The headline of this blog post is a joke. Jax might not be grateful, but I found it funny. Which is normally how my jokes go down in our relationship. A new person has stepped into my life; he goes by the name Claude. How does this relate…
How do you pace a race perfectly? There are just so many factors to consider. Sunday was a prime example of that. The Romney Marsh 10k . Possibly the flattest 10k you will find and I guess that’s a reason it attracts some of the strongest l…
Apologies for my hiatus last week. I was feeling a little burnt out and sorry for myself. So decided to take a week off. As a coach, you don’t always keep the best track of your own training, and I should really have been more aware of the …
Progressive Overload. This sounds boring. I’ll do my best to spice it up, I promise. It’s a term that every runner should be familiar with. It’s the main concept around all of the training plans I create. I’m going to use myself as an e…
I feel like I’ve put a bit of pressure on myself. Committing to a weekly blog and trying to find an interesting way on reporting what the team have been up to. But then it dawned on me. So awesome are you guys, I don’t need to be clever. …
In a week where my stress levels did spike, and fatigue kicked in due to lack of sleep, I was delighted it ended on such a high. I think sometimes with running, we are often guilty of turning up, doing the race or training run, and then s…
I live quite a busy life. Out most evenings either coaching or running. We, Jax and I, normally get enough time to watch one episode of our latest Netflix series. The current choice of viewing, The Boroughs . It was in the most recent epi…
Imposter syndrome is taking over again. Should I be writing a weekly blog? Is my writing embarrassingly bad? Questions I ask having met Runner’s World columnist and this months cover star, Lisa “Flamingo” Jackson at the weekend. She’s wri…
Much like the undulating route at Rye 10 on Sunday, there will always be highs and lows to endure. That was how my week felt, from starting off well, to feeling a little under the weather and even a dent in my confidence as a coach, with a …
Saturday marked the 500th Hastings parkrun. I’ve ran 204 of those, toured 20 times and bagged 50 volunteer credits. My average parkrun time? 27:05. My best? 19:18. Saturday? 20:56. Despite it being someway off my fastest I left thin…
2018. That was the year I was done with running. It was the year I ran Worthing 10K in 67 minutes and 9 seconds. And I was definitely trying my best. The only reason I didn’t quit and take up a new hobby was my running friends. I couldn’t…
Wow. What just happened. Mind boggling to think a human can run at that pace for 26.2 miles. It’s insane. I’m talking about the first sub 2 marathon of course. Achieved by both Sabastian Sawe and Yomif Kejelcha. But I want to talk about o…
I often compare runners to football clubs. Bear with me. A football club needs to understand their potential and also their limitations. As a Norwich City fan I understand this well. We ain’t winning the Premier League title anytime soon.…
What a weekend! On Saturday I logged off early, even earlier than planned in truth as Joe was 20 minutes ahead of schedule through the first two check points of the SDW50. For those of you that don’t know, the SDW50 stands for South Downs…
Easter weekend has been a quiet one on the racing front for the Team. An opportunity to catch our breath after the excitement of Hastings Half Marathon and what lies ahead in April. So what does lie ahead? This weekend Joe is taking on th…
We all need a break from time to time. My last real week off was September 2024. I know, it’s not great. I tried to take some time off recently, 2 weeks in fact. It didn’t go well. This Sunday provided that rare opportunity. I’d made no p…
5,600!! I’m going to throw a lot of numbers at you in this blog. I love stats and data. I’ve even made up my own stats to coach the Team. That’s how much I love them. 5,600?? That’s the distance from the finish lines at Hastings and Cali …
It feel likes I’ve been running for a long time. 10 years to be precise. So by now you might expect the annual half marathon in town to feel like a routine date in the calendar. Absolutely not. I’m so excited for Sunday. I’ve only complet…
10 years now since I first ran the Paddock Wood Half Marathon. Almost every time I’ve made the journey back down the A21 I’ve asked the same question “It can’t get better than that, can it?”. Once again, the answer to my question was “Yes…
I’ll try, but can’t promise to post a weekly blog post here on the platform. Just to keep you up to date what the members of the Team are doing!! It’s a time of year I love as a coach, with so many training for spring half and full marath…
I’m not really sure where to start this week. Going back through the PB Runner Strava group it reminded me why I’m so tired. Let’s just say it’s been busy. I’ll take you back 5 days to Wednesday, the Last Leg Tempo Relays. Always a great …
