Bryony came on a running weekend that I ran for the John Lewis running club in 2016. We have always sent out a questionnaire to athletes before the weekend to get an idea of their goals and running ability. Bryony’s came back with information of someone with reasonable running experience who had done high mileage and suffered 2 metatarsal stress fractures which had meant she had had to pull out of two marathons. Her goals were to get healthy and focus more on running for fun.
To be honest I thought I was looking at the profile of an older athlete perhaps in her forties but Bryony was in her mid-twenties. There was no way that someone of that age ought to be getting regular stress fractures so I was keen to find out more.
We talked a fair bit on the camp and I found out that Bryony had endured a string of injuries alongside the stress fractures. Following this conversation we agreed to work together for a while. The first 6 months or so was spent gradually supporting Bryony in returning to full health and training well. Although I tempted her with some races she was not keen and lacked a bit of confidence in her ability.
The main changes were to reduce the overall mileage she was doing and introduce a bit more quality over quantity. Bryony set herself the longer-term goal of the Frankfurt marathon in the Autumn of 2017. She had a really good build up and ran an impressive 3.36 with a park run PB of 21.30 in the build-up.
She then stepped back for a while as a stressful job and the possibility of redundancy hung over her. Things settled down and she resumed training. In 2018 she was able to move her time to 3.29 at the London marathon. Then we worked together again more closely and in 2019 she ran just over 1.30 for the half marathon and ran 3.18 at the Valencia marathon in December. In 2020 we continued to work together and despite London being postponed twice Bryony trained well throughout the year. She managed to get a place at the Dorney lake marathon which took place on the same day as the London elite race. On a wet and windy day she managed an impressive 3.15.38 knowing she would be able to go inside the magic 3.15 on a better day. She also ran 19.42 in a 5k time trial on her own as part of her build up.
Bryony made steady progress during this period. More importantly, she stayed healthy and re-gained her love of running. During this period of working together she suffered no further injuries and was able to discuss future targets with real confidence.
We continued to work together until just a couple of years ago and in that time she managed to move her times further forward, with the odd set back, in small steps as follows:
| Marathon | Year | Time |
|---|---|---|
| London Marathon | 2022 | 3 hrs 09 mins |
| London Marathon | 2023 | 3 hrs 13 mins |
| Valencia Marathon | 2023 | 3 hrs 05 mins |
| London Marathon | 2024 | 3 hrs 03 mins |
Bryony decided to step back from coaching for a while after London 2024. She did have a few injuries around that time but has gradually got herself back to full fitness and notes that she has continued to use the methodology that she learnt during our coaching time together. In March 2026, she managed an excellent 1.23 in the Barcelona half marathon. And although her build up, following the half, was not perfect she still managed a healthy 3.06 at London the same year. She is really hoping to hit the elusive sub - 3 hours for the marathon in the next couple of years.
