On Saturday I hosted a marathon training workshop for a group of runners taking on their first marathon this year. In truth, most were first timers and a few had run a marathon before but wanted to feel a little more prepared last time round. When I first started my running groups a few years [...]

Hand up if this is familiar: your running plan says something like '5 mile tempo run plus 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down'. You've looked at it and read '5 miles at tempo' and not really factored in the other two miles, so when lunchtime comes or the early morning alarm sounds [...]

More and more runners are looking for a coach - and there's definitely a benefit to having one. But it's important to get a coach who is right for you. So shop around, ask around and consider the points below. Good runners make good coaches, right? I don't coach Olympians. I wouldn't try to. I [...]

Interval training is a great tool for runners of all abilities and can help you get faster and stronger. It can be a complicated business to get right though. I've tried to simplify it as much as possible below and this blog is aimed at those new to this type of training. Here's a few important points.  [...]

If you’re lucky enough to have easy access to a running track, it can be a really hand tool to help with your training. But a lot of people are daunted by those eight red circles and put off from training on one because they think they’re only for ‘proper fast runners’. They’re not. There [...]

Hands up if you've ever entered a race, printed off a training plan, stuck it up on your wall and diligently ticked off all your runs in the first two weeks, only to find your motivation to train missing in action by week three or four. Yep, guilty as charged. I remember jumping out of [...]