Following my failure to finish at the North Downs Way 100 in August 2015, I decided that in my next attempt on the course (in 2017), I needed to get better at running. Running faster, specifically.
I've always been a back of the packer, so when I enlisted the help of Lindley Chambers from Challenge Running, I asked him to make me a more mid-pack runner - something I have little experience of.
He said he could help.
I also asked him to make me a rich and famous running celebrity; and while he didn't rule it out completely, he was unwilling to sign a legally binding agreement to guarantee it. Fair enough. So we stuck with the fast running.
I had always been slightly reluctant to sign up for online coaching because I tend to end up hating things that have too much structure, or have a 'teacher / student' setup. I ended up hating every single subject I was taught at school - plus some subjects I've learnt about from a teacher as an adult.
Lindley wrote me up a plan that seemed relatively straightforward. When I first saw it, I wasn't struck by any 'magical' looking workouts. There were no very long runs, and no hard/long runs - which I had always associated with running fast for a long time.
Instead, it had a complete mixture of all kinds of workouts - ones that I have always known about, but not really ever committed to. When I got stuck into some of the workouts, I felt pain that I hadn't felt since playing sport in school. Despite my workouts looking less hard on paper, they actually kicked my arse. I haven't been running far or fast in runs, but I've been working at high intensity.
What's more, I have only been running 4 or 5 times a week - including easy days. I'm not running myself into the ground, and I feel really great in between runs.
The best part of having a coach so far for me has been the fact that I obsessively make sure that I compete each run or workout. Before being coached, I would always know that getting 4 to 5 runs in per week was important, but I wouldn't know which day they would happen. Whenever I got particularly busy, my run would be sidelined - and before I knew it, three or four days had passed without me lacing up my trainers.
I've not been overwhelmed by my problem of practising things in a structured way; running has been the only thing that I've been able to work on with a 'tutor' without ending up wanting to give it up.
So I'm running happier, harder, shorter, and more frequently.
The best thing is that I'm also running faster.
Workouts at paces which I formerly found extremely difficult are now done at moderate/high effort. I often feel myself doubting my Garmin during runs because the pace vs. heart rate seems too unrealistic for it to be me.
In the next few months, I'm running three races: a 10k, a half marathon, and a 30 mile. I am really excited to see what times I can put down. Will I finish in the 'top half' of a results list for a change?
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