About me starting my coaching journey

I have always been a sporty person, playing or watching sports from a young age. I joined a gym in the time between secondary school and college. What is one of the main pieces of equipment you think of when entering a gym for the first time? The treadmill, right? So on I got. After finishing my first really slow 10 minute run being out of breath, I was hooked, and my competitive side came out. Can I go faster tomorrow, can I go further tomorrow, well there was only one way to find out.

This competitive side and motivation to get faster, fitter and stronger lead me to entering my first race. A 10k, which I completed in around 45 minutes. I loved this new racing environment I was in. Now I'm not just racing my previous times, I'm racing other people.

After completing a few more 5k and 10k races, the obvious next step (I thought) was to take on the marathon. I entered the Miami Marathon, which still stands as one of my favourites as it was my first marathon. I completed it in 3 hours 38 minutes. I then set myself the goal of getting under 3 hours for the marathon, and subsequently 90 minutes for the half.

I was just doing this training on my own, no plan, no reason behind any of the runs, no logical progression and no rest days. Even with all this I managed those two targets. Continuing to train on my own, the new targets were an improved marathon time under 2.55 and under 80 minutes for the half.

I came so close two years running, getting the exact same time at the Wokingham half marathon with 1.20.22. That is when I thought I needed to do this properly. I found myself a coach, followed the plan and also had these things called rest days. I returned to the Wokingham half marathon the following year, with so much more confidence and in better shape, I finished in 1.17.19. That is over three minutes better, I couldn't believe it. The amount of joy and excitement from achieving that time was one of my best running experiences ever.

That feeling led me on this journey to becoming a coach. I needed to pass on this experience and this feeling of self accomplishment of all the hard work and training coming together to others. I now get the chance to help others improve. There is nothing better than when you see a client achieve a new personal best time.