So pleased you have decided to join the Team. You’re one of those people in life that lifts those around them, so the idea of having you involved, not only as one of my runners, but supporting the others on the team, is great.

That’s something I am trying to create. So whilst ultimately the main benefit is having me create you a plan, weekly sessions and the ongoing feedback, you are now part of this team of driven, positive individuals.

Consistency is everything. Yes we need to work hard in those Tuesday sessions and dig deep when we tire on the long runs. But for a lot of the time “showing up” is the key. If you can keep doing that, then you build that foundation for improvement.

And it does take time with running. Normally it’s at least 8-12 weeks before you start to see any gains. So patience is important. Time flies, and luckily we have 18 weeks in this plan so I’m optimistic you’ll notice those improvements as we go through the summer months.

Each week I will set the sessions and message you on Monday to check if the schedule is ok for you. That’s the opportunity to move any of the runs around if need be.

Keep working on your posture too as that’s something that over time we can improve on and it will make you a better runner.

The plan itself has a training load of 900. Training load = (Time x Effort). It’s just a better metric than using mileage. Basically you don’t need to worry too much about this. The scores on the plan (eg 250) are the training load of each session.

This approach just ensures your training from an effort input remains consistent throughout and progresses as the weeks pass.

If you want to do any more races, let me know. It might be worth adding a few into the plan, but that can be easily done. As we approach Hastings Half we’ll do some half marathon sessions at the weekend and also more hill work.

The average number of runs per week across the plan is 3.17 and you’ll never be doing more than 4 in a week. As the sessions get harder you actually reduce the number of runs, so you get more recovery.

Speaking of which, nutrition and sleep are very important. What you don’t want to do is train hard but neglect those aspects as they’ll prevent you from making the gains you should.

Any questions though just ask. I’m excited to get started with this training plan.