Lee has been a middle and long distance runner himself since his school days and now regularly competes at an elite level. Recently moving up to the marathon having focused on distance from 1500 to 10k Lee talked recently to our very own Luke Bradshaw.
Do you do any swimming as part of your training?
I don’t actually, well very rarely. I occasionally go in the pool but that’s just to relax, it was more for my son’s benefit today.
You’ve recently come back from training in Kenya – what was that like?
Yeah its’ part of my altitude training camp and UK London Marathon camps. I’ll do a three or four week training camp in the build up to important races or as part of my preparation to get fit.
Is it a regular thing – are there plans to go out again this year?
It is sort of regular, yes. I’m going out for a few more weeks and then once more prior to a spring marathon. I first went to do altitude training originally off my own back, but now I started to go to Kenya regularly as part of these training camps.
Does your training remain pretty constant throughout the year or do you have to adapt it?
In general there will be different phases of training, so depending on whether I’m in transition, having a rest or recovery, or building mileage up again you alter things slightly. You aim to improve your regional fitness before you start altitude training so you’re fit enough to capitalise on the training you’re about to do. Your body works harder at altitude so you can’t be out of shape; generally I’ll use the altitude camps to push on my fitness that bit more.
Do you prefer the group training aspect that you do in Kenya?
We try to get together as a group for runs and some sessions, some are marathon runners and some are 800m and 1500m runners so what we’re doing and what they’re doing might be different in key training sessions. Generally we try to promote a group ethos and train together.
I definitely prefer having people around me and a bit of company on the runs, it’s nice to run by yourself but I do quite a lot of that back home in Guernsey and so it’s nice to be able to able to train as part of a group.
Do you have a favourite shoe to run in at them moment? And does this differ to shoes that you train in?
I do a lot of my general mileage in Asics Nimbus just because it really suits me. It’s a neutral shoe so it fits me really well; that’s definitely my preferred mileage shoe. I use different ones for tempo and track sessions and for racing I use the Tarther, it’s more lightweight but there’s still a bit more to it than a traditional racing flat.
Was your progression from a middle distance runner a conscious thing?
I think a bit of both. I started out racing 800 and 1500 as a junior, I thought in my early stages of competing in athletics that I may not have enough speed for those events. I achieved my target of a sub four minute mile and I think I achieved what I could, so it then was a matter of deciding whether I keep plugging away at this or do I move up the distances, the marathon being the last step up. It wasn’t an initial plan but I think I moved up because of the carrot of the European Championships and reaching that standard.
Did you just prefer long distance to middle distance running?
I think….well yes and no. I’ve learned to love the longer training which was my least favourite when I was a middle distance runner. It changed how I feel about training, so its sessions that I’ve liked and altered as a result of the change in distances, but there was sessions I loved then that I no longer do so it’s a bit of both really.
After the World Championships you mentioned setting goals and planning your year – does this mean the year is all planned out?
To a certain extent, I don’t know the exact races but I know when I’d like to race. I plan to do a half marathon in March, and then a full marathon in April. The main focus in running quick in April.
You still need a marathon to make the ‘A’ qualifying time for the Olympics – will that be London?
Yep it will be London. I haven’t got the A standard yet and I’ve got one marathon to do it.
You’ll have to run a PB to achieve the ‘A’ qualifying time (2hrs 12mins) – are you confident?
My PB is 2hrs 14mins but I don’t think it’s a true reflection of what I’m capable of. I think my PB is a bit quicker than that, I should have run faster when I did that time and training is going well at the moment. Over the next two months the training will continue and I should be in really good condition and ready to run that time. I’m certainly confident, there wouldn’t be much point in me trying if I didn’t think I’d do it. I know I can go under 2hrs 12mins.
Would the outline for the season be different had you achieved that qualification at the World Championships?
It would probably been the same anyway. Only one place is pre-selected, an only one person who didn’t make that automatic qualification has been selected. I would like to have qualified then and not run a spring marathon but that’s part and parcel of our sport and all being well I’ll be in the Olympics a few months later. This has been the recent cycle with me doing a spring marathon and then the World Championships afterwards.
Can you get excited about the Games yet? Or does that come after qualification?
That’ll predominantly come after qualification, I’m obviously thinking about it what with it being in London but trying not to. Most of my energy is being directed at my training and the necessary preparation to get the qualifying time. I’ve got to get there first before I can enjoy the experience.
Are there any runners that you’re particularly looking forward to seeing, or competing against, in London?
I wouldn’t say there is anyone in particular. I’m obviously looking forward to the whole event and the spectacle of it all. It’ll be great to see the likes of Mo (Farah) and (Kenenisa) Bekele go head to head in the 10k – that’ll be a pretty special event.
And what about other events? Is there anything you’ll go to watch or are particularly keen on seeing?
I guess partly because I’ll be there competing I won’t be going off watching other events, and I’ll probably be away in training camps leading up to competing. It would be amazing to be there and be part of it as a spectator, part of the privilege and sacrifices of being an athlete are that you can’t quite enjoy it in the same way at the time. One for the recorder perhaps.
You also balance competing with coaching, as well as a young family, is it difficult to do everything together at the moment?
I think it works quite well because I’m not in a position where I can be a complete full-time athlete, full-time in the sense of the training and hours I do. I need something along with my sponsorship to supplement my life; I need to pay the mortgage after all. Coaching is good because it’s flexible and something I enjoy and am passionate about, helping other people is fun too. It goes hand in hand, I mean I’m away a lot and it’s something I can still do when I’m away and when I come back.
Is coaching where you see your career going?
I think so, I have a business called Lee Merrien Running that offers public running groups where we have structured running groups on a weekly basis. There are different groups, different types of sessions and that’s a lot of fun because you get a diverse group of people and abilities. It’s not specially elitist; I’m known for my running but now also for my group running and coaching and it’s definitely something I plan to continue when I finish running.
And you prefer that to just coaching elite/professional runners?
I don’t train anyone that’s professional as such. There are club standard athletes and I get a kick out of training both to be honest for different reasons. There are a lot of people who may not be elite athletes but get a huge amount out of achieving a certain time or getting round a particular distance that they have never done before; it’s a different kind of satisfaction. Its good to help people and its something I enjoy doing, hopefully some of my passion for the sport may rub off on other people and if it helps them achieve their goals then that incredibly satisfying.
