Talkback: ASICS Target 26.2 Team: Rosie

Bliddy hell ! this is where everybody is hanging out nowadays.

Hi Rosie,
Firstly congratulations on getting through the selection and vote, and as others have said we look forward to following your journey onto Paris in April.
A very impressive running history, especially the last year. I have no doubt what so ever about you smashing through the sub 3:30 barrier in style if you follow what the team tell you to do, so just sit back and do the running bit, let them stress over getting you there.
The forum is a great place to be for support, information, understanding etc and you will get so much out of it if you put plenty into it.
I joined Minni`s thread last year and also went through the 3:30 barrier knocking 15 mins off my time and some of us are seriously looking at 3:15 this year, so it can be done, you just have to get the correct guidance and do as your told, no more, no less.

Have a great journey and perhaps I will bump into you in Paris in April.

lol!  I think perhaps we should keep the TM talk for the other thread! 

Rosie have you come back down to earth after what sounded like a fab day on Saturday? 

Yeah, the RW ones aren't exactly dripping with endorsements.

I'm interested to hear how the science bit went on Saturday. I had a freebie VO2 etc session done in the summer and I wasn't sure what to do with the results apart from thinking "that's interesting" so I'm interested in how all the results will feed into Rosie's training. 

Rosie A wrote (see)

Simon - great! Will certainly have time to meet up for a chat. PM me nearer the time and can sort something. I know many good suppliers of hot beverages in the vicinty of the start/finish so if you need any recommendations just shout.. The last two years the race distance has been reduced to around 4K as it's been run on fairly deep snow and the high road round the park has been too impacted with ice to clear, but so far it's not looking too bad. I shall be doing three times daily course inspections (aka being walked by puppy) from now until then so if you need any updates..

Excellent, will keep in touch - I'd be fascinated to find out more about Saturday and your training programme. Hope weather stays good, not that there's anything wrong with a plodge in the snow, like!

oops, I just wrote a super long, detailed and fascinating** post, and neglected to save it so lost it when it was too long. I shall try again! For now, Hello! to Gazelle, We wish you a shaggy christmas, and Hark the Herald AA's sing, great to see you on here

 **I'm only claiming that because you can't read it now, mind..

So the long message which I lost was partly an apology for absence - been doing nights and have a big PhD deadline tomorrow so after work and running and feeding Dug I've been switching on the laptop only to find myself asleep in front of it without having even made it to the forum several hours later. Falling asleep in the vicinity of an weimaraner is a perilous business, as I'm sure some of you will know, usually in that situation I'd wake up to find him right in my face, sitting on my head, or practising pressing all the keys he can on the laptop until it does something interesting - he really does worry me sometimes - but this morning I woke on the sofa (again) with him fast asleep on my chest, making the night spent dreaming in a variety of scenarios that I couldn't breathe suddenly make a bit more sense. Hopefully normal service will now resume! The training plan starts boxing day for those hoping to follow it. Sam sent me a draft by email so I'm going to look at that now and hopefully details will be posted soon!! I can't wait  

Is Sam tweaking the RW's schedules for you? From the other threads it sounds like they're being more personalised than in previous years, which should be a good move.

On the session, it was a taster to persuade me to pay for a full blown assessment, so they kept the analysis quite brief. I know my VO2 is 49 and I burn carbs and fat efficiently but it wasn't clear how to take the info and turn it into something useful for training, so if you have anything more helpful to share please do! 

seren nos wrote (see)

any feedback on the weekend........clothes given.advice given and what shoes they have recommended as well as why and what shoes you have run in the past in.

For the past three years I've run in Saucony progrid Ride's (several pairs!!) and on having quick gait analysis in running shops have always been told I have a very neutral gait. I'd sort of presumed Saturday morning would reveal much the same (especially as asics having paid for the shoes they weren't trying to sell me anything) and was looking forward to being told to get myself a pair or Gel Nimbus or whatever. I've not had any injuries running the last few years (except those caused by my inability to negotiate rocks/dogs/lamposts, and sadly I can't blame those on shoes, much as I'd love to) so wasn't expecting any gait analysis revelations.

Anyway, after a 3d foot scan (I am easily seduced by gadets, but this was cool, and worth it if you're in soho with 5mins to spare - the asics shop is argyll street), and about 6 goes on the treadmill with video gait analysis, it seems actually I over pronate. I can be pretty cynical if I think people are trying to sell me stuff, but the especially the female staff member from the asics store (unhelpfully I didn't get her name, but if you see her on the video or photos from the day and you get chance to go in I'd say grab her if you can - she really seemed to know loads more than I'm used to expecting people to know about shoes) was fantastic and even I was convinced by the video evidence. So I now have a pair of Asics Gel 3030's. I've done about 50 miles in them so far *both cringes and waves if Sam reads this!...the 10 miles a day every day habit will be stopping once the plan starts I know!!* and they are fab. So surprised but happy.

Kit wise, it was a free choice of stuff, weirdly one of the most surprising finds was an arm pouch/key and phone holder thing that actually fits me! I have quite small upper arms compared to the rest of me and all of the other arm carrying things I've tried (and I've tried a lot!) have velcro straps which are too big to close around my arm unless I do some sewing or put loads of twists in the strap. This one was only £10 but has an elastic strap, which is also adjustable, and it fits perfectly. I wish I'd got another one for the other arm for dog bags/emergency dog biscuits..