Very excited to have this opportunity to work with you. You are exactly the type of character that I want to coach. Clearly determined and not afraid of hard work. I think if we combine that with smart training, quality over quantity then you can achieve that main goal of running sub 3 at London next year.

One thing I’ve done is drop you down from 6 runs to 5 runs per week. I’ve seen no evidence yet that an extra easy run makes any difference to performances. I’d much rather you be fresh to hit the key sessions hard, as they are the ones where the magic happens.

I’ve tried my best to keep your scheduled untouched. So your biweekly track sessions, Thursdays with friends, Friday bike ride I like as a good alternative to run number 6, parkrun on Saturdays and the long run Sunday.

I’ve scheduled in the events you mentioned. I’ve put Cardiff in there as a quick half, and Peterborough as a slow one (120 mins on the plan, including WU). That would allow you to race the XC the day before as well. Obviously if Peterborough is more important to you and you wanted to switch that around, let me know. But two fast half marathons in 8 days would be madness.

I’ve added a couple of half marathon sessions in there in the first two weeks, just to practice your pacing and there’s more as the plan wears on. The idea being once we switch to marathon pace/effort in the new year that should feel easier.

I’ve targeted Wilmslow 10k as a fast race given the route looks fairly kind, and in there are 4 big 10k sessions building up to that race which will hopefully have you in decent shape to run a solid time there.

But overall this plan is all about you getting the opportunity to test my methods really and find out if they are right for you. So there shouldn’t be any pressure on yourself in terms of getting faster quickly.

If my approach works, then we’ll see a gradual improvement over the next 14 weeks and then look to dive into a 16 week marathon block where we start to add more mileage and some marathon specific work.

My plans are always flexible. So if you look at it one Monday and think, I don’t fancy that track session Wednesday, just tell me. I’d rather you say that, than go and put in a half hearted effort. We can always find a different session, one which excites you and has the same training impact.

I think it’s that flexibility and constant feedback that makes my plans so versatile. If come week 6 you feel like you’ve got more to give, we can ramp up the training points, not a problem.

Any questions at this stage just ask.