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Jax so excited as when I told her to pack her bags, as we’re off to meet one my international runners. In hindsight I probably should have explained that the international runner in question had already flown …
It’s a strange part of the season. The big Spring races are now behind us, the temperature has ramped up, and for many of us our big goals for 2025 seem some way off. For me, that’s Chester Marathon. Spring was great. I had a new half mar…
I’ll start this post by sharing the achievements of the team over the weekend. At Brighton Marathon on Sunday there were PBs for Jack Matthews (3:34) and Sam Evans 3:26). At the London Landmarks half Kirsty Marsden was ecstatic with her t…
Is there such thing as a lucky race? Well if you refer to the famous quote from South African Golfer Gary Player, then yes. He said, “The harder I practice, the luckier I get”. Sunday was the 6th time I’ve made the start line at Paddock W…
As the big races approach I am learning the anxieties that come with being a running coach. Especially in 2025 as this year I have a larger team of runners than ever before. The more clients you work with, it’s inevitable that the number th…
We are all guilty of being our own worst critics. But when it comes to your running that needs to stop. If you’re getting out the front door and running, regardless of your pace or distance you are doing great. Could you do better? Probably…
We all love hills right? I remember training for the 2018 Hastings Half Marathon when my fitness was particularly poor. I only ever ran on the seafront and the minute I reached Queensway I just had to walk, I didn’t have the confidence, str…
If you’re looking to make gains and improve your times across distances ranging from 5k up to half marathon, then the really important sessions are intervals. These can vary depending on the coach you are working with or the training plan…
When I trained for my first marathon, Bournemouth 2018, I was a little disgruntled at the pace of my long runs. A wise head, or whom I assumed was knowledgeable in this field, explained all my long runs should be at least a minute per mile …
Probably the single most important running form tip you can focus on is to Run Tall!! I’m guilty of slouching myself and as someone that has spent the majority of the last 15 years sat round shouldered at my office desk, it’s evident that…
Day 5 of my tip streak and I headed down to Hastings parkrun in my latest pair of running shoes. Slightly concerning this is the 4th pair I have purchased in as many months. I’ve gone for the Puma Velocity Nitro 2, costing me a respectabl…
10 minutes. That is not a long time. Considerably shorter than the time you are likely to be racing or running intervals in the forthcoming session. Ideally we’d always do a much more advanced warm up with dynamic stretching, running dril…
The Barry Richards 10K has always been a favourite of mine. My times down the years have ranged from 1:04:32 (yes it was a best effort) to 40:50, so it’s been a really nice reminder of my progress and what impact training plans can have our…
I’ll keep this one brief today as whilst there isn’t a great deal of explaining to do, this running tip is very important. Rest Days. We all need them. And when I say rest, I mean rest. I don’t mean go for a 50km cycle or 20 mile hike. …
When I first started my own running journey I spent 12 months training on my own. It wasn’t until I completed my first half marathon and joined my local club Hastings Runners that I realised the benefits of training with others. The bigge…
I have a lot of silly ideas. Some of them better than others. Some last minutes, some days, some even months. But I’ll always give them a try and you never know what the result might be. My latest idea is inspired by those on their own ru…
I’ve always been open about my lack of Ultra Running experience, as a participant and a coach, but I’ve been given the opportunity by several in the team to learn new skills and guide them on their journeys. Slowly but surely the determinat…
Let’s start with Sam Davies and the Serpent Trail 50k. That’s a long way. Twice the distance some of us tackled at Bewl on Sunday and still Sam was able to produce a consistent pace throughout. The goal was a PB, and but for a wrong turn …
Often as a coach I’m confident of a runner’s success heading into an event based on the training they’ve done. This weekend could not have been further from that truth. Not because I didn’t have confidence in Anna herself, but due to the …
I’m a little speechless. Not ideal at the start of a blog post. I understand now why I was so excited about this race, I couldn’t have dreamt a better outcome for the Team. Times aside, what pleased me the most and generally in recent mon…
Running a marathon is tough. But I think trying to help a team of runners prepare for a marathon is possibly even more challenging. You might agree come the end of this post. First of all let’s start by celebrating the amazing achievement…
