Experience
Level 2 Coach in Running Fitness from UK Athletics.
Level 3 qualified Personal Trainer.
10 years as qualified primary school teacher working in a variety of London schools, across all year groups.
17 years commercial experience in the fashion industry.
I was born in 1972, have had a good life, met many wonderful people, studied, learnt, worked, experienced the explosion of house club culture in the late 80’s early 90’s and maintained a sense of curiosity throughout it all. I’ve not suffered much hardship – any I have has been of my own creation and been some of the most formative learning experiences I have gone through. My parents were hippies at heart who inculcated similar values in me, some that lay dormant, to recently reappear, some that have always been there, informing my actions.
Post university I worked in the fashion industry for a happy 17 years, a great place to be in London in the 1990’s and early 00’s. This ran it’s course for me and I retrained as a primary school teacher in 2010. Since then I’ve gained invaulableteaching experience, in a variety of settings, has helped me learn even more about both myself and people. I’ve used daily breathwork practices with my classes over the last couple of years. It is a wonderful way to ground children and allow them to start learning from a calm place.
I started exploring breathwork and meditation around 2017. This led to further self discovery which that helped me feel more at peace, more self assured and aware of what to nourish within myself and what to avoid. Alongside this I re-found my love of running, trained more deliberately, all leading to moving better. To my surprise I dropped my marathon time from 3:21 as a 32 year old to 2:56 as a 48 year old. 16 years apart and nearly 30 minutes better. Breathwork being key to this growth.
I begun to really delve into the breath, taking course after course to expand my knowledge. First Wim Hof’s breathing fundamentals, then working with Artur Paulins, Dan Brule’s Breathing fundamentals, Brian Wilson and Rob McKenzie’s Art of Breath course. Reading as much as I could to try and learn as much as I could. This leading to Patrick McKeown and qualifying as an Oxygen Advantage practitioner. I’ve improved my breathing, learnt how to reset my nervous system, improved my sleep, improved recovery after and during runs, learnt how to calm myself and used breathing to help me overcome a phobia of driving on motorways. I feel calmer and enjoy the closer relationship I have with my body. All of this can be achieved through breathwork.
I feel we limit ourselves mentally as we grow older, creating smaller and smaller expectations of what we are capable of and what we should or shouldn’t be doing. The act of growing old carries fear that prevents people from exploring it with vigour, zest and acceptance. Rather than wait until something breaks we can put simple, daily and highly effective practises into places that allow us to age in a healthy fashion – enjoying a good quality of life for as long as we have it. It’s never too late to put these things into place and begin to change the paradigm you live in. Get in touch to work with me to help do this. You can take ownership of your well being – let me help you.
The power the breath has, alongside the restorative power of the cold and finding peace in your mind have all had a profound impact upon me and one that I have really enjoyed embracing. The more I experience, the more I learn, the more curious I become.
Running & Me
I have run on and off all of my life – inspired by Zola Budd barefoot as a child (leading to me winning my school sports 1500m race) until the present day, running is something that is essential to me.
Since 2018 I have re-engaged in my running. Self coached I have reduced my marathon time from 3:25 at Berlin in 2018 to 2:56 in the London virtual marathon in 2020 – this as a 47 year old. I have dropped my 5k time down to 17:29 (including winning Parkrun), 10k to 36:36, all of which are running at a national age graded level, something that I could never of dreamed of 3 years ago. Integral to this has been the use of breath work to support structured running plans.
There is a huge gap in coaching runners how breath can and does make a difference to their performance. There is coaching on biomechanics, technique, nutrition, slow, easy, interval, tempo, speed, threshold, equipment, hills, strength and conditioning yet the breath is overlooked. When your breathing is done, you are done, so why not train to reduce fatigue and support better breathing. Running is absolutely dependent on oxygen, how effectively you can get it into your body, process it and let your body use it. As a coach I fill that gap in providing detailed structured training programs, with a focus on breathing protocols to improve your running and performance.
Better breathing = Better running.
Testimonials:
Katrina:
As someone who does ultra running, I am unfortunately not good at managing my breath running, in the gym or in day to day life.
With an existing coach and training programme, Kevin designed opportunities to improving my breath within my existing programme, to complement it. The key for me was fitting it in with my programme, and life, without the feeling of adding another thing in a busy agenda to focus on.
With a mix of in person and virtual conversations, he created an approach and adapted as we went, working out what worked and what would be even more helpful for me as an individual and my goals.
For me, as someone who struggles with intentional breath, I found most useful the intentional recovery breathing in sprint sessions, the recovery stretching breathing and for the slower runs, focused breathwork.
Kevin is kind, curious, stretching and uses gentle nudges to ensure that you stay on track. Explaining as you go the “why”, which was important for me. He was a pleasure to work with in something that was very new to me and being able to integrate into what I did day to day, was really important.
Daniel:
I’m very much enjoying working with Kevin to reach my London Marathon goals. Not only does Kevin provide me with a completely tailored plan, he explains why he has structured the plan the way he has and the benefits of doing so in an accessible fashion. If I ever require any clarification or have any queries, Kevin has always been on hand to assist.
In a short space of time working with Kevin, I have learned a lot on a number of topics whether that be breathing, injury prevention, mental resilience techniques, strength etc – this gives you an indication of the broad, deep knowledge that Kevin has in his repertoire.
Most importantly, I am noticing significant improvement in my performance and I’m very confident I will meet my goals under Kevin’s guidance. Kevin’s positive demeanour and expertise only strengthens this belief. I would highly recommend working with Kevin.
Before we officially started working together, I was nursing a knee injury. Kevin kindly provided a complementary training plan and advice to get me back up to speed – which was an incredibly kind gesture!
James:
Kevin has been a brilliant running coach for me. He is absolutely obsessed about movement and is passionate about seeing people reach their potential. Kevin has given me the confidence to be bolder in my running goals and is able to see the bigger picture of what I can achieve. Kevin’s approach is bespoke where he spends a great deal of time understanding the strength and weaknesses of his athletes. He uses this to create plans which are flexible and finds the sweet spot between progression and recovery. A real strength of Kevin’s is his ability to listen to his athletes and tweak plans based on changing goals or circumstance. He is always seeking to learn more about you as an athlete and is always keen to improve his coaching. He is very dedicated to his athletes and invests a lot of time analysing their runs and advising on next steps. Kevin does this by thinking carefully about training in a holistic manner. He trains you to improve speed, endurance, mental strength, breathing and S&C. Most of all Kevin is approachable, friendly and down to earth – he has been a great coach but also friend.
Ed:
I really enjoy working with Kevin. He is creating an individually tailored program to help me reach my goal of competing in the Manaslu trail race this November. The program is focussed on building strength over time and on increasing my running endurance. Instructions and training plan are well thought through and presented, exactly what I need to build my fitness and keep motivated.
Adam:
I think I would say your main attributes are a huge enthusiasm, tempered with a rational, calm and professional approach based on extensive knowledge base.
You are also a very good listener and provide level headed sound advice particularly if things are not going to plan. But also good at pushing when things are going well.
BreatheToMove 