Nike Run Club coach Karl helped The National's Ashleigh Stewart get ready for the RAK half marathon in three weeks
Nike Run Club coach Karl helped The National's Ashleigh Stewart get ready for the RAK half marathon in three weeks
Nike Run Club coach Karl helped The National's Ashleigh Stewart get ready for the RAK half marathon in three weeks
Nike Run Club coach Karl helped The National's Ashleigh Stewart get ready for the RAK half marathon in three weeks

Can you train for a half marathon in three weeks? Why, yes, you can


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Signing up for a half-­marathon with three weeks’ notice isn’t exactly conventional. Running-training 101 states that the most important preparation for any kind of long-distance race is a slow and well-managed plan that helps you gradually build up your endurance over a matter of months.

So three weeks before the UAE’s premier 21.1-kilometre race, the Ras Al Khaimah Half Marathon (which took place last Friday), when Nike Running challenged me to take part on the premise that one of its coaches would help whip me into shape, I must have been feeling particularly ambitious to agree. Disclaimer: I’ve run long distances before. Though I’m not naturally a runner, I’ve run several half-marathons and three marathons (my most recent being Abu Dhabi Marathon in December), so I’m not a complete novice. But I had also taken the last three months off most forms of exercise, so while you could argue “muscle memory”, I could counter that with “too much cheese, bread and complete inactivity”.

Enter coach Karl

Luckily, coach Karl (who is actually a pacer for Nike, but my own personal coach in this instance) was up for the task. He chalked me up a three-week training plan and away we went. I was surprised to see that most of my plan involved speed and tempo work – and only a couple of long-distance runs. Surely that was contradictory to what we were trying to achieve here, I thought. But as it turned out, this attention to speed work was about to help me knock six minutes off my half-marathon personal best on race day.

It was the first time I'd had a running coach, mostly due to personal resistance. I don't like running with other people because I find it intimidating, and I've never been particularly fast. But Karl was encouraging and positive about my progress, and I could feel myself improving after only a few sessions in and I was surprised at what I could do if I actually pushed myself. The day we completed a sprint session at a pretty consistent 3.45-minute pace, I thought my Apple watch was lying to me. And then, I was a convert.

The secret, from what I can tell, is to always keep your body guessing. Whereas my training has historically consisted of one speed run per week, here we were switching it up completely: some days were straight sprints, some days were longer runs but at a faster pace. Regardless of what they involved, the sessions were never longer than five or six kilometres. Again, this seemed to go against everything I knew about long-distance running. However, coach Karl was adamant that this would pay off.

Race day ready

Come race day, I'd notched up one 15km run, a couple of others of more than 10km, and a handful of speed runs. I felt incredibly unprepared. But having done marathons in the past, my perception of two hours of running had become more surmountable. So I thought I'd throw caution to the wind here and at least try for a new personal best – each of my previous half-marathons had been run at an almost identical time of an hour and 51 minutes.

I started out at RAK by sticking to a pace of five-minute kilometres, which I figured I could maintain for at least half the race, and then just do whatever I could to finish. Instead, when my trusty watch bleeped when I got to the 10km mark, I was surprised to still be feeling fine, and so I continued on. In the end, I ran a pretty consistent race that varied between 4.38 and 5.05 minutes per kilometre. I finished in one hour and 45 minutes, shaving a whole six minutes off my personal best. I was ecstatic – I'd never even run a 5km race that fast. I asked Karl to never leave me.

As part of the Nike challenge, we were also charged with trying out the brand’s new React Infinity shoes. Given that these are designed to prevent injury, I wasn’t exactly convinced when I wore them the first time as I ran over an uneven tile on the marina boardwalk and rolled my ankle. It had little to do with the shoes, sure, but it did seem an unfortunate omen. In the end, the shoes themselves were light and extremely comfortable to run in, but the real game-changer was the personalised and tailor-made training plan. If you’re serious about running, I’d argue that there’s simply no better way to improve.

I’m not about to start advocating for three-week training plans to become the norm, but sometimes less really can be more – and now there’s no excuse not to sign up for a race that’s just around the corner.

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?

The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.

A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.

Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.

The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.

When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.

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Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
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Red flags
  • Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
  • Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
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  • Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
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Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Indoor cricket in a nutshell

Indoor Cricket World Cup – Sep 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side

8 There are eight players per team

There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.

5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls

Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs

B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run

Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs

Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dhadak 2

Director: Shazia Iqbal

Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri 

Rating: 1/5

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Key figures in the life of the fort

Sheikh Dhiyab bin Isa (ruled 1761-1793) Built Qasr Al Hosn as a watchtower to guard over the only freshwater well on Abu Dhabi island.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Dhiyab (ruled 1793-1816) Expanded the tower into a small fort and transferred his ruling place of residence from Liwa Oasis to the fort on the island.

Sheikh Tahnoon bin Shakhbut (ruled 1818-1833) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further as Abu Dhabi grew from a small village of palm huts to a town of more than 5,000 inhabitants.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Shakhbut (ruled 1833-1845) Repaired and fortified the fort.

Sheikh Saeed bin Tahnoon (ruled 1845-1855) Turned Qasr Al Hosn into a strong two-storied structure.

Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa (ruled 1855-1909) Expanded Qasr Al Hosn further to reflect the emirate's increasing prominence.

Sheikh Shakhbut bin Sultan (ruled 1928-1966) Renovated and enlarged Qasr Al Hosn, adding a decorative arch and two new villas.

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan (ruled 1966-2004) Moved the royal residence to Al Manhal palace and kept his diwan at Qasr Al Hosn.

Sources: Jayanti Maitra, www.adach.ae

The five pillars of Islam
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Family reunited

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was born and raised in Tehran and studied English literature before working as a translator in the relief effort for the Japanese International Co-operation Agency in 2003.

She moved to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies before moving to the World Health Organisation as a communications officer.

She came to the UK in 2007 after securing a scholarship at London Metropolitan University to study a master's in communication management and met her future husband through mutual friends a month later.

The couple were married in August 2009 in Winchester and their daughter was born in June 2014.

She was held in her native country a year later.

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The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

War 2

Director: Ayan Mukerji

Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana

Rating: 2/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
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Retirement funds heavily invested in equities at a risky time

Pension funds in growing economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East have a sharply higher percentage of assets parked in stocks, just at a time when trade tensions threaten to derail markets.

Retirement money managers in 14 geographies now allocate 40 per cent of their assets to equities, an 8 percentage-point climb over the past five years, according to a Mercer survey released last week that canvassed government, corporate and mandatory pension funds with almost $5 trillion in assets under management. That compares with about 25 per cent for pension funds in Europe.

The escalating trade spat between the US and China has heightened fears that stocks are ripe for a downturn. With tensions mounting and outcomes driven more by politics than economics, the S&P 500 Index will be on course for a “full-scale bear market” without Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, Citigroup’s global macro strategy team said earlier this week.

The increased allocation to equities by growth-market pension funds has come at the expense of fixed-income investments, which declined 11 percentage points over the five years, according to the survey.

Hong Kong funds have the highest exposure to equities at 66 per cent, although that’s been relatively stable over the period. Japan’s equity allocation jumped 13 percentage points while South Korea’s increased 8 percentage points.

The money managers are also directing a higher portion of their funds to assets outside of their home countries. On average, foreign stocks now account for 49 per cent of respondents’ equity investments, 4 percentage points higher than five years ago, while foreign fixed-income exposure climbed 7 percentage points to 23 per cent. Funds in Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan are among those seeking greater diversification in stocks and fixed income.

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Hotel Silence
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Pushkin Press

Profile

Company: Libra Project

Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware

Launch year: 2017

Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time

Sector: Renewable energy

Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE. 

Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

 

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TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)

What is THAAD?

It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.

Production:

It was created in 2008.

Speed:

THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.

Abilities:

THAAD is designed to take out  ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".

Purpose:

To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.

Range:

THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.

Creators:

Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.

UAE and THAAD:

In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.

'Brazen'

Director: Monika Mitchell

Starring: Alyssa Milano, Sam Page, Colleen Wheeler

Rating: 3/5

Long read

Mageed Yahia, director of WFP in UAE: Coronavirus knows no borders, and neither should the response

RACECARD

6pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 1 (PA) $50,000 (Dirt) 1,600m
6.35pm: Festival City Stakes – Conditions (TB) $60,000 (D) 1,200m
7.10pm: Dubai Racing Club Classic – Listed (TB) $100,000 (Turf) 2,410m
7.45pm: Jumeirah Classic Trial – Conditions (TB) $150,000 (T) 1,400m
8.20pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round-1 – Group 2 (TB) $250,000 (D) 1,600m
8.55pm: Cape Verdi – Group 2 (TB) $180,000 (T) 1,600m
9.30pm: Dubai Dash – Listed (TB) $100,000 (T) 1,000m

U19 WORLD CUP, WEST INDIES

UAE group fixtures (all in St Kitts)
Saturday 15 January: v Canada
Thursday 20 January: v England
Saturday 22 January: v Bangladesh

UAE squad
Alishan Sharafu (captain), Shival Bawa, Jash Giyanani, Sailles Jaishankar, Nilansh Keswani, Aayan Khan, Punya Mehra, Ali Naseer, Ronak Panoly, Dhruv Parashar, Vinayak Raghavan, Soorya Sathish, Aryansh Sharma, Adithya Shetty, Kai Smith

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting 

2. Prayer 

3. Hajj 

4. Shahada 

5. Zakat 

88 Video's most popular rentals

Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.  

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Lucifer: is a 2019 Malayalam-language action film. It dives into the gritty world of Kerala’s politics and has become one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.

The 15 players selected

Muzzamil Afridi, Rahman Gul, Rizwan Haider (Dezo Devils); Shahbaz Ahmed, Suneth Sampath (Glory Gladiators); Waqas Gohar, Jamshaid Butt, Shadab Ahamed (Ganga Fighters); Ali Abid, Ayaz Butt, Ghulam Farid, JD Mahesh Kumara (Hiranni Heros); Inam Faried, Mausif Khan, Ashok Kumar (Texas Titans

Tips to keep your car cool
  • Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
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  • Add tint to windows
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