I’ve been coaching runners for more than 10 years now, but no two years have been the same. When I started back in 2013, I led women-only beginner running groups on Hampstead Heath. At first, I had one group, then two and then three groups per week, expanding from beginners into improvers sessions. I did this all outside of a 9-to-5 job and on top of training for marathons and an Ironman.
I look back on those days now and wonder where I got all the energy, but more importantly, where I found all the time. The answer is simple: I was single, living alone and didn’t have a child.
It was a few years before I started writing training plans for individual runners. They take a surprising amount of time to do and I was stretched to my limit. When I gave up my regular job in 2005, I took on online clients and started doing 1-1 sessions with runners in the park too. Some mornings would involve a painfully early alarm in the middle of winter to train with a runner before they headed off to work, but it did leave me free to go for a coffee and breakfast, or even back to bed for a couple of hours.
When my son arrived in 2017, all coaching was put on pause for a few months while I got to grips with my new role. As the summer came round, I wanted to spend some time in the company of adults talking about anything other than sleep schedules and weaning recipes, so I started my running groups back up again. I was back out in the park a couple of evenings a week and gradually took on a few online clients.
We all know what happened next: the pandemic came along and turned everything on its head. I had virtual training groups working towards marathons and small circuits classes in the park.
This year, I’ve made changes again. I’ve stopped all my online coaching and I’m back to teachin
