Why do I need a coach?

Well you may not. You may be happy training on your own and following a generic training plan that you have found somewhere on the web. You have the self discipline and motivation to keep training at the level required to reach the goals that you have set. These may be to complete a distance for the first time, to run a personal best, to place in the top 10 for your age group or to achieve a qualifying time for another event. Rest assured if this is you, that is okay, but it is unlikely that you have or will ever achieve your full running potential.

However if you want to be kept on track with a training plan written specifically for you a coach may be the exactly what you need. A coach will assess your running abilities, the time you have available to commit to training, your aspirations and will write a training plan specifically for you. The plan will be broken up into blocks and your progress will be measured at stages through the plan. Your coach will keep you accountable, will lend an ear when you have tough days and will be on hand to adjust your plan as needed in response to your training success, lifestyle and any enforced changes to your daily routine. A coach will be able to unleash your full potential.

Download this simple checklist to see if you need a coach

Most of the generic training plans that you find on the web give you a guide as to what you should include in your training programme. But following a generic plan is unlikely to optimise your running ability. One plan cannot suit everyone.

Runners who have the most success are those who have training plan that is designed for them specifically. A plan that

• takes into account your level of fitness at the start of your plan,

• your running history,

• your aspirations,

• the time that you can devote to training,

• your target races

• your physical and mental health.

• And perhaps the most important element you have access to a coach you can keep you on track, who is available and who will make you accountable.

Lead Coach

Paul Etheridge is the lead coach and is a fully qualified and fully insured Coach in Running Fitness. Paul has been running for over 40 years with a few breaks caused by injury or life! He has completed over 10 marathons and squeezed under the 3 hour mark a couple of occasions but on the other hand has also recorded a time of 4 hours 17 minutes. Running, don't you just love it!? He has coached athletes to achieve their running goals and knows full well that runners have great days and some pretty shocking ones. What he can do is guide you through a plan, keep you on track and be a sounding board for all your running frustrations.

Favourite cake Victoria Sponge, Fruit Cake and Carrot Cake from a small cafe in Tavistock!

Lucky enough to be on the athletic track team for the London Olympics and to meet one of the running greats, Lord Coe.

What does Erika think?

When I joined #RunHardEatCake I never thought I would take part in a half marathon, let alone a full marathon.

But after the running club motivated and supported me to run the Downton half, I started to think about a full marathon, but if I was going to do this, I wanted to train for it the right way, so asking Paul for a training schedule was one of the best decisions I made for my running. He gave me a personalised schedule based on my running level, containing interval, speed and long distance runs. The best thing was that the schedule was divided in different phases and I was perfectly guided and supported throughout all phases. I won't say training for a marathon is easy, but Paul's schedule gave me the confidence that I was perfectly prepared for race day. A huge thank you to Paul and #RunHardEatCake for making my first marathon a great experience!

Erika"