asics
RW
PROMOTION
TARGET
5 is the magic number A
MEET OUR FINAL FIVE
fter 2,600 applications, 46 hopefuls at bootcamp, 20 shortlisted runners and one busy week of furious campaigning by our final few late last year, our spring marathon training dream team was chosen. Meet Roger, Malcolm, James, Isabel and Gareth, who’ll be gunning for marathon glory at the Paris Marathon this April. And what does every marathon runner need at the start of a marathon journey? The right gear. Back in late December, our fab five joined us at the ASICS flagship store in London to get kitted out. How did it feel to be picked for the team? ‘I was gobsmacked,’ says Malcolm. ‘I got through to the final stages last year and I was so disappointed not to make it, so to have another chance is just brilliant.’ James was amazed at the support he received on Twitter: ‘I had my campaign tweets being retweeted by people over six continents. Ultra trail
MIX UP YOUR MARATHON TRAINING THE ASICS GEL-SUPER J33 IS A NEW NATURAL RUNNING SHOE FROM ASICS DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR OVERPRONATORS
BUY THE ASICS GEL-SUPER J33 AT ASICS.CO.UK
runners in California I’ve followed for years retweeted my messages and their followers did the same, so it was very special for me.’
Like kids in a sweet shop… Team Target are let loose on a shopping spree at the ASICS flagship store in London
TESTING TIMES
First up for the day is an ASICS Foot ID test to help the runners select the right shoes to suit their running form. ‘We take a three dimensional footstamp of the athlete’s foot length, width and arch height, so we can see what sort of support they might need,’ explains Andrew Tew, running services manager at ASICS. ‘This gives us an indication of whether they under- or over-pronate, and then we do a dynamic test on the treadmill using cameras, where we can clearly confirm external or internal rotation of the foot.’ ‘The gait analysis showed that I was overpronating quite a lot more than I thought I was, so I’ve gone for the ASICS Gel-Kayano shoe, which contains more support and will hopefully stop my overpronation,’ says James. Next up is an advanced body composition test, which outputs a bumper spreadsheet of data on the physiological make-up of our runners. In particular, fat mass and muscle mass calculations could unlock the secrets
to a PB in Paris for our final five. For Gareth, losing visceral fat – the hidden fat around the organs of the body – could be the key to success in his first marathon: ‘I hold more muscle and less fat than the average 5ft 8in man, but I’ve got a lot of visceral fat around my organs that I need to lose,’ he tells us. Meanwhile, Roger’s test revealed a discrepancy in strength from one side to the other: ‘I was a squash player for 30 years so I have much more muscle bulk on the right side than the left, so I’ve been given a few exercises to strengthen up glutes, improve quad strength and other areas on my left side,’ Roger explains.
ROGER REID
MALCOLM BARBOUR
JAMES CARROLL
ISABEL ABOS
GARETH EDMONDSON
Marathon PB: 3:01:36 Target: sub-3:00
Marathon PB: 3:33 Target: sub-3:30
Marathon PB: first timer Target: sub-4:00
Marathon PB: first timer Target: sub-4:30
Marathon PB: first timer. Target: sub-5:00
CHANGING GEAR
Now for the fun bit: shopping for new kit. Andrew explains the hows and whys of technical gear: ‘Technical fabric takes moisture away from the skin. In cold weather especially, it’s not the outside temperature that’s going to make you cold, it’s the moisture that facilitates the spread of the cold from the outside to the skin. A layering system – something that takes the moisture away as well as something to protect you from the outside – will keep you warm and dry.’ How many layers should you wear? ‘It depends on how cold it is outside and personal preference, but a general rule of
GET INVOLVED
Meet the runners you voted to win our spring marathon training project and discover the essential kit for your own training
26.2
THE RUNNER'S WORLD MARATHON CHALLENGE
thumb is for every five degree drop, put another layer on,’ he advises. The day ends with the runners meeting their coaches, who will devise a bespoke training plan for them for the next 16 weeks. ‘Before you write a programme for someone you need to find out the nitty gritty of where they really are – what their current mileage is, when they ran their most recent long run, for example,’ says coach Sam Murphy. So, how are our five runners faring through the highs and lows of marathon training? Find out in their spring marathon forum thread on the RW website! You can also download their
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR FINAL FIVE AT RUNNERSWORLD.CO.UK/ASICSTARGET262 DOWNLOAD: MY ASICS TRAINING APP FOLLOW US AT #ASICS262
NATURAL RUNNING
LESS IS MORE
Using the ASICS revolutionary FluidAxis technology, based around the subtalar joint, the GELSUPER J33 allows the foot to move naturally.
