4 Athletes - 4 Marathons Diary Week 1
Aug 07, 2023
Marathon Diary Week 1
Four very different athletes take on a marathon this Autumn all with completely different goals under the guidance of Coach Tune. Each week we will provide you with an athlete summary of their training week and their personal thoughts on how the week went and compare this is to Coach Tune’s account of their week. Both sides of the story are anonymous.
This first post is a super long one but bear with us as they will get shorter but I think it is important to put some content behind each individual to begin with.
First up is our very own Jenny Blizard and in her words to begin:
Yorkshire marathon will be my first marathon for 12 years. Over the next few months i shall go into further detail about the reasons for doing another marathon and my marathon history but for now let's just say this one is a "get round in a reasonable time, injury free, build up a base and hopefully want to do another!"
This week we used the opportunity of house sitting for my brother on the Isle of Arran to increase the mileage knowing that with plenty of rest, no work, no stress that this is a very doable short term with the benefit of elevating fitness.
Plenty of very easy miles, a faster paced session, some strides and the main focus of the week, my longest run in 12 years!! It went surprisingly well. Anyone who knows me understands that i do not like long runs. It is amazing though once you have your mind set on a goal that you actually want to do, the runs just happen with minimal moaning. This one was a challenge in itself being the longest with 6 miles at marathon heart rate. When we got to the coastal road where we were running out and back every 3 miles (6 mile loop in total) and stopping for drinks every 3 mile, the wind was an absolute b***h! This is where I feel the benefits of heart rate training are shown. Sticking to the heart rate rather than chasing a pace meant the effort was even the whole way.
Overall the week went really well, biggest volume week since February (Portugal training camp) and the biggest plus is keen to continue!
Summary of week's training below.
MON Easy run 8m, 8.06 min/mil HR ave 138
TUES AM Easy run 10m, 7.58 min/mil HR ave 137. PM Easy run 3m, 8.04 min/mil HR 134, then some strides on grass
WED Session of W/UP 2m+ strides then 6*3mins at 10k effort, 2m C/D. Total 7m.
THURS AM Easy run 8m, 7.54 min/mil HR ave 134. PM Easy run 3m, 7.59 min/miles, HR ave 128, then some grass strides
FRI Long run 21m at 7.28 min/miles with 6 m at marathon HR 153-158 ave 6.44 min/miles. Practicing fuelling/hydration
SAT Easy run of 8m, 8min/miles, HR ave 135
SUN Easy run of 8m, 7.45 min/miles incorporating 6x 20 sec strides
Weekly Totals 78 miles. 1 x long run, 1 x session, 3 x strides, 70 mins yoga, 60 mins of S&C, 1 x back cracking from Dave! 1 x sauna. (800 miles of driving, x2 ferry crossings, 5 films, loads of walking 
)
)Next up is Keri Pearson running Frankfurt:
Week Beginning 24th July - 14 weeks to go
Monday - Rest day - day of travelling and a 4.30am alarm, had time for a run once I arrived but planned to be sensible and rest to start the week ahead feeling fresh the next day.
Tuesday - AM 9.3 miles in 75 mins
Any ego soon has to disappear on any easy runs here in France due to the elevation or your quads suffer the consequences. Easy miles ticked off and started to feel the brain switch off and relax, from previous weeks stresses.
PM - 4.3 miles in 35 mins
First double day in France, again super easy miles, followed by 30 mins mobility.
Wednesday - AM 8 x 800m off 2mins
Dave had put 2 sessions to choose from in my TP to give me some flexibility, & I chose the one above. I quite like being given the autonomy to decide which one whilst still being guided. Its a fine balance to strike, but one that proved successful as the session went really well. I possibly started too conservatively, but a great confidence booster to finish strong. Reps - 2.56, 2.54, 2.52, 2.52, 2.51, 2.49, 2.49, 2.48)
PM - 4 miles in 32 mins (30 min class from the online platform, written out prior due to internet!)
Thursday - AM 7 miles in 60 mins
Day spent in a water park!
PM 3 miles in 25 mins off road - Legs felt better as the day went on
Friday - AM 4.1 miles in 35 mins
Very easy day planned, legs feeling the benefit of last nights off road run
PM 4.6 miles in 35 mins inc 4 x 30 strides
Tried out a new route along the canal in advance of my long run as last years session/long run on the elevation was hard!
Legs have recovered well 
Saturday - AM 20 miles in 2.26
Out and back for 10 miles along the Bourgogne Canal, first 10 miles felt really smooth and easy, and I realised I had made a school boy error of running the 10 miles out slightly downhill with a back wind, the return 10 took a little more effort and included 3miles at marathon effort. Really pleased to get the first 20 banked and even more pleased with the guy at the cafe who spoke English and handed me a Sanpellegrino when I finished.
PM Core conditioning 30 mins
Sunday - AM 9.6 miles in 77 mins
Tried out a new route, hilly but loved it and kept super easy.
PM 3 miles in 24 mins off road
Personally pleased with the week of training and how the body has responded. I believe we have struck the balance well between managing end of term tiredness and physical training to ensure I was in a good place at this point.
Matthew Hamer running Berlin:
So Monday/Tuesday I had just come back from a festival and it was my birthday.
Wednesday I knew it was important to get some speed work in so I did 50mins with 30mins at threshold.
Friday I did 30mins easy running ready for a big weekend of training.
Saturday, it all went downhill due to a personal issue, although a lot is still up in the air it has had a negative impact on training. There’s a lot to think about and unpack.
From a running point of view I’ve tried to remain mindful of not over eating and still going out and walking the dog to not completely go off the rails. Just trying to do little things to stay active. But i’ve yet to return to training.
Mentally i’ve already shifted my mindset from Berlin being about enjoyment instead of performance, but every week is different. So who knows where we will end up.
Lee Milburn running the Yorkshire:
Last week marked the start of the school holidays so training has switched focus to volume and lots of it.
I use heart rate as a real focus in terms of progress. I can see towards the end of the week my recovery runs were generally getting quicker for the same effort as my body adjusts to double days and more mileage.
I introduced a little of MP efforts to see how my body would cope alongside the volume. Moving forward I will hope to shift more of my miles towards this sort of effort. Lots of fun despite the weather and lots of the training group being away.
Coach Tune's view on the team and the first week of marathon training:
Taking them in turn I witnessed first hand what Jenny Blizard was doing in Arran and although delighted with her week of training I feel she is in too much of a rush to get everything just right when the relatity is she is currently in a good place and the Yorkshire marathon is all about getting one under her belt having not raced a marathon for over a decade!
Keri has had a week training over in France while on holiday visiting her mum and as we joined her out there a couple of years ago I know just how hilly it is in that part of France so speed was not an issue on her runs and a week of getting volume in was the remit she executed perfectly.
Matthew Hamer is doing the Berlin marathon and his is the shortest lead time we have going into a marathon.
Matt has had a tough week and my main advice to him was just to try and get out when he could and be as consistent as possible at this stage. Often when stressed some physical exercise is all that is needed to take a crap day and turn it into just a bit of a bad day. Supporting Matt is my focus not setting fancy sessions.
Lee Milburn is doing the Yorkshire marathon along with Jenny Blizard.
As a school teacher those final few weeks of term are stressful before breaking up for summer and my concern with Lee this week is that he has thrown himself into higher volume too quickly and that it is unsustainable and trying to keep a lid on him is my focus over the next few weeks as Lee gets very fit very quickly.
All in all a great start to their "marathon season" and a shorter update next week I promise!
