Professional help
In April I began to look at on-line coaching to get some more knowledgeable feedback. In the end I settled on Will Newton at www.willnewton.com, a muti-sport on-line coach
In April I began to look at on-line coaching to get some more knowledgeable feedback. In the end I settled on Will Newton at www.willnewton.com, a muti-sport on-line coach. Although I didn’t realise it at the time, Will trained Peter Gold Peter.gold.googlepages.com/mds-thefullstory%21) a competitor in the 2006 MdS.

My training programme under Will follows a similar format to the philosophy in ‘SERIOUS training for endurance athletes’, based on long, low intensity runs (initially one and then two long sessions per week), backed up with 2-3 shorter sessions. Progress is monitored against high intensity ‘ramp’ tests and other measures. I find the feedback useful, although with my training often limited by work and family commitments, I’m sure I’m not Will’s most diligent customer and I’m probably not getting the most out of it from that respect either. However, as I was well aware of my time constraints before I started, I’m pretty relaxed!!