One of your comments which stood out the most in your reply was “…..if I even run correctly??”. I think this is something we address straight away. I’m very much an advocate of encouraging good running form.

That said I don’t look to make immediate changes as that can cause additional problems. It’s a case of making gradual changes over a period of time.

I think just having the knowledge about what is correct and that mindful approach to how you are running at any given moment is very powerful.

I’m constantly aware of my own form, especially when I get fatigued as it’s a great mental distraction and can help block out those demons telling us to quit.

I think it would be worth having a 1-2-1 session early in the plan simply to take a closer look at your running form but also explain what is deemed as efficient form. So once you’ve got that knowledge and have an understanding of how you should be running, it should really help you grow in confidence.

I think that’s my biggest goal here. Most runners approach me with specific races or times they want to run, that does make it easier in creating a plan as I can allocate tailored sessions around their goal distance.

I think in your case it’s having me there to motivate you, offer accountability and that praise you need right now to rebuild your confidence. The fact you don’t have a goal here means we can remove any element of pressure.

On that note working to time is my recommendation. So a 30 minute run for example. That way there’s no need to focus on what pace you’re running or how far you have to run. You just go for 30 minutes. Some days you might feel strong and quick, other days sluggish and slow. But as long as you run 30 mins, regardless of pace, that session is a success.

I like the idea of introducing 3 runs a week straight away. That might seem a big commitment to go from zero to 3, but introducing habits is key, and all 3 runs will be short and if you need to walk in any of those first few sessions, don’t see that as a failure either.

After 6 weeks I’ll then look to introduce some interval training. This again can be done at your own pace, hopefully come that stage of the plan you’ll be confident enough to consider joining the Tuesday group (if availability allows). My team has a wide range of abilities, just last Friday one of my runners did the Rye 10k in 1 hour and 13 minutes. So don’t worry about not fitting in and they are incredibly friendly and supportive.

The plan, whilst very basis in appearance right now is completely flexible and each week I will add sessions to your dashboard. So if you progress quicker then we can advance the plan and to be honest the actual plan itself is more for my reference than yours.