This blog should be one of pure positivity but the last few weeks have been a grind for me personally. My refusal to rest has led to a cold developing into a sinus infection and I’m approaching 2 weeks of feeling under the weather (I really…
Paddock Wood, I absolute love you. I had to rewrite that sentence and remove the expletive, that’s how much I love this race. My first visit came in 2016. I’d just completed the Hastings Half in 2 hours and 14 seconds (another expletive r…
Over the past 4 years, I’ve run 7,878.3 miles. This took me 1,140 hours and included 276,116 feet of elevation. That’s the equivalent of 300.69 marathons. But prior to Sunday I had actually only twice crossed the finish line in a 26.2 mile …
I’d be surprised if there is a running club in the whole of the UK that hosts an awards night quite like that of Hastings Runners. Just to be part of the special evening is a real privilege and to watch Team Orange pick up some awards was a…
6 of the team made the 47 mile trip across the county border to tackle the undulating country lanes in the Canterbury 10 miler on Sunday. My entry was heavily influenced by my desire to return to the Veg Box Cafe in the heart of the city,…
My facebook post summed it up nicely, but the blog offers me a little more of an opportunity to express my gratitude to those that have supported me over the past 12 months. Let me be honest. When I referred to my cash flow troubles, it w…
Here we are again. Another Monday. Another Coach Simon Blog. They come around quickly don’t they? Mondays that is? I’m sure you can’t get enough of my musings. So what has happened in the past 7 days? Well after a short break to rest my p…
Ah ball bags! I class myself as extremely lucky. For the past 5 years I’ve pretty much kept injuries at bay. A recurring hip/glute pain has prevented me from completing a few marathons but it’s never stopped me running for a prolonged perio…
As the week progressed and I ticked off the miles and split squats the excitement grew. The weather forecast for parkrun was at last favourable and many of the team would get their opportunity to attempt breaking that elusive PB. That exc…
Last week started with a lot of apprehension as my own training continues to build in volume. Looking at the week ahead I was a little daunted, and combined with a hectic work schedule, I wasn’t sure if I could complete it all. Looking ba…
It’s Tuesday morning. I’m a little weary with a creaky back having lugged some furniture around at the weekend, without bending my knees properly (schoolboy error). I feel like I have a sore throat coming on and the week ahead is a little d…
I feel great. I’m sitting in the office with the heating on, and a hot water bottle in my lap, drying out from the Tuesday morning track session that was rudely interrupted by persistent rain. “Why do we do this to ourselves?” Claire ques…
It was a pretty uneventful week right? We had a few drops of rain to deal with and a couple of puddles to hurdle, but that’s all part of being a runner. I still feel like I’m easing my way into this coaching lark but the past 7 days have …
To be honest, up until this weekend I’ve had doubts about whether or not this running coach venture of mine was just another pipe dream. And trust me I’ve had a few down the years. For the first time I’m starting to believe I can make thi…
It’s burning deep down inside me. More than ever before. I want to work so hard that the tears flow after a race. I want to roar in jubilation and sing aloud like the winning European Ryder Cup team. These multi millionaire golfers never …
From Berlin to Loch Ness, this weekend it was Sarah Marzaioli’s turn to complete a marathon. She’s long since passed the 100 tally, and she didn’t even start running until she turned 50. I’m full of admiration for Sarah who recently retir…
There’s only one place to start with this weeks Team Orange update and that’s Berlin . Forget the World Record, we are more interested in Sue Wilkinson adding another of the World Major Marathon Medals to her impressive collection. Sue jo…
I can’t recall an occasion when I’ve crossed a finish line and wanted to find a dark corner, slump myself down and have a little cry. That would have been a tad dramatic though, so instead I gratefully took my water from the delightful Jacq…
Progress is never linear. Something I’ve learned over the past 5 years and often it’s important to accept that taking a step backwards is actually a good thing. I worked my skinny little arse off over 19 weeks to run a 10k personal best t…
I’ll be honest, I’m glad to see the back of August. Holidays, injuries and illness have proved a bit of a headache for many of the Team in recent weeks and it’s a reminder that even the best laid plans rarely go smoothly. When these disru…
I’ll do a weekly round up of Team Orange in a second post but just wanted to share my own experiences of the BBB10K on Sunday morning. A race I last completed in 2019 in a time of 56 minutes. Having recently achieved my PB at this distanc…
Make sure you begin any race day with your regular breakfast routine. Arrive at the Race HQ in plenty of time to get your race number and do a good warm up. For a 10K like Battle you want to be doing a minimum 10 minute warm up jog, dynamic…
