Hey there,!
As I kick off my journey toward the Kielder Marathon in October, I thought I’d share my weekly training plan here. I’m breaking down my progress each week, so you can follow along, stay inspired, and maybe even pick up a few tips if you’re training for your own races.
So, let’s dive right in!
Welcome to my training escapade blog for the build up to the Altra Kielder Marathon Weekend 2025 taking place around Kielder Water in Northumberland.
A reminder of why I am doing this event. I am extremely grateful to be part of the She Runs Free team as part of the collaboration between Boldlirun, Altra Running and Kielder Marathon. The aim of this initiative is to raise awareness around safety in running and to show what’s possible when women are empowered to run freely, confidently, and visibly. A fab article about it here. More about Boldlirun and their sessions here.
Event overview: Marathon on Sunday 5th October 2025, as part of the weekend festival from Saturday 4th October to Sunday 5th October.
According to Timeoutdoors; this is Britain’s most beautiful marathon!
Location: Kielder Water and Forest Park, Hexham, Northumberland – circumnavigating the largest man-made lake in northern Europe over mostly off-road, hard-packed trail.
I will be running the marathon covering 26.2 miles in a single loop.
Route features: Off-road lakeside and forest trails.
This blog will detail my training journey to race day weekly.
Coach: Holly Wootten sessions delivered via Training Peaks app
Week 1: Monday 28th July to 3rd August 2025
1. Weekly Goal / Focus - Getting Started & Finding Rhythm
Ease into structured training and re-establish running consistency.
2. Weekly Training Summary
· Monday – Stair climbing (23 mins), Strength and conditioning (5 mins - should have been longer but i was tiredso aborted the session. Sometimes it just goes like that.), Easy run (15 mins). This was a road run at conversational pace– A great start to the week to shake off the cobwebs
· Tuesday – Strength training (bodyweight & core) – upper body only
· Wednesday – Progressive run (50 mins) – Moving through different effort levels; easy effort 5-6.5 at 65-70%, steady effort 6-7.5 at 70-80%, threshold effort 7.5-8.5 at 80-85% and speedwork 9-9.5 at 90-92%
· Thursday – Rest
· Friday – Long run (75 mins) – RPE 5-7 Controlled, running fluidly and very much a conversational pace. Felt really good. Yoga at home (24 mins)
· Saturday – Strength training (warm up, circuit, cool-down) – Mobility focus
· Sunday – Rest (but had Runthrough 10km race)
Training for the week : 30km (run), 19.3km (walk), yoga (23 mins), stairmaster (23 mins), Strength (1hr 31 mins)
3. Key Session of the Week
Great to have a proper plan now involving the use of the stair master as this is something I started using more recently. This will really help to develop my leg strength and compliment any hill training.
The week involved 3 - 10km runs plus a 15 minutes run on Monday. Runs felt steady especially the Friday easy run in Greenwich Park which has been a staple for many weeks. Great confidence boost. It wasn’t fast, but it was comfortable, and I felt like I could have gone further. Always a good sign early in the training cycle!
4. Reflections & Notes
Overall, Week 1 was a solid start. The mileage wasn’t crazy high, and I was able to stay consistent and get in all my key workouts. I was especially happy with how my body felt after the long run. No major aches or pains—just some normal fatigue that comes with building endurance again.
The biggest takeaway for me this week is the importance of rest. I kept the hard workouts light, focused on recovery, and made sure to get enough sleep.
5. Looking Ahead: Week 2
Next week, I'll be upping the total distance and adding a tempo run on Thursday to start building some speed. I’ll also continue to focus on keeping my recovery as solid as my workouts. The goal is to slowly build both distance and intensity without burning out too early.
Strength session (if interested):
Warm up:
· Half kneeling overhead bends (1 x 10 reps/side)
· Quadruped Hip CARs (1 x 5 reps/side)
· Banded Hip Abduction (1 x 10 reps/side)
· Iron cross (1 x 5 reps/side)
· 90-90 (1 x 10 reps/side)
Circuit:
· Lying hip raise (2 x 15 reps)
· Bird dog (2 x 10 reps/side)
· Deadbug (2 x 10 reps/side)
· Side plank 2 x 1 @ 30 secs)
Cool Down
· Raised leg belly breathing (legs on a ball)
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Stay tuned for next week’s update, and feel free to reach out if you’re training for a race too! I’d love to hear how your training is going.
