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 written 3 running books. That’s impressive.

If you enjoy doing something, does it matter if you’re any good at it? That’s certainly Lisa’s approach to running as she openly admits to her struggles as a back of the pack runner. So whether I’m any good at this blogging or not, I’m going to roll with it.

This week went well. No crisis of confidence (other than the blog writing!), and I hit my best training week in 3 months, 152 beautiful training points, tucked safely away in my fitness bank.

This was made up of 3 runs. Monday was my first introduction to threshold running. I’ve heard a lot about it, but never really introduced it to my own running or coaching. Purely on the basis we need reliable data, especially heart rate stats, to make it work, and the majority of us on the team won’t have access to that.

However, if I stumble on runners having success using a different method, I want to explore further. The more I can learn, the better. Whether it proves successful for my own running, time will tell.

It takes me back to my golfing days, and whilst spending a UK winter in sunny Western Australia I came across the “Stack N Tilt” golf swing. A completely different method to play the game, I had to try it.

If you’ve played golf, you’ll be well aware that changing your golf swing in a short space of time is near on impossible. But that didn’t deter me. After a week of practice I entered a tournament at the local club.

I was paired with 3 locals, all of whom were impressed with my handicap of 5. I seem to recall comments like “we’re going to see some great shots today lads” and “let’s see if we can get any tips on how to improve”.

I stepped on the first tee, elevated 50 feet above the fairway and a carry of about 80 yards over what can only be described as no-mans land. With my new swing ready to go I confidently took my stance and put the technique into action. The result? I almost missed the ball entirely, just catching enough of the top to send it toppling into the undergrowth.

I turned to my playing partners who didn’t know where to look or what to say. The comment of “What did you say your handicap was”, said it all. Possibly the worst golf shot I hit in my life. I persisted with the new technique for the first hole. You then have the embarrassment of your playing partner, responsible for keeping your score, asking you the question “how many?”. To which I replied “10”! All of my handicap and more, gone on the first hole. That was the end of the Stack N Tilt swing.

So back to running. Threshold training. Let’s give it a go. Will it be more successful than the Stack N Tilt? It can’t be any worse. For those are not aware, the concept is you train to heart rate, a very specific heart rate, just below your lactate threshold. It really is that simple.

It’s the pace and effort you can sustain for around 60 minutes. So you’re not working as hard as a traditional interval session, but the benefit is you can do more volume. So if you hear me use the word Threshold, that’s what I am referring to.

Whilst I may introduce a few threshold sessions to my runners, I’m not about to complete change my coaching approach, after all, that didn’t work out so well for me on the golf course now did it. I believe it’s an approach which will suit some runners, but not the majority.

I made up the rest of my points in the gym, including the Magic Stairs. A Wednesday evening saunter, followed by domain name chat with Karl, whilst smashing out our strides. Finishing off with a 2 hour long run on Saturday, with Sam D. A run I enjoyed, did he? Judging by his Sunday Strava title which read “Another 21km, this time with friends”, made me question exactly how he sees me 😂. Chances Sam reads this, or gets this far down the article are slim right? Thanks for the run. Mate.

It was a very quiet weekend of running, hence why I’ve spent all this article writing about myself. Well it is my blog! But Jamie T clocked a new parkrun PB coming just under the magical 20 minute mark. So that was fantastic.

I can’t believe I forgot the incredible Joe Cruttenden who was taking part in the Grand Union Canal race from Birmingham to London. At 145 miles long this was an event Joe entered the ballot with little expectation of getting a place.

I won’t pretend I was delighted his name was picked out of the hat, but we did have some very sensible conversations in the weeks and the day before the race. Given the conditions it was sensible of Joe to stop when he did. He’d completed an incredible 85 miles, around midnight Saturday, having started at 6am. Having moaned all day how my legs ached from my 2 hour run, it’s mind boggling how Joe kept going for so long. Respect.

I’ll be back next week with the 5 miler likely to dominate the headlines as the Team look to add to their growing tally of personal bests for 2026. 80 and counting so far!