Tom Payn Performance Coaching

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Tom Payn Performance Coaching

Evidence-led, athlete-centred coaching for marathon and ultra runners.

Tom Payn Performance Coaching provides individual endurance coaching for marathon and ultra runners worldwide, alongside in person training days, weekends and retreats. Coaching is evidence-led, athlete-centred and built around each runner’s goals, experience and wider life. Led by Tom Payn — MSc Sports Performance Coaching, England Athletics registered coach, England international and two-time Great Britain representative at the Ultra Trail World Championships.

25/09/2026

A race-specific long run starts with a useful question.

Which demand of your event needs practice now?

If the priority is fuelling, I might keep the route and effort familiar while the athlete practises their intended food and drink. Afterwards, we review what they used, how their gut felt and how the session affected recovery.
That is an illustrative coaching choice, not the exact protocol from a paper. Research on gut training supports rehearsal, but it does not guarantee that one strategy will work for everyone.

My session brief covers purpose, duration and effort, relevant terrain and kit, fuelling, and recovery. I use the athlete's response to decide what comes next.

Save this for your next long-run planning conversation.

At 10:00 UK time today, this week's newsletter goes deeper into what race-specific training means.
My one-to-one coaching is currently full. You can join the waiting list to be considered when a suitable place opens. Joining is free, with no commitment and no guaranteed place or start date. Use the waiting-list link in my bio.

Research: Minetti et al. (2002); Costa et al. (2017); Maunder et al. (2021); Bourdon et al. (2017).

Study links:�
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12183501/�https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28177715/�https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33886100/�https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28463642/

24/09/2026

I still train and compete, and I want that part of me to stay visible here.

Being an athlete keeps me close to the questions that come with preparing for a race. What matters most? What am I overlooking? What help do I need?

My own running gives me a perspective. It does not tell me exactly what another athlete needs. That still takes listening and understanding their circumstances.

After a race, the reflection I value goes beyond the result. I want to know what I would carry forward, what I would change and what I learned about myself.

That is what I keep bringing back into coaching.

What is one lesson from racing that changed the way you prepare?

23/09/2026

What is your next long run for?

Distance is part of the picture. I also want to know what you are practising and how the session fits the rest of your training.

There is a research basis for looking beyond kilometres. Minetti and colleagues measured how gradient changes running's energy cost. Costa and colleagues found that repeated carbohydrate practice during running reduced gut symptoms in their study.

For me, the coaching application is to give the run a clear brief:�

1. Name the main purpose.�
2. Choose suitable terrain.�
3. Set duration and effort for you.�
4. Plan fuel and practical details.�
5. Allow for recovery.

This is a planning framework, not a scientifically validated five-step protocol. The right session depends on your event, experience and current training.

Finish this sentence in the comments: 'The main purpose of my next long run is...'

Save the carousel for when you plan it.

Friday's email explores what race-specific training means. To join the newsletter, use the website link in my bio and the sign-up at the foot of the page.

Research: Minetti et al. (2002); Costa et al. (2017); Maunder et al. (2021); Bourdon et al. (2017).

Study links:�
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12183501/�https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28177715/�https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33886100/�https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28463642/

22/09/2026

Last week I had the honour and privilege of crewing .perera and Hezel Magwili through their journey of the - advertised as a non stop race of 330km with 24,000m of elevation gain, with a lot at high altitude. Anyone who has done the race will tell you it’s a lot more than that!
I will leave .perera and Hezel to tell you their stories of the race, many highs and lows as you can imagine. What I most observed throughout the 6 days I spent crewing that a race like this brings out the best in humanity. I spent the week chasing these amazing humans around the mountains, doing all I could to help their journey be that little bit more comfortable whilst they pushed themselves to places they had never been before. Everyone involved in the race, from the athletes, the crews, the supporters and the volunteers all went out of their way to look after each other. No one cared where the others were from, what language they spoke or how fast they ran, they just gave their all to be kind, generous and helpful to one another.
This was my second time crewing and I’ve loved it both times, maybe one day I will run it myself - never say never!
Lastly a big thank you to .perera and Hezel for trusting me as their crew and being wonderful human beings throughout. Thank you also to and Francesco for supporting me to do this sort of thing ❤️

18/09/2026

Five questions before you push through fatigue:

1. What was this session meant to achieve?
2. How does the effort compare with normal?
3. Is this one difficult day or a changing pattern?
4. What has changed outside training?
5. What does the rest of the week need?

One score rarely settles the decision. Look at the direction across several days and add context.

Depending on the answers, the useful adjustment may be lower intensity, shorter duration, different timing or complete rest. Match the change to the reason, then reassess.

Pain, illness or concerning symptoms require a separate health decision. This checklist should not be used to justify pushing through them.

Today's email explains how I use these questions to adjust a training week without abandoning its purpose.

My one-to-one coaching roster is currently full. If you want to be considered when a place opens, join the coaching waiting list at tompayn.com.

The free Marathon and Ultra Runner's Training Audit remains a useful first step while you wait.

Evidence: Halson (2014); Saw, Main and Gastin (2016); Kellmann et al. (2018); Bourdon et al. (2017).

17/09/2026

Restraint is one of the hardest skills I practise as an athlete.
Ambition makes pushing easy. Good judgement sometimes asks for less.

A session can feel possible and still cost more than the wider plan needs. When the plan and the day disagree, I try to keep four standards:

• Purpose before proof.
• Today's response before the old plan.
• The whole week before one session.
• Health before completion.

Competing keeps me practising the honesty I ask from athletes. I want clear feedback, especially when the plan and the day disagree.

Where do you find restraint hardest in your own training?

16/09/2026

Fatigue is information. The pattern gives it meaning.
Fatigue can be a normal response to training. The coaching challenge is separating one difficult day from a sustained change that needs an adjustment.

A systematic review covering 56 studies found that subjective wellbeing measures often reflected changes in training load with greater sensitivity and consistency than commonly used objective measures. That makes honest self-report useful, but it does not make any single score a diagnosis or a complete explanation.

A simple check-in can use the same questions each day:
1. Rate fatigue using the same scale.
2. Rate soreness using the same scale.
3. Check sleep and wider stress.
4. Add one sentence of context.
5. Compare the result with your normal pattern.

Look for change across days. More fatigue than usual, rising effort at a familiar workload, poorer sleep, higher stress or a pattern that persists all deserve context.

Pain, illness or concerning symptoms require a separate health decision. A monitoring score should not be used to justify pushing through them.

Save the check-in and use it consistently for a week.

Evidence: Halson (2014); Saw, Main and Gastin (2016); Kellmann et al. (2018); Bourdon et al. (2017).

15/09/2026

The plan is written before the day arrives. My response only becomes clear when I train.

That is where judgement begins. Training keeps me close to the same decisions I ask other athletes to make: what was the purpose, how did the effort compare with the plan, what changed and what should change next?

I want my training to leave useful evidence. Protecting one planned number matters less than giving honest feedback about how the session landed and what the wider week now needs.

The plan matters. Honest feedback keeps it useful.

Which of those questions is hardest for you to answer honestly?

14/09/2026

A completed session tells me what the athlete did. It does not tell me the whole response.

Training load has two linked sides. External load describes the work completed, such as distance, duration and pace. Internal load describes how the athlete responds, using information such as perceived effort, heart rate and subjective wellbeing.

Those two sides do not always move together. A familiar session can land differently when accumulated fatigue, sleep, health, conditions or wider life stress have changed.

That is why one number cannot explain fatigue. After a session I want to know:

• Did effort match the plan?
• Was fatigue unusual for this athlete?
• