I originally started working on a sports website following the completion of my Masters Degree in Sports and Exercise Science. The website originally started as a bit of a fun project but quickly grew in both content and visitor numbers.
My main motivation in creating the website was to provide scientifically backed training information and nutritional advice for a range of endurance sports. I feel that there is a lack of freely available and scientifically backed training information.
I am in the process of updating large parts of this website and posting more regular blog posts. If there are any additional areas that you would like me to look at please let me know and if I feel it will be of benefit to the site then I will take a look at possibly adding them. To contact me: please click here to use the web contact form.
My Endurance Training Experience
I competed for a number of years in endurance running events with personal best times including: 10k – 31:37, 10mile – 51:45, ½ Marathon – 69:49, and 20mile – 1:55:03.
I returned to endurance training in mid 2013, following a 10 year break, and am now heavily addicted to triathlon and duathlon.
2016 Results:
30.10.2016 – Stort 30mile UK Trail Running Championship Middle Distance Race: 2nd (1st V40) 3:21:31
03.09.2016 – Eton 10k Swim: 2:44:05
13.03.2016 – Lydd Half Marathon: 2nd 1:13:33
2015 results:
13.09.2015 – 2015 Weymouth ETU Challenge Long Distance Triathlon European Championships (3.8km Swim, 180km Bike, 42.2km run): 19th (1st in ETU Age Group 35-39) 9:51:37 (Swim: 1:08:38, T1: 6:07, Bike: 5:11:32, T2: 3:34, Run: 3:21:46)
12.06.2015 – Eton Man Middle Distance Triathlon (1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run): 1st in 4:13:59 (Swim: 29:05, T1: 1:22, Bike: 2:25:00, T2: 0:56, Run: 1:17:36)
17.05.2015 – Sittingbourne 10k: 2nd 33:54
11.04.2015 – 2015 Horst ETU Powerman Long Distance European Championships (10km run, 60km bike, 10km run): 4th in 35-39 ETU age group 2:45:06 (Run 1: 33:15, T1: 1:43, Bike: 1:33:54, T2: 1:49, Run 2: 34:25)
21.03.2015 – British Duathlon Championships (Clumber Park) 10k/40k/5k – 3rd in 35-39 age group 1:58:55 (Run 1: 35:03, T1: 00:49, Bike: 1:04:10, T2: 1:12, Run 2: 17:44)
12.03.2015 – Gravesend Floodlit 10k: 1st 33:42
2014 results:
21.12.2014 – Kent Christmas Cracker 5mile: 3rd 25:40
08.11.2014 – Winter Ballbuster Duathlon 2014 (8 mile Run, 24 mile Bike, 8 mile Run): 3rd in 2:49:48 (Run1: 46:30, T1: 50.0, Bike: 1:14:12, T2: 1:01, Run 2: 47:15)
28.09.2014 – Tonbridge Half Marathon: 3rd 1:15:13
01.06.2014 – Eton Man Middle Distance Triathlon (1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run): 3rd in 4:35:39 (Swim: 31:33, T1: 1:54, Bike: 2:32:18, T2: 0:45, 1:29:09)
2013 results:
Mid distance triathlon 5hrs 5mins
About my Qualifications
I completed a Masters Degree in Sports and Exercise Science which included advanced training principles and periodized training prescription. Following the completion of my Masters I have worked with a number of athletes, of varying levels of ability, worked as a personal trainer and researched and written various endurance training, fitness and nutrition articles for my websites. Throughout this time I have continued to research different training methods, to a large extent through my own interest in the subject areas, which has kept me up to date with the current science and principles of training.
Although my main area of speciality has always been endurance training I also have extensive knowledge of strength training for both sport conditioning and muscle building.
My training philosophy
I believe that there are five key areas of training that are vital for any endurance sport:
- Adequate aerobic base training – this sets the whole foundation of your training program and without an adequate base training volume you won’t gain the same benefits, or recover as effectively, from the higher intensity training.
- Tempo/Threshold Training – a key component of any serious endurance training plan and should make up ~15-25% of total training volume for optimum benefits. Tempo training is important for improving the speed or power that you can sustain during an endurance race.
- High Intensity Interval Training – a vital ingredient for improving neuromuscular coordination, peak power (cycling) or running speed at VO2max. It can make up 5-10% of total training volume but should generally be limited to one and at most two training sessions per week.
- Strength Training – this is an extremely important training component that is often overlooked by endurance athletes. Research is unequivocal with regards to the benefits of strength training for endurance athletes.
- Adequate Rest/Recovery – often overlooked, or, poorly implemented within a training plan. It is vital to ensure adequate rest/recovery to allow your body to fully adapt to the stresses placed on it during training. Poorly implemented recovery can seriously hamper training progression and put you at risk of overtraining.
In addition it is important to remember that every athlete is an individual and what works well for one athlete might not necessarily work well for another. An example is high intensity interval training (HIIT) which is known to be beneficial for most athletes when used in moderation. However, although most athletes respond well to training at these intensities, others are more likely to overtrain at these intensities and therefore the frequency and volume of HIIT must be carefully controlled. A further example is training volume – some athletes respond well to higher volume training whereas others suffer overuse injuries as training volume increases. It’s really a case of taking time to see what works for you – as with most things patience, careful planning and a degree of flexibility in your training are the keys to long term success.
