Asics training starts now...!!

That's great news Mel - very good service there from Asics store...

Yep, got somewhat bedraggled this morning! But surprisingly good turnout for such a dreadful morning. We did continuous hills - where you run up and down a not-too-steep hill at threshold effort level (so comfortably hard...). Great for muscular endurance (way up) and leg turnover (on way down).

Am now packing for Scotland - leave for the long drive up tomorrow morning and will be up there throughout Christmas and New Year. Edinburgh first, and then Perthshire for some great off-road running 

Hi Seren - I normally run in brooks adrenalin mens.....yes I have big feet!!....(well a wide right one!!..) So the womans Kayano was possibly too narrow for my right foot so they are sending me the same trainer but in a mens...... we can see...if its no good then a little trip back to London I feel!!!......

Sam - you christmas break sound wonderful!!!!......Im liking the idea of continiuos hills!!....Have an amazing time and Ill try not to bother you too much over the christmas break!!.....

Melanie - wasn't the 2E size wide enough?  Both Asics and Brooks do a 2E size (extra wide) - have you tried them?

Sam - have an enjoyable trip!  I haven't been to Scotland for ages.  Really should take the family (and the running shoes ).

They don't do the full range in the 2E size Ten

My wife, Sue, is running London next April. The problem is she has no running partners this time. No one from her running group is doing London this time round. Is there anybody around the Sutton Coldfield area looking to break 4hrs at London and looking for a running partner to train with, particularly on those long runs?

Tenjiso and Seren - Interesting, but I have never been offered an extra wide fit...just moved straight to men's.....and my feet aren't that wide!!.....I will try out the new trainers and keep in mind your suggestion for the future!!....

Micky - its pretty lonely for your wife having to do every long run on her own. I know there are websites to find running buddies near you...I cant remember the name of it, but i will find out and get back to you!!.....

Perhaps the shoes you chose don't come in extra wide, as Seren pointed out.  It's good that you can experiment, though, since it can be expensive getting it wrong.

Here we go run down for 1st Week - 

Day 1 - 3 mile comfortable ( between 10:15 - 11:15)  Slow pace which was quite difficult to maintain, found myself a couple times speeding up a bit so had to give myself a bit of a telling off.....but a good start playing with a slow pace for a short run. 3.24 miles - 33.04 - average pace between 10:15 - 11:15

Day 2 - Rest - Did rest.....well no exercise but general running around with my hair on fire!!

Day 3- 1 mile comfortable then 3 acceleration strides followed by  3x 7 minutes fast with 90 second jog recovery. 1 mile jog: ( fast pace between 8.45 - 9) I found this quite hard, tried to incorporate it with my running club night, but I don't think I will do that again as it was quite difficult being focused while other people were doing something else. However......Still achieved it.....struggled with the acceleration strides.....had a brain melt down and forgot how to do them!!.... have had a reminder from Steve and Sam...! ( thank you) Also ended up doing 4x 7 minutes fast as I thought Sam and I agreed to increase it...( but we hadn't...its next week!!!) I was just too keen.....

(7.28mins - 0.83 miles, pace 9) - (7.03mins - 0.78 miles, pace 9) - (7.02mins - 0.80miles, pace 8.45) -  (7.07mins - 0.80miles, pace 8.45)

So all in all a good session, pace maintained....just need to practice acceleration strides......and not do too many!!!

day 4 - Rest - hair on fire day

day 5 - Hilly - Again a running club special on a Friday night. We run 4 loops of the town which is 2 hills per loop....one slightly bigger than the other....with recovery in between hills. However I unfortunately was the only one doing the whole route this week as every one else was tapering for the Portsmouth marathon today......so I ran alone with my Santa hat on and they all cheered me on from the pub which I had to run past!!!....slightly mean I think!!!.....However...Hills achieved....!

5 miles - 48.53

Saturday - rest

Sunday - 10 miles comfortable ( pace 10:15 - 11:15) Well that's the last time I leave the route up to someone else!!!.....I love my brother in law dearly.....but what part of fairly flat slow pace for 10 miles did he not understand!!....'Its OK its only got 4 smallish hills' he claimed ....well I think we have a very different perception of hills..... I however should have remembered he is an ultra runner and runs up and down Snowdon for fun....I would hate to think what my pace was as I gave up looking in the end....It was hilly, boggy, slippery, wet.....( although didn't rain...) but we did 10 miles, and it was beautiful and amazing to be out there doing it....but I take control of the route next time!!!.....Almost embarrassed to post my time.....but its been a learning curve and training is training!!!.....

10 miles - 1 hour 52....!!

So all in all a great start to the training. I have loved the structure of the week, and I have learnt a great deal about how to incorporate my training into my every day life. Maybe I need to take a bit of a step back from what I was doing with running club and have the discipline to take those sessions on my own....and tell my brother in law to bog off...!!...

