5 MILES)
Thursday 4 MILE COMFORTABLE
Friday REST OR LOW IMPACT CROSS TRAINING
Saturday PARK RUN PLUS W-UP/C-DOWN
Sunday 3 MILE JOG
MILEAGE 19.5

Mel - if the weather's as bad with you as it is here (Yorkshire) you've chosen a good day for a rest day

SamMurphyRuns - why the significant decrease in mileage in week 4?

SamMurphyRuns - oooo I quite like this plan!  But sorry, can you explain acceleration strides please? Thanks

Jen - Acceleration stride....funny I have just emailed Sam the same question!....she told me yesterday, but I think the wind and rain penetrated my brain last night and I drew a complete blank!!.....As for the light on your watch...I tend to wear my head torch round my waist, makes looking at your watch easier and you have clearer and closer light for your footing ahead......

Your right Andrew, thank goodness for a rest day today, it took me hours to warm up last night....Im going out in my swimming costume next time.....dont suppose anyone would notice too much!!!!!

Sam - It was truely grimm out there last night, could you maybe ammend my plan to fit in around the weather???...In all honesty it was quite invigorating and the sea was amzing to run along side.....I did have a lot of wind in one direction but not sure if was the men I was running with!!

Louise - treadmill..???....get out there girl!!!! Or maybe follow the training plan once Sam has ammended it with better weather conditions!!!......

Hi Mel,

How have the first couple of training runs been going? Your plan looks good! What do you think of it?

Jen - I asked Sam the same question when I got my plan through and she said:

"So, acceleration strides: these are a good way of 'bridging the gap'
between a jog warm up and faster running, say, in an interval/speed
session or even to just do at the end of an easy run to 'remind' your
legs to keep turning over nice and quick.
Start at a pace you consider steady/brisk and count 8 strides
(paces) then accelerate for another 8 paces, accelerate again for
another 8 and finish with a final 8 by which point you should be
running fast (but not all-out sprinting). Focus on good form
throughout - nice tall posture, feet turning over quickly and not
overstriding (ie. sticking your leg out too far in front - look at Mo,
and think of all the 'action' being in the back of the stride, when
the leg extends behind)."

Hope that helps!

Thanks for sharing that Steve.

Andrew - the mileage drop is a sort of consolidation week - you can't just keep on pushing and pushing indefinitely. The body makes adaptations at rest, not during training itself, and it's tricky to fit that in sometimes during mara training. I've put a few of these in. People do sometimes panic but the benefits are worth it, I promise!

Off to see Skyfall tonight at LAST. Trip to the osteo first 

thank you, will try acceleration strides out on saturday! Mo always looks really comfortable when he's running!!!

Thank you Steve!!!!...I was just about to copy and paste!!!......How have you found them???.....they sound confusing but Im sure once you start doing them its ok!!!......

The plan looks good.....hows yours???.....

Best of luck to you Mel, I loved your story and admired the way you have 'kept on keeping on' - so you did get my vote!  I've done 18 marathons so happy to help if you need any extra tips.

Andrew.. I'm Yorkshire based too (North Yorks) and it has rained solidly here for the last 24 hours!  I am currently congratulating myself for having had the foresight to buy a house at the top of a hill!

No worries Mel 

Acceleration strides are great fun - they're really quick and easy to do, you just run progressively faster and faster, 8 strides at a time!

Yeah, I really like the look of my plan - I think Sam has done a great job for both of us. They're both packed with variety and lots of different sessions...

So how are you going to cope with the training runs over Christmas??

Hey Mel.....sorry I haven't popped by to say hi earlier. Lovely meeting you again last Sunday. How have you found the first few days of training? It's nice to finally get them started.............have you been showing off your new wardrobe? 

Well what a bunch of bahh humbugs.....I was the only person running in my christmas hat through the Arundel town hills.....and I am the most UN christmassy person in the world!!.....

Wardi - Some times you have to 'keep on keeping on' , because what do you do if you dont!!!????.....18 marathons...you are now amongst the many people that I admire!!!!! so any hints and tips.....please!!!!!!!......

Andrew- the rain has stopped here just for today...how about where you are.....???...and did you really buy a house on the hill because it was so wet...?????

Steve - thank you....you just made accelaration strides seem so easy and un scientific!!!!.....amazing....you connected with a female brain!!

Ady - Hello!!!!....the kit is great although as i said to Sarah at the begining of the week, I felt like a calalogue girl running through the woods in my spangly new gear......However......I have to say I kept my trainers back as it has been pretty apauling weather and I wanted to stroke them all clean and new for a little longer.....wore them tonight......and wow....not good...the pain in my right foot made the run almost unbearable!!!!!.....looks like a trip back to Asics.....booooo.....but hey, a small price to pay.....!!....How about you...how you finding it all...??? looking beautiful on your runs???......

Mel, how was the hilly run today, and your first week of training?  The paces both you and Steve have been set are the close to where Iam and and will likely be in the Autumn so I'll be following both of your journeys very closely, in a very non stalking kind of way 

Not good news on the shoes mel.what shoes did you run in before and what shoes did the asics guys give you.........

i have always run in asics but i know they do not suit all

Seren - I normally run in Brooks and have done for years.....but these are Asics gel - kayano!!....I'm guessing it will have to be another trip to the Oxford street store, but I will phone them tomorrow and see what they can do!!!.....

SC - Hey stalking is cool if thats what you fancy!!.......hills were OK although the Santa hat kept me very warm..... I normally do hills on a Friday with my running club.....I hated hills before I started doing them as repeats on a Friday night session....now when I'm out on a long run they don't bother me and I quite look forward to the challenge!!....we do 4 loops of Arundel town in the winter......2 hills on each loop.....so we end up doing 4 big hills and 4 smaller ones.....

Training this week has been good.....really enjoyed the discipline of it!!.....running to a specific pace is quite challenging!!.....Sunday will be interesting trying to keep to a comfortable pace for 10 miles....

Hey Mel, that's worrying to hear about the shoes. Don't want to get off on the wrong foot (sorry for the pun ). With Christmas looming... I'd recommend going back to your shoes you were wearing before if you can't swap them for another pair before the festive shutdown.

You'll be pleased to hear that I'll be wearing santa hat tomorrow for last Rye Runners session of the year. It has an irritating bell at the peak! And making my husband and co-coach wear one too. He's delighted, honest 

Hi Sam...I have spoken to Asics today....and as expected they were great. They think they know what the problem is by describing the location of the pain over the phon,e so they are sending out a new pair or trainers special delivery today. If they are no good then it will be a trip back to the store, but we will try this first!!!...

So a big 'thank you' to Michael and James at the Asics flagshipe store in Oxford street for being so helpful!!!!....

Just looking at the weather....your santa hat is going to get very wet and soggy!!!!!

glad they are sorting you out so soon Mel......amazing service.....which brookes did you have and which asics are they sending you