Welcome to the Team. My goal with this first plan is to get you training consistently, building up slowly over the first four weeks just to ensure there is no relapse of the injury issues.

Then once we are happy that it’s clear, we can introduce some speed work at track.

I’ve created a schedule which I believe should get you ready to run the Hastings Half Marathon at an easy pace. If we push for a quick time that might cause problems.

From there we can then look to see if there are any trail races available that you might fancy doing. But initially it’s about introducing good habits and it’s that consistency that will deliver you the best results.

I work using a system called training points, which is another way for saying “Training Load”. The harder the session, the higher the points. Points are determined by RPE (Rate of Perceived exertion) multiplied by either time or distance.

Those that have hit their targets have done very well. The team as a whole are training at 94% collectively which is incredible. Each week anyone who hits 95%-110% of their weekly target will be listed in the 100% club on the WhatsApp Group. This has worked very well to motivate people to keep hitting their training targets.

I’ve got a handful of runners who have achieved that 11 weeks in a row now.

To be honest you don’t need to worry too much about the points system, but I just wanted to explain how it works and what the numbers represent on the plan and dashboard.

So this plan you average 93pts per week, but by the end of the plan you’ll be hitting 120. It sounds a lot, but for someone of your ability and goals, that feels like the right level to me. If it proves too much as the plan progresses we can always tweak it.

Each week there will be 3 runs. I’ve included a swim and to start with just 1 S&C. I appreciate at the moment you have been doing 2 but I’m a little anxious that you’ll be running a lot more over the next 4 weeks than you have been, hence why I think 1 S&C to start with is wise. Then we can add a second one in later in the plan.

The long run will be the key and that will build each week until Hastings Half with one run of 2 hours, a fortnight before the race, which if completed without too much discomfort will suggest you are ready for the event.

I also include recovery weeks in all my plans. To begin with we don’t need them as the pts target is low, but the weeks either side of Hastings Half will be lighter and then week 13 will also be a recovery week. So 3 recovery weeks in this plan, normally it’s every 4 weeks if the schedule allows.

If you do decide you want to enter more races that’s not a problem. I’m hoping after 4 weeks of training you will be ready to join in with the Hastings Runners track sessions on a Monday night. That will be good timing as they won’t be as intense then as the focus will be on 10k or half marathon pace.

If you have any questions just ask. I’m very excited for you as there are so many wonderful people in my Team and Hastings Runners that you will get to meet and run with.