It’s 7 years now since my first half marathon and my race calendar tends to have a familiar feel about it these days. So when the opportunity sprung up to run a local race I’d yet to complete, I decided to get involved. Thank you to Marie…
With training plan 13 safely and successfully negotiated it was time for the hardest thing for me to do, take some time off running. A week in fact. This is something I advise to all of Team Orange at the end of training block. Do they list…
Before I reveal my secrets I’ll start by talking about the Barry Richards 10K. A Hastings Runners club only race held every August. In 2016, my first year as a member I ran a decent time of 53:12. 2017 I was entered to run but actually ch…
After my weekend facebook debate I think it’s important not to start this Team Orange update simply discussing times. Generally those seeking the advice of a running coach ultimately want to improve and run faster. I get it. But I stand b…
I’m tingling with excitement having just taken another look at the Bexhill weather forecast for Thursday evening. This is week 19 of my 13th training plan. Crazy to think I’ve done that many. Yet here I am, hoping that my change in approach…
It’s been a while since I put pen to paper (I’m not even doing that now, but you know what I mean) and kept you updated with the latest news from PBRunner. Late July and early August is a funny time in the running calendar with races dryi…
It’s approaching 3 months since my 3 day stint in a real job and I’m now super exciting about the future of PB Runner and Team Orange. I’ve been dividing my time between the coaching and my old business but this weekend, with the addition…
Normally our experiences of running are somewhat predictable. We might turn up at our local parkrun, knowing every inch of the route, running an almost identical time to the previous week and seeing the same faces around us as we cross the …
It’s been a busy, but enjoyable week so far. Full days of work on Monday & Tuesday were followed by coaching duties in the evening. On Wednesday we headed over to Eastbourne to support Hastings Runners in the last leg relays. Thursdays is…
I’ll be honest, the Woodchurch 5 Miler wasn’t on the top of my 2023 race wish list (a list which doesn’t actually exist by the way), but with a little persuasion I was encouraged to enter. Having attempted, and failed, for a 10K PB only 3…
With my confidence knocked after last weeks disappointing tempo session I decided to mix things up. I was due to run a 10k threshold on Friday but with the weather forecast looking fine, I thought I’d enter the Rye 10K Summer Series instead…
Hey! I’ve been inspired to write more. A lovely rest day at Bateman’s has encouraged me to try and spend more time sharing my thoughts with words and not just pictures. Rudyard would be ashamed of how we choose to spend our hours, gawking…
I’ve lost track when the Sunday long run started. 5 hardy souls rocked up at 8am that first morning to run for 60 minutes in one direction and 60 minutes back. In the past 8 weeks it’s grown and I think we even touched on 30 runners one S…
Pacing is tough. It’s bad enough for 5k on the perfectly flat Hastings parkrun route. Try pacing around one of the most undulating half marathons in the country. But if anyone was suitable for the task, it was surely the dude that a week …
The Hastings Half Marathon provided a fitting conclusion to a dozen Team Orange training plans. I guess most coaches will be judged on the performances of their runners, but I felt no anxiety whatsoever about how the team would run. Is time…
Ever since I completed my first training plan I couldn’t work out why every runner wasn’t using this approach? I’m still a little bewildered why more don’t spend a small amount of time planning their running. I can only imagine there’s th…
In this day and age we are spoilt for choice when it comes to information. There is so much knowledge to be gained through social media channels. What’s important to grasp when searching for more expert opinions to improve your running is i…
Now I’m getting excited. The races are coming! LET’S GO!! Time to put the hard work and grind over the winter months to practice and get our much deserved rewards. Whether we run PBs or achieve our goals, it doesn’t matter, what we want t…
Another great week. I’m actually proud of what you’ve all achieved this week. The Pier to Pier was an obvious highlight. What I would say to those not involved, who may feel like it’s a bit of a grind right now, the rewards are coming. Th…
Another brilliant week and I’m buzzing right now with how well you guys are doing on your training plans. Exciting times lie ahead and this week marks the start of the race calendar with the Pier to Pier. Myself, Jo Lambourne, Will Withec…
Is it me or there is a buzz of excitement in the air around Hastings Runners right now? I get the impression so many people are motivated and feeding off the inspiring efforts of others. There’s so much to be gained from training smart an…