Specialist Sub 3:30 marathon and first time finisher coach

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Specialist Sub 3:30 marathon and first time finisher coach

Learn More
Hire

Specialist Sub 3:30 marathon and first time finisher coach

Learn More
Hire

Your shortcut to success

Running a marathon is an amazing goal and achievement – regardless of how you complete it. Only a tiny fraction of the world’s population ever completes one.

A marathon is simple to do but not necessarily easy to achieve. Your body and mind will be pushed beyond their comfort zones to achieve this goal and those challenges need to be gradually introduced and adapted to.

My specialty is helping people break the 3:30 finish time and those who are looking to complete their first marathon.

Coaching will help you achieve your marathon goal quicker, safer, and healthier, with optimum effort and all of the guesswork removed.

Marathon training can be a rewarding but lonely journey. I’m here for you and ready to champion you all the way to the finish line if you need me.

“Just doing the runs can be enough to think about”

If you think that having my planning, support, guidance, expertise, and experience to get you to the finish line might be for you then just reach out, let’s have a chat and see if we can work a plan to get you that marathon goal.
Contact!

“It won’t be for everyone!”

If you prefer to do your training without a plan or working from a generalised plan you got online then that’s totally fine too. Plenty of people have done marathons this way and been very successful. Get as much info as you can from my website, Instagram and the many other sources out there, avoid as many of the mistakes as you can that commonly happen in training and/or race day and have a blast in your preparation and marathon challenge. I’m still routing for you to have a great race and hit your goal regardless of whether we work together or not.

Why you might want me as your coach and no 1 supporter

You can do this on your own, no doubt – coaching is the shortcut to success

Some of the key benefits of working with me include:

1) Minimising your risk of injury on your journey – these risks increase exponentially as your running volume does – especially in the last 8 to 10 weeks before your big race. Risks include:
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Investing in a coach can minimise the time you spend on the physio treatment table.

     It will protect you from overtraining (which leads to a higher risk of injury and burnout) as your body doesn’t have enough time to adapt to the stress you put it under in the harder session and to grow stronger.

     Extra motivation – some days you just won’t want to run, that’s life. And if you don’t it won’t be the end of the world…there are 2 yardsticks I use for you to decide if you should run, even though you don’t feel like it.

Everything is taken care of - you focus on the runs

     All the thinking done for you – just get out there and do the runs.

     Benefiting from your coaches experience – miss out many of the mistakes that can hamper your performance.

     You will know exactly when to push harder to get that growth we are looking for and less likely to bailout or miss these sessions.

     Nutrition is a key element of completing the marathon successfully and there are many pitfalls here to avoid. While I don’t have all the answers, I do have many general pointers to guide you to figuring out what works for your running.

     Pacing and strategy for your race day – often people deprive themselves of the performance their training deserves by their pace in the first ¼ of the marathon and find themselves clinging on for dear life to the finish line in the last ¼ – that’s where the race really begins.

     An objective view – having a coach means someone is looking at your whole program with an objective, wholistic view and keeping the big picture in mind.

Plans

A man with a plan (for you!)

I will be there for you as much as you need to get you to that marathon goal.

Entry One to One

  • A personalised plan built around the days you can train, suitable for your running history and bespoke to your target time.
  • Workouts synced to Training Peaks so you can download to your watch and just follow along.
  • Monthly Call to check in on progress, review performance and get feedback.
  • Training schedule released monthly in advance.
  • Advice on injury prevention.
  • Stride analysis (requires someone to video you running).

£14.00 /week

Advanced One to One

  • Upgraded to weekly calls to check in on progress, review performance and get feedback.
  • Bespoke Strength plan.
  • Training program released weekly in advance.
  • Further Reduced price for lactate testing, running together, PT and TRX sessions.
  • Option to run the marathon with you.

£27.00 /week

Standard One to One

Everything on the entry plan plus….
  • Upgraded to bi-weekly calls to check in on progress, review performance and get feedback.
  • Unlimited Q&A (WhatsApp and email).
  • Nutritional & Hydration advice.
  • Race Day Strategies.
  • Help with training the mind for race day.
  • Advice on Race day equipment.
  • Option to run sessions together.
  • Training program released bi weekly in advance.
  • Reduced price for lactate testing, running together, PT and TRX sessions.

£20.00 /week

In person run sessions together – as well as one to one support you may benefit from having someone run particular runs with you – to carry nutrition for you, get your pacing right or just motivate you to get it done – from £40.00 per session (regardless of length of run) or £160.00 for a block of 5 sessions – I’m based near Lincoln.

