Coopah How To: Manage The Peak Training Weeks

Introduction

After what feels like the longest winter ever (and no, I’m not being dramatic), signs of spring are finally starting to appear. The evenings are getting lighter, the temperature has crept into double digits, and the big ball of fire in the sky has even made a rare appearance—more than once.

But with the change in seasons comes a reality check, race day is edging closer. In fact, as I write this, we’re just eight weeks away from the 2025 TCS London Marathon – gulp!

So what does that mean? Well, for those of us training for a Spring marathon, we will soon be heading into what is commonly known as the ‘peak training weeks’ – which is essentially the point in your training where both volume and intensity will be at it’s highest, before you then start to taper ready for your event.

Now, before you start panicking, just remember this is what you have been working towards over the last few months (or perhaps even longer) – the weeks of gradually building up your mileage, ticking off those runs you once thought impossible, and even those days where you had to force yourself out of the door. They all add up, and have got you to a place where you can now push yourself that little bit more.

But that being said, I totally get that it can be hard to juggle it all – most of us are marathon training alongside full time jobs, looking after children, family life etc so it really is important you look after yourself during this period to ensure you don’t burn yourself out in the lead up to race day. So here are some tips to help you manage these weeks effectively.

Plan Ahead

This may sound simple, but taking just 5 minutes at the start of each week to plan out your training can make all the difference over these next few weeks. This is definitely something I find useful, and in fact is something I do every week during my entire training plan. I am a very visual person so seeing everything I need to do written down clearly really helps me to stay on top of everything and feel organised.

And especially when it comes to planning my long runs, I like to make sure I block out enough time not only for the run itself, but the pre run prep, and of course the post run shower and refuel, and if I’m really lucky, a nap too.

How Coopah Can Help: With Coopah you are able to view your entire training plan all the way up until your event, so you can plan out your training week by week, and can also move things around in advance if you know you’re not going to be able to run on a certain day.Download the app and use the code ‘STARTNOW’ to claim your exclusive 3 month offer.

Prioritise Rest and Recovery

I know I have spoke about this a lot before, but during these weeks especially I want you to think of your recovery as being just as important as the rest of your training.

Your body will be working hard, and you will probably be feeling more tired than usual, so one thing that can massively help your recovery in between your training is aiming to get at least 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night. That might mean for the next few weeks you need to skip the pre-bedtime doom scrolling (note to self) in favour of reading a book to help switch off, or perhaps swapping that late afternoon caffeine fix for a peppermint tea to ensure you’re not still wired in the evenings.

And even if you aren’t a great sleeper, just scheduling in some downtime where you can relax and put your feet up for an hour or two can make a huge difference to your recovery – perhaps use it as a chance to catch up on your favourite TV series, sit and listen to a podcast, or just sit and do nothing. But really try to just switch off your brain, because as you have probably realised now marathon training can be just as hard mentally as it is physically, so downtime really is important.

How Coopah Can Help: As much as we love running at Coopah, we also understand the importance of rest days which is why every single plan on the app will have at least one full rest day per week. But also we know that some runners need more rest than others, which is why we allow you to select how many days a week you want to train each week and your plan will adapt.

Download the app and use the code ‘STARTNOW’ to claim your exclusive 3 month offer.

Listen to Your Body

Finally, perhaps the most important point is to really listen to your body during this time. Yes, it’s normal to feel a bit more tired than usual, but there is a difference between feeling tired and feeling utterly exhausted that you have no energy to do anything. Yes it’s normal to feel a bit achey, but it is not normal to be in pain or have constant niggles that don’t go away. Yes, following a training plan and being consistent is key, but knowing when to take a step back or perhaps adjust your plan is even more important.

How Coopah Can Help: At Coopah we have made our training plans completely flexible – so if you need an extra rest day or perhaps just don’t feel 100%, you can easily move your workouts around during the week, meaning that you can adjust your plan as you go and do what is best for you.

Download the app and use the code ‘STARTNOW’ to claim your exclusive 3 month offer.

Be Proud

Okay, so this really is my final point. But I also want you to take this as an opportunity to look back at how far you have come over the past few months, and remember to keep celebrating all of your achievements along the way. Whether thats a new PB, getting out for runs consistently each week or perhaps even starting your running journey.

And for those of you training for your first marathon, over the next few weeks you will be covering distances you have never run before, which may feel a bit scary, but it’s also really bloody exciting and definitely deserves to be celebrated too.

Finally, I just want you to keep reminding yourself that every run you do now is getting you one step closer to the marathon, and it won’t be too long before you are crossing that finish line and realising that all your hard work has been worth it.

So keep going, you’ve got this.

Coach Jordan x