New physique helps British marathon runner go from ‘struggle’ in Houston to ‘absolute dream’ in Berlin
The Berlin Marathon was the race that changed everything for Philly Bowden.
The 29-year-old, whose previous best was a blistering 2:29:14 at the Houston Marathon in January, clocked a negative split of 2:25:47 (73:40/72:08) to finish 9th overall in Great Britain. in the list of times. He aimed to break 2:27 at the halfway mark with the potential to break into the second half, a scenario he described before the race as an “absolute dream,” and it went better than planned.
While Houston was far from a disaster, it wasn’t the performance or experience Bowden had trained for. Unlike in Berlin, he gradually slowed down from the halfway mark and was proud to reach the finish line, describing the race as one of the toughest of his career to date.
With a rebuilt mindset and the support of his coach John Green, his main goal for Berlin was not just to focus on the time, but to have a good experience and cross the finish line excited to compete in another marathon. He succeeded.
“Berlin was incredible,” he reflects. “It was one of those days where everything just clicked. I surprised myself and had a great time.”
Green, head coach of the Verde Track Club and coach of 2021 Olympic marathon bronze medalist Molly Seidel, has been instrumental in promoting such cheer and positivity. The pair first met while Bowden was training at altitude in Flagstaff, Arizona, in the final weeks of the build-up to the Houston Marathon, and officially linked when he transferred to Manchester’s New Balance team.
Philippa Bowden (Sparta Pictures)
“Obviously that meant going from the individual setup I had with Team New Balance to the eight-hour time difference (home is still Manchester), but we’re both just getting on with the contact. and it works. really good,” said Bowden, who announced in July that he had signed with On Running.
Green has made some welcome changes to Bowden’s coaching. Mileage increased; the total volume of training is higher. and double threshold sessions were introduced.
“It was a really positive change for me,” she says. “He really encourages me to ask questions and almost let me go through his training if I’m not sure about something, which is a coaching relationship I’ve never had before. He is very happy to discuss ways of working, but also to say: “Let’s compromise,” so it’s very collaborative, which I feel I’m experienced enough now to deserve.
“We’re constantly looking at how we can continually improve things. We’ve been really careful and measured with it, but my body has held up really well and this (marathon) block has been super consistent. I’ve gotten to a point where I’m pretty well conditioned on the sound, and then I’ve added strength work and being smart with it, I think that’s given me the edge and I think it suits me.”
Philippa Bowden (David Laws)
A typical school week (marathon meet at altitude in Flagstaff)
Most of Bowden’s training in Flagstaff was with others, but if his schedule made it easy to run alone, he did it. “Flagstaff is such a running mecca that if you want company for your runs, you’ll get it,” he says.
Having stepped up his strength and conditioning (S&C) work over the summer to complement his running season, he re-prioritized running volume and recovery and cut back to one S&C session per week, usually on a Wednesday or Saturday, when he moved into his marathon block. Berlin.
An easy pace run was about 7-8 min/mile, but could be slower (around 8:30) if the goal was to “work the legs out” on session day. There was no specific day off, but if necessary it would be taken on Saturday to minimize the impact on the weekly run.
Monday. (am) 5-6 miles easy; (pm) 5-6 miles easy, plus exercises and steps on the track, such as 2-4 laps of in/out strides (walking straight, running curves) followed by a 4x faster 100m walk
Tuesdaydouble threshold day eg (am) 3 mile warm-up > 6-7 x mile reps 60-70s (at altitude, threshold pace is about 5:40-5:45 min/mile, which is about 8-10 seconds slower is than sea level > 2 mile cool down (pm) 2 mile warm up > 4-5 miles worth of repeats starting with mile repeats like 3 x 1 mile then 1200m or 1km repeats (same pace) > 5 min-1 mile cool down (about 12 mile threshold for the whole day and up to about 20 miles total)
Wednesday. (am) 12-15 mile easy moderate long run
Thursday. (am) 10 miles approx. (“I sometimes double up on Thursday depending on where I’m running during the week,” Bowden says. “John gives me my workouts and my run goal for the week, and where I put that run is up to me, (so: I could only do one 10-mile run on Thursday, but I could split the miles in the morning/hour, he’d pull me through it.)
Friday (am) 6 mile steady state run eg 3 mile warm up > 6 mile steady state with a last mile climb (“John’s instruction for this session was to start at 5:50 and hang in there, then push hard the last mile which 5:18”) > 3 miles chilling;
(pm) 4-5 miles easy
Saturday: (am) 4-5 miles easy (up to 8 miles max, but varies depending on running goal for the week)
Sunday. (am) 20-22 mile long run. “It’s an easy-paced run, but sometimes the second half will naturally be faster, depending on where we’re going. Some of the runs in Flagstaff can be done at 7 minute/mile pace, but feel like a 6:20 second effort. The program will say 20-22, but I always shoot for 22.”
READ MORE. How do they prepare archives?
Favorite session: “In this build, I’ve really enjoyed the 50-60 second recovery (track) on the 20-24 x 400m. At Flagstaff, we would start at around 83/84 seconds, but would gradually work our way up to finish fast, and I would usually drop down to 69 seconds for the last few laps. It’s just really good fun.”
Least favorite session. “It’s probably one of the first workouts I did in Flagstaff and it’s called the 90/30; you run for 90 seconds and then you have 30 seconds. You’re going a distance of like 5 or 6 miles, so it’s unknown how many times you’ve repeated, it’s hard.”
» This article first appeared in the November issue of AW magazine. Subscribe to AW Magazine herecheck out our new podcast! here or subscribe to our digital archive of back issues from 1945 to the present day here
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