Run the marathon with you – If you are an advanced one to one client you can also have me run your marathon with you side by side – holding nutrition, getting the pacing right, extra motivation – price is to cover costs of the race entry, travel and any accommodation required.

Lactate testing – determine your marathon pace with blood testing – from £65.00 per session – normally only 1 session required in a marathon prep block.

Run Strength, TRX and PT Sessions – these personal training sessions can be done online or in person and will last up to 60 minutes each. From £30.00 per session or a block of 5 for £130.00

.

Entry One to One
Standard One to One
Advanced One to One
Price

£14.00

/week

£14.00

/week

£14.00

/week
Run plan on Training Peaks – sync with watch
Check in

Once per month

Bi weekly

Weekly

Contact

-

Unlimited Q&A

Unlimited Q&A

Plan Adjustments
(if needed)

Monthly

Bi weekly

Weekly

Lactate
Testing
£75.00 Per
Session

£70.00 Per
Session

£65.00 Per
Session

Training Runs
together

-

£40.00 per session,
£185.00 for block of 5
£40.00 per session,
£170.00 for block of 5
Run your
marathon with you

-

-

Will require covering the costs of the race entry, travel and any accommodation required.

PT/TRX
Sessions

£35.00 per session,
£155.00 for block of 5

£30.00 per session,
£145.00 for block of 5

£30.00 per session,
£130.00 for block of 5

My training philosophy & Programs overview

Training blocks include a longer base period where volume of running is the main focus (8 to 10 weeks), a peak period where we introduce some speed and strength running work (7 to 8 weeks) and a final preparation block (3 weeks) where you reduce volume but keep some intensity in order to be ready for race day.


Before starting a specific plan, you should have long runs of approximately 10 miles or 16k and your weekly volume should be at least 25 miles or 40k per week for the preceding 4 weeks.

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A wholistic approach

There are many factors that go into creating a success plan for you to execute and these are discussed during our initial session. Some of the main ones include:

1) Your main outcome goal which is often a time-based objective, especially if you have completed other marathons. Your goal time doesn’t want to be too far-reaching otherwise it will be too difficult to hit, you can become unmotivated through the long hours each week and often end up pushing too hard. Setting a lower target and then adjusting it higher as we go along in response to training performance is a much more rewarding and motivating approach.

2) What the best time of day for you to exercise and how much time have you got each day – some people prefer mornings, some evenings, and others have little choice but to do them during the windows of opportunity that their busy life schedule gives them. Statistically morning exercisers tend to stick to plans better.

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First Time Marathon

This is more than just a run, it’s what you become to push yourself to achieve your goal

Congratulations on wanting to achieve what is still the best known goal in running – completing the marathon. Its an amazing achievement once you cross that finish line and one you will remember for a very long time.

If you aren’t sure you can do this then it’s exactly the right challenge to take on

Completing your first marathon successfully is a balancing act – the priority is to get the volume of running in your legs that you need to conquer the challenge at a rate that your body can tolerate and sustain (without breaking down) for the number of weeks in the buildup.

Consistency is key with training for a marathon - doing the simple things repeatedly

Along the way there are many things to figure out ahead of your race day including:

1) The right pacing for you – challenging but achievable.
2) What nutrition you can tolerate – especially in the second half of your marathon.
3) What sort of course and challenge motivates you – trail, road, adventure, fancy dress, run for charity to name but a few.
4) The best time of year to do your marathon – if you haven’t already picked your event.
5) Mental strategies for when the going gets tough.
6) & what equipment you will need are to name a few.

Working with me lets you focus on your running

I’m here to guide you, taking away all the guesswork so you can focus on running. After an initial chat, I’ll create a personalized plan based on your running history, training availability, fitness level, and race day timeline.

My services include designing your bespoke plan, running with you, and even being by your side on race day to ensure you finish and experience the joy of completing your marathon.

For first-time marathoners, my programs typically last 16 to 18 weeks (ideally 21).

You are amazing — contact me to conquer this fabulous challenge!
Contact!

Breaking 3:30 Marathon

Fast without the faff

When you are ready to progress breaking that 3:30:00 marathon for the first time I have the experience, plan and knowledge to get you there. To complete a marathon in this time works out at an average pace of just less than 8 minutes per mile or 5 minutes per km.