While the GELSUPER J33 features less structure than the GEL-KAYANO, the stable FluidAxis platform technology offers the structure that overpronating runners need.
GEARED UP FOR YOUR GAIT
THE PERFECT SECOND SHOE
The shoe adapts to the movement of the foot, recognising the different areas of pressure. There’s a platform design for both neutral runners and overpronators.
A lightweight construction and low-profile sole make the GELSUPER J33 a great second shoe for marathon training, ideal for speedwork.
training programmes and get info on the gear they selected at store day at runnersworld.co.uk/asicstarget262. For more information about ASICS running lab services, contact the store on 020 7629 0154.
COACH STEVE SMYTHE
‘We’ve discussed what races Roger and Malcolm are doing, what races they need to be doing and where they do their training. As far as possible, they’ll follow the same schedules that we have on the RW website, so there’s common ground. The key session for each is the long run – all the training has to be built around that.’ COACH SAM MURPHY
‘Gareth is starting from a baseline of not having run properly for a while. Isabel is in a very good position to run a sub-4:30 and she has loads of surfaces to run on where she lives near Regent’s Park in London. James’s main challenge is time and juggling everything. He’s a teacher so has lots of surfaces available to train on at his school, which is great.’
PROMOTION
TARGET
5 is the magic number A
MEET OUR FINAL FIVE
fter 2,600 applications, 46 hopefuls at bootcamp, 20 shortlisted runners and one busy week of furious campaigning by our final few late last year, our spring marathon training dream team was chosen. Meet Roger, Malcolm, James, Isabel and Gareth, who’ll be gunning for marathon glory at the Paris Marathon this April. And what does every marathon runner need at the start of a marathon journey? The right gear. Back in late December, our fab five joined us at the ASICS flagship store in London to get kitted out. How did it feel to be picked for the team? ‘I was gobsmacked,’ says Malcolm. ‘I got through to the final stages last year and I was so disappointed not to make it, so to have another chance is just brilliant.’ James was amazed at the support he received on Twitter: ‘I had my campaign tweets being retweeted by people over six continents. Ultra trail
MIX UP YOUR MARATHON TRAINING THE ASICS GEL-SUPER J33 IS A NEW NATURAL RUNNING SHOE FROM ASICS DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY FOR OVERPRONATORS
BUY THE ASICS GEL-SUPER J33 AT ASICS.CO.UK
runners in California I’ve followed for years retweeted my messages and their followers did the same, so it was very special for me.’
