Nicky Waller – 3:38:38 to 3:19:45 Manchester marathon

Nicky was running 10k as the maximum distance in any run at the start of his 6 months of coaching, so we needed to build this up as well as adding speedwork to achieve the sub 3:20 marathon he wanted to work towards. 

In January, Nicky twisted his ankle, swapping runs for other cardio and strength training for 3 weeks. After a really solid return to normal training, Nicky had a hamstring tendon strain with just 7 weeks to go, having to swap runs for the cross-trainer and more strength work again, with help from physiotherapist Claire Gurney.

The injuries meant missing key races and long runs which would have helped gauge Nicky’s fitness as well as get some race experience having not raced for 15 months before this point, and 18 months when Manchester arrived.

The bad luck was further compounded when a stomach bug 9 days out from the marathon meant more missed runs. In an understandable attempt to get some running in after a period of broken training, Nicky’s final training run was a little longer than planned, and caused some pain in his quad just 4 days before the race. 

We worked on some last-minute self-treatment strategies he could use on race day but it was touch and go as to whether he’d be able to run the distance.

Nicky is an incredibly determined person, and showed his grit on race day. He stuck to the pacing strategy in the early miles, but with the frustrations of the final weeks wanted to push on ahead of the plan, progressing a few times, but holding it together impressively to finish with a whopping 19-minute PB in 3:19:45.

I look forward to working with Nicky in the future, working on the changes needed to reduce injuries whilst still improving upon his marathon time. With such a fantastic marathon in spite of the challenges he’s faced, I have absolutely faith in Nicky’s ability to reach his next goal or sub 3:10.