Phillip Berntsen Coaching

Great South Run results in the windy & raining conditions of Southsea

Well done to Lewis Alderman, Ben Maloney & Darrell Waite

Waiting on official times but all three achieving their goals set, especially in the not so easy conditions today provided.

Lewis has been working hard whilst managing the balance of his new life as a dad. Structuring training with the constraints of time whilst making training smart to focus on quality over quantity. Today he achieved a sub 69 mins on his first attempt.

Ben has come on leaps & bounds since his sub 4 hour TCS London Marathon earlier this year. Running sub 20 mins for 5K, sub 42 for 10k & now sub 70 for 10 mile.

Finally, great to see Darrell complete his first race since managing an injury which has hampered his summer. He has run 5 PB’s in 6 races over the course of the last year but an underlying injury meant getting to the cause & coming back with a stronger foundation. Today was a draw the line in the sand moment having completed a progression run.

Running isn’t just achieving times or PB’s, it’s just scratching the surface. It’s the experience these events provide & the journey athletes partake in with challenges like work life balances, finding individual support structures & dealing with the ups & down of setbacks. All in all, it’s finding what works for the individual to make the most of the enjoyment sport as a whole can provide given the right platform to succeed & the support structures to help.

Want support with your running journey? Get in touch to see how I can help.

🟠⚫️⚪️ | Medal Monday | 🏅

Another fantastic achievement, this time by Anna Dolgikh after she managed to run the entirety of a 5k race. Something previously we had tactically implemented a run walk ratio.

I have worked with Anna for a number of years now. Even when she moves to the states, we stayed together & have continued to work with one another. Anna over previous years had worked on her PB & this year had a focus around completing a 5k without the wall element. When I first coached Anna, she couldn’t run more than 1 minute l, so this is such a huge transition to know complete this distance in a time of 44 minutes.

Again, running is not always about the time but various other goals athletes have that fill them with pride. I for one am very proud of Anna’s achievements!

🟠⚫️⚪️ | Medal Monday | 🏅

Congratulations to Archie Burbidge for completing the Reading 10 mile trail event by in a time of 1:50:53.

This is the furthest & longest run Archie has even done. Mentally, this was more of a challenge than physically. She has shown determination to even enter the event after sufffering a broken arm last year whilst on a training run off-road. It has taken time to rebuild confidence of running off-road but safe to say, she is now loving trail events!

Not all races are simple time based, this was about finishing the race & proving to herself she can do it whilst posting a great time in the process!

JUST TO BE ON THAT START LINE

Four years ago, I contacted my old coach after five years out of the sport to discuss one of the biggest challenges of my life. Could I wear a GB vest one more time?

I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get to be on the start line of something like this again & yesterday I completed one of my goals on the journey we have taken.

It’s now the start of the next phase!

Mentally it has been incredibly challenging & draining to break through barriers. It is difficult not to compare where I once was 10 years ago but I’m starting to feel like I’m getting back to my best. I wasn’t sure before the race how I’d cope & whether I’d feel motivated or defeated by the result. Now I know.

It has given me encouragement & hope. I know physically have more to offer than I showed but I need to mentally push myself harder in races, put myself in uncomfortable situations & not run within myself. We will see what this years cross country brings but I feel I made mental progress yesterday. It is a learning experience but one I know I have to push myself through a lot pain both physically & mentally to give myself any chance of succeeding.

British Athletics

PORTUGAL | my second home 🇵🇹

Another training camp complete, until next year. Now time to unwind for four days before heading to the UK Cross Challenge Series in Cardiff. 🇬🇧

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM 🌪

Keith setting out the session ready for some undulating work to help with strength endurance. The idea with this session is to build conditioning in the legs & the focus around keeping lactate levels in check due to the undulations & disrupted rhythm.

XC Kenyan hills with a choice of four sessions;

• 2 x 6 mins @ threshold with 240 seconds recovery (small loop)
• 2 x 8 mins @ threshold with 240 seconds recovery (small loop)
• 2 x 12 mins @ threshold with 120 seconds recovery (large loop)
• 2 x 12 mins @ threshold with 120 seconds recovery (large loop) with 5 x 60 seconds hill climbs @ 5k effort

ALGARVE | underway

First few days complete with the group, settling into some easy running, drills, track session & strength / conditioning

Running camps from a fair may be scene as this elite environment or a pure focus on RUN, RUN, RUN! However, it is far from this in reality. It is a great way to fine tune training, eat, drink, socialise & relax.

📸 | 📍 | Algarve

First race in 6 months, nice to be back in the WADAC colours with a win 🟡⚫️

Not the time I wanted around a hilly, challenging Alresford course but good to blow the cobwebs out after a good block of training. Things are moving in the right direction ☑️

Thanks to for another well organised event.

******er

Chase the sun - PB Alert ⚠️🏃🏻‍♀️

Well done to Archie who last night ran 26:14 in the Chase the sun 5k, Battersea. With a goal of under 28 minutes, she smashed that barrier with over a 2 minute PB!