A fundamental part of my coaching is to help improve your confidence. To change your perception of yourself as a runner. It’s a very common problem among runners, especially I’ve found females I’ve worked with.

I’ll be honest with you at all times. So I’m not sugar coating this when I say you are a strong runner. Granted if you were to compare yourself in a race where you might finish towards the back, then yes, that might change your perception.

But it’s important to factor in everyone that runs and even those that don’t. Just look at your Walk to Run group for example. If you were to ask everyone of them what their impression of you as a runner was, I think all of them would have a different answer to how you see yourself.

In terms of the training it’s always flexible. The idea is we gradually make it more demanding as the weeks go by. With Rye Ancient Trails and Beachy Head Marathon your two big races, there’s no hiding place from the long run.

That’s always going to be a key session for you, most weeks. And there’s no escaping it really. But one mile at a time, one session at a time, one week at a time. Worry about those really long runs when we get there.

Combining those long runs, with the speed work and an extra easy run, is a great recipe for success. Throw in the S&C as well and you are onto a winner. It might already sound like a lot, but once you get into that routine you should find it manageable.

A good training routine will help you sleep better too. So sometimes working hard can actually reduce tiredness and fatigue.

I don’t have many races in the schedule, so let me know if you would like to add any. You can always let me know a week in advance, everything is flexible and can be changed at any time.

What do the numbers mean? Eg 150? 350? That’s the training load or training points as I’m going to call them going forward. It takes into account your effort and the time you run for. It’s just a much better way of planning training than using only distance. As a track session where you might only run 2 miles some week, is much better training than 4.5 miles easy on a Wednesday. Hence why I use this system.

It also makes it very easy if we miss a session or do less, to make up those points, either later in the week or later in the plan.

As the plan progresses we’ll switch out the track sessions to account for the extra mileage, but still try and keep some speed work in there. If you have any questions just ask. But the key to improving your running, is just keep showing up. On days when you feel a little down, or it’s raining, keep getting out that door. Some runs will feel worse than others, but it’s those ones that makes the good ones more enjoyable.

The recent 5 Miler was an amazing experience for me, made much more enjoyable because I had a horrible race a few weeks earlier in Seaford. I wanted to cry after both of those races for very different reasons.

Welcome to the Team Jo. Let’s smash this training plan!