BtM – what is at its core.

Breathe, Run.

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.

Over the last 3 years 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.

As a coach we would have an initial meeting, where we can discuss the questionnaire I will send you to fill in and gives us the opportunity to understand what your goals are and how I can help you meet them. If possible I will film you run and then break down your strengths and areas for improvement that will help feed into your training plan.

I will provide monthly training blocks to help me adjust and respond as your training progresses. As a teacher with 10 years of experience I will use this to help develop you as effectively as possible. Within your training will be suggestions not just for running sessions, but also strength & conditioning work, pre and post work out prep and most importantly breathing exercises to make you a better runner.

I’ll be on hand via email / text to give you feedback on how a session has gone.

Join the closed Strava community group to see what the other BtM runners are up to.

Contact me to set up a meeting and fill in the initial questionnaire outlining your running history and goals.

Costings:

For the initial meeting I charge £70. (this usually takes around 90 minutes)

Monthly subscription to BtM £70 – less than the price of a daily cup of coffee.

Further to this if you require 1:1 in person training sessions, this something I’m happy to do (and is a lot of fun). Cost will depend on time needed and what is required.

My running beliefs that underpin this (and not necessarily in an order of importance)

  1. Posture, form, technique, good mechanics = drills to improve
  2. Finish a session stronger than you started. Training is to tune up not tire out.
  3. Every run should have a purpose or intention.
  4. Finish your session, consider what happened, learn from what happened, adapt and move on to what comes next.
  5. Always train for speed – whatever the distance. It reinforces good form. Neurologically it challenges you to use as much as possible.
  6. Easy days – easy, recovery is key, rest, sleep.
  7. Breathwork – Use it mindfully, suit the way you breathe to the task at hand. Nasal for easy, unless talking. Breath holds to warm up, slow breathing to cool down.
  8. What you put in you get out – food, time, rest.
  9. Pace, pace, pace = focus and patience. You won’t finish better by going too fast too soon.
  10. Enjoy, relax and smile. Running is the gift of freedom.
  11. The most important person is you – input can help, but how you use it is what makes the difference. You drive the changes that you experience.