To be honest most of the hard work has been done. All we need to do is take that and mould it more into the 10k and half marathon pace.

This plan follows the same fundamentals which has delivered excellent results for the rest of the team. 2 sessions per week, complimented with the easy miles (3 runs in your case) and 2 strength sessions.

The average runs per week comes in at 4.59, largely because at the end of the plan when the races come along, you need that extra recovery time. At first it will be 5 runs per week as requested.

It’s important you always take a day off. You mentioned Thursdays, so I’ve stuck with that, but it can vary from one week to the next.

If you follow the plan I am very confident you will achieve those goals.

Let’s be honest for a moment now, what went wrong in the past when we worked together was missing reps. My plans are now created with quite a bit of precision to ensure you’re working at the right level, progressing and avoiding injury.

If you’ve got 20 x 1 minute and you end up doing say 16, 17 reps, you’ll fall short. Sometimes it feels like a few reps won’t make a difference, they make all the difference. Margins are always fine with running, especially at our level, so it’s important to hit those targets set in the sessions.

It’s also why we keep the easy runs easy, so when those sessions get tough, we can get them done and ultimately that’s where the magic happens. Also try and stick to the paces set. If it’s a 10k session, stick to the 10k pace. Crikey I sound bossy right now. But it’s important. Trust the process and all that nonsense (it’s not nonsense).

Steve Gates, Finlay Garlick, Jack Matthews, Kieran Brooks, Kieran Price, Paul Lambert, Sam Davies and myself. That’s all the sub 20 minute 5k runners I’ve been working with and all of us have been running injury free and at our best this year. Something I am extremely proud of. So it works. Jake Stewart is the exception but he went and ran 20 miles on the day HHM got cancelled and followed it up with a big gym session the next day (not on the plan) and has struggled with injury since.

The interval sessions can be changed, if you ever want to join a group or really don’t like the look of a session, I can always find an alternative and the plan is flexible. The important thing is we keep the training points the same.

Oh, and this plan means you’re working that little bit harder than any of those names I’ve listed, which I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear. That does mean there is scope to reign it in a little if you start to struggle. Hopefully the fact you don’t have so many commitments now means you can also focus on your recovery too, which as you know, is key.

The other thing to mention is the flexibility. You’ve listed that as your weakness, so perhaps we want a daily stretching routine. It’s something I do personally, more for injury prevention to be honest, but just 10-15 mins a day works a treat for me, especially given the hours I spend at my desk.

Welcome back to the Team Joe. Let’s smash it!