Hello Amazing Beginners!
As I start to write this, you are just finishing the winter 10K.  It looks like the weather was kind to you – cool, no rain.  I hope you all had fun and got to experience what being in an adrenalin-fueled crowd is like.  We can’t wait to hear all about it on Thursday!

This email is going to be a bit long – sorry – so please bear with me and read as much as you can.

New Shoes?
If you are feeling like your shoes are getting old, NOW is the time to replace them.  You want to be able to fully break them in before the race.  Don’t feel that you have to get new shoes – if you are feeling good in yours, it’s fine.  You just don’t want to get new ones a week or two before the race.  When I get new shoes, I generally run a shorter run in them first just to make sure they don’t give me any problems.  I’ve definitely had shoes in the past that throw me off a little and cause some niggles.  They always break in, but it takes time and you want to make sure they are fully broken in by the race.

Tuesday’s Run
I know Tamar has already told you but take it easy on this Tuesday’s run.  You will want to get out there, but run for just 30 minutes and run SLOWLY!  The purpose of Tuesday’s run is to just get your legs moving a bit.  You have a long run on Thursday and with today’s race, you don’t want to push your muscles too much.

Next week – ASL break week
Next week is a rest week to let your body recover from the work it has been doing to build up your muscles.  The schedule has you running 60 minutes on Thursday.  You’re also supposed to now be running 60 minutes on Tuesday.  If you can’t run because you’re off on a ski slope, it’s OK.  But if you can, try to get a least a couple of runs in even if only for 30 minutes.  I will be here over break and would be happy to run with anyone who would like to on Thursday – just let me know.

This week – gels!
This week we are going to try gels on the run.  Gels are basically carbohydrates to give you body some extra fuel during the race.  For the most part, we train in a way to teach our body to use fat as a fuel.  Fat is easier to access as an energy source and requires less fine-tuning in terms of timing carb intake during exercise.  Our bodies have about 1000-1200 “easy access” calories available which will get most ladies about 10-11 miles (depending on their weight and fitness level).  After that we will use gels (carbs) to fuel that last 2-3 miles of the half-marathon.  We, your coaches, will tell you when you should take the gel.  We will plan to use them on our longer runs going forward so we get used to taking them – we don’t want anything “new” on race day to throw us off!  On Thursday, we will bring a bunch of gels that you can sample.  You can try different flavors and brands and decide what you like (it may be helpful to keep the packet if you like it so you remember it).  Then you can buy some either online or at running stores.  In general, gels don’t taste great but they will either give you a boost after about 6 – 8 minutes or, if you’re like me, they will keep you from losing energy.
Some of the gels we have are called isotonic and have more liquid so you may not need water with them.  Others are more like the consistency of jam and you’ll want water to wash it down.  So please please bring your water with you.

Places to buy gels:
Runners Need stores or runnersneed.com (individual GU, SIS, TORQ, Shot Bloks, sport jelly beans)
sweatshop.co.uk  (you can buy individual GU gels here)
amazon.co.uk  (may only be available in boxes but you could share with others in the group)
wiggle.co.uk