I had a similar problem last year Mel when i was doing most of my runs off road.............I ended up transferring all my long runs to the road as it was too difficult to assess my pace and if i was improving etc.........

thats a good time for off road

seren - The time didn't feel good...but i enjoyed it...!!!!....but yes I think I might need to do the same and transfer to a better surface....even if just for now..!....its a shame though as its so lovely when your out on the hills!!....but if I want to save myself from the wrath of Sam's tongue I will amend!!!.....at what point did you end up transferring into your training??....or did you do both...?.....

tenjiso.....didnt see you hiding up there....Good point they may not have done extra wide.....my you have a far more logical brain than me....I just go with the fluff and waffle....! 

Oh....I took my first 'gel' today and found it one of the most revolting experiences of my life!!!.....( OK slight exaggeration....) ...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated......It was a CLIF shot gel and it was like putting raspberry cement in my mouth.....are they all like that???

Well done Mel, a good week's training, the off road stuff might feel slow but the effort required will be more, so it will all balance out in the end.

Hey Mel.......glad to see your first week of training went well and more imprtantly you managed to get your trainers changed over. I hope this manages to stop the problem. I think it's excellent service from Asics though to get it all sorted for you before the Xmas shutdown.

It's definitely nice to get the first week out of the way. I even wore my new lycra yesterday, although I don't think the words 'looking like  catalogue model' can be used in my case!

I don't have my first off-road run until next weekend, so it was very interesting reading your account. I expect to be having similar problems next weekend!

Excellent work 

In my experience, there are some gels that make me heave....I just dont like the texture. Others I have no problem with. I use Hi5 energy gels which aren't as thick. I've also used SIS energy gels. I liked the taste of these better than any others I've had, but they also upset my stomach so have stayed clear of these since.

Hi Mel, well done on completing the weeks training. Nearly two hours on your feet will serve you greater than running faster at this stage.

I'm not convinced about Gel's to be honest. Years ago they didn't exist so we ran on water and we managed just fine. In recent years I started taking them when I cycled and carried them into running as well, until last year when I did a charity bike ride and the Doc on the ride told us to try to avoid them and not rely on them. I've hardly used them since, gone back to water and as i get fitter I am finding I don't need them so don't intend to for this campaign.

Be interested to know what the coaches think?

Hi Mel!

Love the weekly summary! I had a similar experience with my Sunday longer run too!! A few more hills than I'd expected! Great fun though!

I like the Hi5 gels - they're not very thick and taste nice. They also don't upset my tummy which can be a little - ahem - delicate! I thought they made a difference when I ran the Bristol Half marathon this year although the improvement might have been down to more miles under the belt.

Great weekly summary Mel, thanks.

If you ever need to keep that pace slow again, give me a shout I managed to slow you down on that walk over the hills a few weeks ago, so I'm sure I could slow you down again, although admitedly my running is speeding up gradually now.

The only problem now for me is that I'm starting to ignore my heart rate monitor (thats what helps me 'keep it slow'), or rather my running buddy ignores it.

Great to get that first week in the bag before Christmas Mel, and an 'adventurous' long run to boot! As DS2 says, the time on feet is the key consideration on the long runs at the outset of training for a first timer...

Gels. Well, I do think that the evidence supporting the use of carbs during long distance running is pretty strong and I would recommend using gels (or sports drinks, though it's hard to get sufficient carb without overdoing fluid) in the race itself and on longer runs. The grey area though is in the shorter long runs/races. As I was mentioning on Shady Ady's thread, there is a 'train low, race high' strategy in which you don't take carbs on board before/during, to 'force' the body to get better at using fat as a fuel source, conserving your own glycogen stores for longer. But it's not one I'd recommend for beginners. More for people who want to shave that extra few seconds off a PB and are already near their potential! 

In shorter races, (half mara or 10 mile for eg) I usually take a gel with high caffeine dose about 60 mins before and don't take any more. I suspect it's more the caffeine that is of benefit in that duration than the carbs. I think it's worth you experimenting with some other brands/types to find one you don't think is disgusting! I like Torq - they are more natural than some with no artificial ingredients. They do a nice black cherry yoghurt one! I also like Clif Bar double expresso!!

I'm going to wish you - and everyone else - a very happy Christmas. I imagine this will be an emotional time for you Mel and will be thinking of you.

 I will be doing Edinburgh Christmas Day parkrun tomorrow to get Xmas day off on the right foot.! Hope all your festive plans go well x

Happy Christmas Mel. Great weeks rundown of your training, things look to be going well. On gels, I quite like the Cliff Shot Blocks. They taste really nice, not like most gels I've tried.