Welcome to my blog

Marathon Training - What should you do next? Part 1 Now your marathon training plans have been thrown up in the air what should you do next? If you don’t have a marathon coach you have probably found your 16-week marathon training plan is suspiciously quiet on what to...

All marathon runners know you should make your long run count. We take masochistic pride in them. We know we should run them at a slower pace.  But often that feels pointless and unnecessarily time-consuming. So most of us struggle to resist the temptation to see how...

Do you need to run on Christmas Day to be the best? No. Being the best is about more than one day’s training or not. It’s about commitment, determination and above all, self-belief.

Staying positive when injury strikes is one of the biggest challenges. Sadly as an athlete I’ve got a lot of experience to call on here. From not running for nearly a year after rupturing my plantar fascia the day after the Commonwealth Games, to frequently missing...

You might wonder if there are any similarities between a running coach and a social worker for people with severe mental illness. Sadly, the recent focus on the story of the young American athlete Mary Cain suggest otherwise. In fact, there are numerous positive...

In light of such an incredible achievement it seems incongruous to talk about failure. And I’m not one of those critics who argue it was all about the technology, the pacemakers and the shoes. Kipchoge is an athlete who has an unrivalled record of success in the World...

One of the most common mistakes made by new runners – or even by more experienced runners – is to do most of their running at one running pace. There’s a misperception that good runners run fast all of the time. It’s true that to get faster you need to run faster –...

Do you or anyone you know want to start running but you are put off by the thought of joining a running club? Then Run Together is for you. It’s been four years since I joined Run Together and started my own group as a Run Leader. In that time despite becoming a fully...

  It’s more than 8 months until the London Marathon 2020 but I’m starting my marathon training today. The Good For Age entries are open now. Contrary to popular belief the best way to get into London is not to take your chances in the ballot. Nor start...

No matter what the distance – from 800ms to the marathon – the hardest part of any race is always the third quarter. It’s after the start but before the end and its where a good run can be won or lost. But with the right coaching and a good race plan you can make the...

Is there really ONE session that can make all the difference to your running?   In truth its consistency of training over time that makes the real long-term difference. However, for every athlete (and coach) there’s always one session that they believe gives them...

Like most people, I was introduced to athletics at school and joined Thurrock Harriers, the local club where I had my first coach, Roy Howe. From his coaching I learnt lessons I still value today – to train hard, how to race and the importance of confidence and...