For me, this plan is all about introduce good running habits again. So running 3 times a week, consistently and at the right intensity for each session.

I think 3 times a week is enough at the moment with your busy gym routine and if we continue to work together post Hampton and towards London, that would be the time to introduce that 4th run. But we can monitor it continuously and if you feel like progress is limited or the plan is too easy, we can always change it.

There are several things we want to achieve as runners. The most important is build a strong aerobic base. That’s your engine, and is key and we build towards London. To create that engine there’s no short cuts, you need to put in the work, but it’s about “easy miles”. I use the word easy loosely and you’ll probably find, especially at first, no run is truly easy.

As your fitness improves though that will change. So at first, we just need a bit of patience and the first 3 weeks of this plan are mainly easier runs.

We’ll add a bit of speed in after that, with some good sessions lined up. There’s also plenty of half marathon workouts so when you toe the start line at Hampton, the pace you want to run on that day will feel both natural and comfortable.

The weekly long run will also build, and whilst that won’t happen every week, we will have you running for 2 hours, by week 10, all being well.

I’ve seen you’ve done quite a few parkruns so have included that in the plan every other weekend. Some weeks we’ll use it as a tempo session at half marathon pace, others we’ll go for a quick time so we can track your progress.

I have also put in a couple of stretching sessions per week to help with flexibility.

Ultimately what we are doing across these 15 weeks, is setting you up, so you’re then in position to add more miles as London becomes the main goal. It’s important to do that gradually though, otherwise the injury risk will be greater.

I’m looking forward to working with you and helping you improve those fitness levels and those race times.