Like kids in a sweet shop… Team Target are let loose on a shopping spree at the ASICS flagship store in London
TESTING TIMES
First up for the day is an ASICS Foot ID test to help the runners select the right shoes to suit their running form. ‘We take a three dimensional footstamp of the athlete’s foot length, width and arch height, so we can see what sort of support they might need,’ explains Andrew Tew, running services manager at ASICS. ‘This gives us an indication of whether they under- or over-pronate, and then we do a dynamic test on the treadmill using cameras, where we can clearly confirm external or internal rotation of the foot.’ ‘The gait analysis showed that I was overpronating quite a lot more than I thought I was, so I’ve gone for the ASICS Gel-Kayano shoe, which contains more support and will hopefully stop my overpronation,’ says James. Next up is an advanced body composition test, which outputs a bumper spreadsheet of data on the physiological make-up of our runners. In particular, fat mass and muscle mass calculations could unlock the secrets
to a PB in Paris for our final five. For Gareth, losing visceral fat – the hidden fat around the organs of the body – could be the key to success in his first marathon: ‘I hold more muscle and less fat than the average 5ft 8in man, but I’ve got a lot of visceral fat around my organs that I need to lose,’ he tells us. Meanwhile, Roger’s test revealed a discrepancy in strength from one side to the other: ‘I was a squash player for 30 years so I have much more muscle bulk on the right side than the left, so I’ve been given a few exercises to strengthen up glutes, improve quad strength and other areas on my left side,’ Roger explains.
ROGER REID
MALCOLM BARBOUR
JAMES CARROLL
ISABEL ABOS
GARETH EDMONDSON
Marathon PB: 3:01:36 Target: sub-3:00
Marathon PB: 3:33 Target: sub-3:30
Marathon PB: first timer Target: sub-4:00
Marathon PB: first timer Target: sub-4:30
Marathon PB: first timer. Target: sub-5:00
CHANGING GEAR
Now for the fun bit: shopping for new kit. Andrew explains the hows and whys of technical gear: ‘Technical fabric takes moisture away from the skin. In cold weather especially, it’s not the outside temperature that’s going to make you cold, it’s the moisture that facilitates the spread of the cold from the outside to the skin. A layering system – something that takes the moisture away as well as something to protect you from the outside – will keep you warm and dry.’ How many layers should you wear? ‘It depends on how cold it is outside and personal preference, but a general rule of
GET INVOLVED
Meet the runners you voted to win our spring marathon training project and discover the essential kit for your own training
26.2
THE RUNNER'S WORLD MARATHON CHALLENGE
thumb is for every five degree drop, put another layer on,’ he advises. The day ends with the runners meeting their coaches, who will devise a bespoke training plan for them for the next 16 weeks. ‘Before you write a programme for someone you need to find out the nitty gritty of where they really are – what their current mileage is, when they ran their most recent long run, for example,’ says coach Sam Murphy. So, how are our five runners faring through the highs and lows of marathon training? Find out in their spring marathon forum thread on the RW website! You can also download their
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR FINAL FIVE AT RUNNERSWORLD.CO.UK/ASICSTARGET262 DOWNLOAD: MY ASICS TRAINING APP FOLLOW US AT #ASICS262
NATURAL RUNNING
LESS IS MORE
Using the ASICS revolutionary FluidAxis technology, based around the subtalar joint, the GELSUPER J33 allows the foot to move naturally.
While the GELSUPER J33 features less structure than the GEL-KAYANO, the stable FluidAxis platform technology offers the structure that overpronating runners need.
GEARED UP FOR YOUR GAIT
THE PERFECT SECOND SHOE
The shoe adapts to the movement of the foot, recognising the different areas of pressure. There’s a platform design for both neutral runners and overpronators.
A lightweight construction and low-profile sole make the GELSUPER J33 a great second shoe for marathon training, ideal for speedwork.
training programmes and get info on the gear they selected at store day at runnersworld.co.uk/asicstarget262. For more information about ASICS running lab services, contact the store on 020 7629 0154.
COACH STEVE SMYTHE
‘We’ve discussed what races Roger and Malcolm are doing, what races they need to be doing and where they do their training. As far as possible, they’ll follow the same schedules that we have on the RW website, so there’s common ground. The key session for each is the long run – all the training has to be built around that.’ COACH SAM MURPHY
‘Gareth is starting from a baseline of not having run properly for a while. Isabel is in a very good position to run a sub-4:30 and she has loads of surfaces to run on where she lives near Regent’s Park in London. James’s main challenge is time and juggling everything. He’s a teacher so has lots of surfaces available to train on at his school, which is great.’