In practice I will train you to run a couple of minutes ahead of your target time as a number of factors can have an impact on the day including:
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Types of run in your week

Easy

Long Run

No Run

Marathon Pace

Tempo/Threshold

Intervals

Strides

Hill Repeats

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Lactate Testing for marathon

Lactate is produced by the body all the time – its used by muscles, the heart, your liver and kidneys. At rest, the levels are relatively low and the body is able to clear it quicker than its produced. However as you exercise the levels rises and eventually at higher intensities the amount of lactate in the blood is greater than the body can clear. This inhibits performance and slows you down.

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My own running history

Steady without being spectacular!

I first started any sort of distance running in about 2010 on the back of being inspired by my wife who did a 10k and later a half marathon. My first 10k run took me 1hr and 12 mins and felt very tough.

Up to that I had done some 5k distances to help me with getting slimmer as by the age of 28 my weight had crept up to 104kg (16st 5/229lbs) and I felt lousy in myself. Fast forward to 2024, healthier eating habits, a much more active lifestyle and I am now 64kg (10st 2/141lbs).
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Case Studies

Faith, experienced runner.

“Sometimes missing your goal is the best thing that can happen”

When I started working with Faith, she had already done a number of marathons and endurance events so had a good background in running.

Her last marathon had been a 3:48 result, her best time to that point and this time she wanted to get under 3:30. While this was an ambitious goal, she followed the 3:30 plan I had set for her.
On the day she ran with the 3:30 pacer. He got his pacing a little wrong and had to speed up in the last 5k to hit 3:30 overall. Faith wasn’t quite able to stay with the pace and narrowly missed her goal time, finishing in 3:30:31. While distraught at the finish line and in the days after, we reset and refocused on going again the following year.

This time Faith had an extra level of ambition, hunger and determination about her and resolved to use the disappointment of last time to spur her on. She blasted her goal time, finishing in 3:16:20 – a result that she was ecstatic with. In hindsight, if she had broken the 3:30 at her first attempt, she probably would have settled for that and not pushed on to achieve the even greater result she did.

Kerry, experienced runner.

“I just want to have one result that I can look back on and be proud of”

Kerry had done a number of marathons and full distance ironman’s before we worked together but not really had a result as yet that she was proud of. With this sort of endurance background, I knew she had the capacity to complete a good marathon. Her best time up to this was 3:52 and while she did a large volume of running each week all of it was an a relatively slow pace.

Our primary goal was to break 3:40 with a secondary goal of getting to 3:30 and to do this we would need in inject some strategic pace work to compliment her good base. On top of that we did the last 5 weekly long runs together and this seemed to lift the level of running that Kerry was able to achieve and her training suggested she could break the 3:30 barrier.

Her marathon run produced an amazing time, finishing in 3:26:22 – still an over 50 female record in her run club. Finally she had achieved what she really wanted, a time and a performance to be proud and one she could look back on for years to come.

Bernie, first time marathon runner.

Bernie had run a couple of 10k distance runs before but not done any running greater than that distance and hadn’t done any running of any kind for a couple of years. Her goal was to complete the Dublin Marathon without stopping ahead of her 40th birthday, which was coming up in a few months and to raise money for a brain tumour charity at the same time.

Before beginning a 16 week plan, I set her a 6 week induction block of running to get her to a level where she could undertake the volume of a full training program.

I did 4 of the long runs with Bernie, to help her with pacing, nutrition & strategy. The first long run session we did together (a training half marathon) was one of the toughest runs she ever had to do and she wanted to give up 3 times but I worked with her on her mental strength to get her through the wall of pain and to complete the run.

Factors that impact performance

Its unlikely you will ever meet a marathon runner who hasn’t made a ton of mistakes in training and in races – after all this seems to be the way we learn most of the time – from the we make, vowing never to do that again – rather than avoiding them in the first place.

That being said, here are a few that if you can minimise/avoid them in your running career they will serve you well:
Starting too quick on race day – its so easy to start quick on your race day – you feel fresh after your tapering and race prep, other people will be going off quicker than the pace you should be running at and you can have crowds cheering you on. You feel amazing! Having the discipline to stick to your pre planned pacing in those early miles will pay dividends in the final 6 miles when you overtake people who haven’t quite got it right on the day. Start slow to steady, finish strong!
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Nutrition

My guiding principles of a successful diet

As much as you can, stick to wholesome foods in your diet.

Consider limiting alcohol, especially during an endurance program such as preparing for a marathon.

The 80/20 rule should apply to nutrition the same as it does to your running – aim for 80% of your calorie intake to be from quality sources, 20% fun foods.

