I started working with Simon in the autumn of 2021. It was obvious that Simon ran way too fast,way too often, how many times do I say this! We decided to target Simon's 10k pb of 45 minutes and 4 seconds which he ran way back in 2015!
Our campaign for this target ended up being 14 weeks, but some of the problem was that Simon was only just back from a long term injury so I knew we had plenty of work to do.
At times Simon's training campaign became very tricky due to some Sunday's being taken up with refereeing rugby matches. Also Simon has an erratic working schedule which involved some trips away from home for a few days at a time. This did not always help with finding suitable venues for certain training sessions. However, despite all this Simon started to find some good form and it was obvious that as we got closer to target he was capable of a pb.
On the 6th of February 2022 the big day had arrived, we had agreed many weeks before to go for the Dorney 10k. This is a fast flat loop and is very good for a fast time as many athletes have found out. The only problem we had was that Simon had been dealt very poor weather, this is one of the things we simply cannot control. Train all you like but if the weather goes against you on target day there is little you can do but go for it and do your best. The winds were simply a nightmare, two long straights on the course were straight into a head wind, it made it so tough! Despite all this Simon came home in 43 minutes and 24 seconds, a full 1 minute and 28 seconds faster than his pb! Plus,we are well aware that with good weather Simon could take around another 60 seconds off this time, conditions were truly awful.
It has been a challenging yet very enjoyable campaign working with Simon and I hope to work with him again in the future. I now have a very good idea of what he is capable of, watch this space!
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