Client Case Study: Preparing to Run the London Marathon

In April 2023 one of my friends messaged me to say she had secured a charity place to run the London Marathon. She asked me if I would train her, knowing I enjoy running, that I am a qualified running coach and Personal Trainer. I jumped at the chance to be able to support her and we started her training very soon afterwards. Running the London Marathon was a big challenge both physically and mentally, the main priority was that she needed to be able to run the distance injury-free.

We started to come up with a plan and decided that we would run together most Sundays.  At this stage, we had already been working together for a while and I knew her fitness and strength levels. We started by running 5 to 10 kilometres but I knew we soon needed to increase the distances, luckily we had plenty of time to prepare.  

Planning

I sat down to plan the structure of our sessions. I made sure that each session would focus on strength training to support the increasing distance over the months ahead. I planned a focus on balance work for increased core stability; when we were road running going up hills for calf strength, power and overall leg strength; and finally core stability around the pelvis to reduce the risk of injury around the ankles and knees.

An example workout:

• Single leg balance on wobble board.
• Kettlebell swings.
• Lunges on TRX.
• Resistance band squat and lateral walks.
• Single-leg balancing wood chops.
• Weighted calf raises.
• Inchworm walkouts.
• Pilates style abdominals, pelvic tilts, crunched leg lowers, walking out in plank.

Running for longer

I looked at Chantal’s baseline distance, we knew she could run relatively easily, the distance she wanted to run before the marathon and worked out progressive distance increases for our Sunday long runs. I spread them out over the months so that the increases were sensible, and because we had time, we alternated between progressive distance increases and medium-length distances.

Once we had a plan of distances to complete over the time we had, we made sure we did a few events along the way. The main one was the Great South Run in October. This is a flat 10-mile run and was a great focus for our training over the summer. This worked well to give us a really solid base in her fitness. Doing interim events is a great way to break up your training, especially if you are used to shorter distances and to help get used to event nerves.

Testing Phase

From October to March, we used our Sunday long runs to test out the practicality of what to wear to minimise chafing and what to take with us. We tested out:

• How to carry water bottles.
• What worked best for mid-run snacks, and hydration tablets in our water. We ended up carrying two bottles, one straight water and one with an electrolyte in it.
• Different pre-run fuelling, we found a big bowl of porridge just over an hour before we ran worked best.
• Whether having a waistcoat or a bumbag was the best way to carry water and snacks.
• If we also needed sunglasses or layers.
• Our wearable tech, watches and earphones, considering how long the charge lasted for.
• The best socks and trainers to wear.

Challenges we overcame

As we got into February and the distances increased, finding routes to run got harder as we were now covering quite a distance. We found that running the same routes was not as entertaining as it once was, so we used tools like Map My Run and Strava to get ideas for longer loops to add.

We had to find ways to overcome occasional boredom on the runs that were over 2.5 hours, chatting helped but got harder as we got tired. Interestingly, music helped a lot on the shorter runs but on the longer runs it got tedious, in the end, we found we turned it off and just used our playlists as a boost in those moments when it felt hard. In these moments it became obvious that having a running partner was helpful as we problem-solved together. Having an extended support crew to cheerlead us on and feed us after we finished the long runs was invaluable.

As the distance increased it became clear that being realistic about pace was important. The pace we could hold for a 10-mile run was different to what we did on a 16-mile run for example.  We had to slow our pace and ration our energy.

The best bits

The best bit was without a doubt the sense of achievement at the end of the longer runs, completing distances we had never run before. On more than one occasion we commented in disbelief at how far we had come. The delicious food after the long runs was also good, we felt like we had earned it.

Chantal found that having accountability to the charity, their support and stories helped to motivate her when she was feeling tired. On the day of the run, for Chantal, the atmosphere, the support and getting her medal was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. For me watching Chantal come over the finish line made me super proud. We had done it!

Testimonial from Chantal

“I asked Sara if she would support me in training for the London Marathon. Sara listened to my concerns, checked in after training runs and adjusted exercises as necessary. Her attention and encouragement meant I had increased confidence and less anxiety going into the race. She helped me to prepare so well that I was virtually pain-free following the race. Sara’s dedication ensured I had the right programme to strengthen my legs and body to take on the challenge. I have no hesitation in recommending Sara to anyone thinking of training for a race or who just wants to build strength and keep fit.”

Chantal – London Marathon finisher.

If you have ever wanted to take on a run, walk, cycle or hike to challenge yourself and you would like support in realising your goal, please get in touch to see how I could help.