The Training Behind Jess Stenson’s Marathon Success
SummaryOlympic marathoner and physiotherapist Jess Stenson joins host Mick Hughes to discuss adapting elite marathon training around motherhood, recovery, and family life. She shares how fueling, sleep, flexible programming, and strong community have shaped her performance and longevity, alongside practical details of marathon preparation and tapering.KeywordsJess Stenson, marathon training, elite running, motherhood and sport, marathon taper, running nutrition, sleep and recovery, bone stress injury, training loadKey TopicsJess traces her career from her first Olympic team in 2012 and first marathon in Nagoya to 20 marathons and major championships.After becoming a parent, she shifted from three weekly sessions to two key sessions plus alternating long runs, describing her eight parenthood-era marathons as her strongest.She explains why sleep and fueling take priority, including a move away from restrictive eating toward fueling performance and recovery.Her marathon-block training includes 155-175 km per week, Tuesday repetitions.Her two-week taper reduces session volume and long-run duration while keeping regular running; travel, hydration, electrolytes, and race-day nerves also affect how she feels.Her advice to recreational marathoners is to avoid forcing excessive training into an already busy life and to adapt plans to capacity. Sound bites"the running for me is my outlet""I do it for those connections"Chapters00:00 Meet Jess Stenson: Olympian, physiotherapist, and mother06:05 A parenthood-era reset changed how running felt10:51 Why quality, sleep, and fueling matter more than extra sessions17:13 Bone stress injuries, breastfeeding, and training volume21:31 Inside Jess’s marathon build and weekly training structure27:43 Her two-week taper and how race readiness comes together33:10 Using Garmin and Oura data without letting metrics take over36:01 Community, family, and the reasons to keep running41:12 Protein, race-day gels, and marathon fueling44:31 The common marathon mistake: forcing training around life48:14 Where to find JessResourcesPre-Max Skincare - https://premax.coLearn.physio - https://learn.physio
