My Coaching Philosophy

Consistency is Key

Distance running is deceptively simple. Put one foot in front of the other, train consistently, recover, and repeat. Executing that well, however, is the tricky part.

My coaching philosophy is built around a few core principles: consistency, sustainability, and communication. None of these are particularly flashy. Yes, you’ll do a gut-busting workout every now and then, but those aren’t the sessions that make you better. Training at the right intensities, consistently, over time, produces results.

Ask any pro runner what they changed in their approach after a breakout race, and you’ll get the same answer every time: consistency.

There’s a lot of excitement in the running world recently. Every week brings a new supplement, recovery hack, Strava update, or training trend that promises you rapid gains. Many of these things do have value. The popularisation of threshold training has allowed runners to complete a high volume of their mileage at intensity without causing unnecessary muscular damage. The increase in carb intake has allowed runners to run faster for longer. Super foams and carbon plates make us more efficient, and social media fitness apps allow us to connect with like-minded people. 

But these things are rarely the reason someone suddenly becomes a significantly better athlete. The accumulation of doing the right training, at the right time, over time, is the true driving force. The other stuff is just the cherry on top.

That doesn't mean doing the same exact thing every day or blindly following a training plan. It means fine tuning sessions, building smartly, and executing training that you can absorb, recover from, and repeat day in and day out.

The best training session is not necessarily the sexy workouts you can’t wait to post on Strava. It's the training that contributes to your development without compromising the sessions, weeks, and months that come after it. That's why my approach is challenging, but measured and sustainable. I push my athletes, but I also want them to be able to come back and do it again. Because that is what leads to breakthroughs and massive performance gains. 

Training That Fits Your Life

Coaching is not about creating the perfect training plan on paper. It's about creating the right training plan for the person actually doing it.

 Most runners aren't professional athletes. They have full-time jobs, families, relationships, social commitments, travel, stress, and all the other things that make up a normal life. Those things don't disappear because you have a race coming up. In fact, I think good coaching should account for them. 

My job is to help you become a better runner without compromising the things that matter outside of running. Sometimes that means adjusting a session. Sometimes it means restructuring the week. Sometimes it means recognising that life stress is part of the overall training load. 

There is no prize for following a training plan perfectly if the plan isn't sustainable.

Coaching Is a Two-Way Street

Training only works if the athlete is completely bought in. If you don’t believe in what you are doing, it doesn’t matter how fit you are. This is why communication is absolutely essential. 

If a session feels unusually difficult, I want to know. If you’re hesitant to try a session you haven’t done before, I want to know. If you’re wondering why you’ve been assigned a certain training session, ask me. If you're struggling to fit everything in, I want to know that too. 

My role is to bring the experience, knowledge, structure, and an evidence-based approach. Your role is to bring honest feedback about how you're responding to it.

Evidence, But Not Dogma

The training I assign is grounded in the latest science and research around endurance training, but being evidence-based doesn't mean blindly following whatever the latest study says.

Research gives us useful information about how the body responds to training. Experience gives us context. And the athlete in front of us gives us the information that matters most.

There is rarely one universally correct way to train.

Different athletes respond differently. Different goals require different approaches. And the right training can change as an athlete develops.

I want to use the best available evidence to inform training decisions while still applying common sense, experience, and (importantly) individualisation.