If looking to slim down as part of your training then consider limiting breads, pastas, cereals and potatoes.

Portion control is king – nothing needs to be off limits but all of it should be in moderation.

Don’t let a bad day turn into a bad week, we all have blowouts. Next day get back on it.

Snacking can be a major culprit of excessive calories, trying to have some good foods to hand you can just grab.

Eat last main meal by 7pm ideally and be in bed by 10pm.

Carbs

Glycogen is the form of carbs stored in the body and is the main fuel source you will use on a marathon. However there is a limited supply which will last you for approx 90 mins to 2 hours depending on the intensity you perform at. To extend the time you can perform at you need to top up your stores with calorie intake – typically using gels, bars, bananas, sweets, cereal bars, drinks etc. It’s fairly common to suffer stomach distress taking on board these calories later in endurance workouts and intensive activities so you do need to practice what will work for you.
Depleted Glycogen levels will take up to 48 hours to replenish. After a carb depleting workout it’s important to eat quality carbs as soon as possible – for me kidney beans, rice, beetroot and bananas are favourites.

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Looking after yourself

Balance in life is important and taking onboard a marathon will impact that to some degree for most people because of the sheer volume and frequency of activities under taken. Incorporating some simple and quick habits along the way will help you get to the finish line healthier, stronger, feeling better and fitter.

       Eat well – your body will require some extra intake to deal with a marathon program. This can be a great time to also introduce some better eating habits to support you both short and long term.

       Warm up and Cool Down – I know we all tend to skip it but literally if you take 2 minutes before a run to get your muscles ready you will really benefit from it during a long program such as marathon preparation. Warm muscles will run stronger and help minimise injury risks. A clock lunge routine and 10 x front to back and side to side leg swings will suffice as a minimum. Afterward your run, 3 lots of 10 x deadbugs each side and 3 lots of 10 x single leg bent calf raises each side would be my 2 basic go to cool down exercises – anything else is a bonus but build the habit by starting small.

       Stretching – incorporating a 5 minute stretching program into your daily routing will do wonders for your muscles, by keeping them strong, flexible and healthy. It will also help increase your range of motion, reduce tightness and help you recover quicker from workouts. This doesn’t need to be anything amazing, just following along a YouTube video will be more than ample.

         Strength work – apart of the last 3 weeks of a marathon program, incorporating some strength work, done correctly, into your routine will leave you stronger, fitter and likely able to push further during those last 10k/6 miles of a marathon race. For endurance athletes, 3 to 5 sets of 10 to 15 reps per set, using moderate exertion (think 6 to 7 out of 10 effort), focusing on compound exercises will likely give you the most return.

        Cross Training – running is extremely punishing on your legs and muscles. Cross training activities such as rowing, biking and swimming can help you get an endurance workout without the same forceful impact on your body. Swapping out a run for one of these can be a good idea and if you are unable to run through injury you may still be able to carry out one of these type of activities to keep you moving (which is ok as long as it doesn’t impact your ability to recover from any running injury, seek medical advice to confirm). Cross training will also require you to use some different muscles not necessarily activated when running to give you greater overall strength. 

       Massage – running is hard on the body and sports massage in particular can be a great way to relieve muscle tension and help keep any of those niggles at bay. Plus its good for your mood too and can be some great down time!

       Switch off – its only sport at the end of the day. Ensure you have priority time for family, friends and other key things in your life. Your marathon plan needs to fit round these and not replace them to give you balance, enable you to switch and to keep things in prospective.

Mental Preparation

Training for a marathon isn’t just physical, having your mind ready for the challenge is just as important as the physical preparation. Here are some cues that might help you through your big race.

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TRX

TRX is an amazingly simpleand effective way to aid muscle build and endurance as well as improving balance, agility, and coordination. Its flexible, portable and lightweight which means it can be your go to gym tool at home and on the move.

I use it primarily as my go to stretch and recovery tool as the support of the straps allows me to get a greater range of movement, do more exercises, increases the time I can endure under tension, helps to lengthen tight muscles and all of this can be done safer than I would be able to do unaided.

Backing this up with key sessions targeting legs and core gives rounded weekly workouts to aid my endurance activities – TRX incorporates the motto of “core, all of the time” and a strong core is fundamental to being able to run effectively.

Its low impact, works the whole body and is suitable for people of all fitness levels.

Whether you need some help with getting started and the basics or a more regular program for endurance athletes contact me here for a chat.

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