The complete idiots guide to VLM 2010 training, blogged by 'an idiot'. by chrislee_88

..to one and all! The time of the year were we all actively try to look like death. Before I allow people to start tearing my old clothes to pieces i think it'll be a good time to tell everyone how i've started my training.

Before I found out that I was running the VLM my running days were few and far between, mostly involving maybe 2-3 days of short runs a week. Thankfully the VLM acceptance has been a bullet in the backside and has given me a nice boost in motivation. I'm now back up to the distances that I was doing a year back from the Manchester Run with around 23 miles/week and long runs of 7-8 miles.

I decided to go out and buy my winter running clothing last week. Long-sleeve top, coat and tights, the usual winter stuff. But then i found myself looking at gadgets and, to cut a long story short, ended up buying a Garmin days after. It was the most i've spent on running stuff in one go but the Forerunner 305 is the best gadget i have bought! I'm not really used to it all yet but I have started to understand were my weak points lay; especially going too fast in the 2nd quarter!

I really would highly recommend a GPS watch. They might cost a lot (the 305 cost me £132 from Amazon. Free delivery - came next day, God knows how long it round of taken 1st class) but they are really worth it. I can't vouch for it but Nike+ sounds like a great alternative if you dont want to fork out the money.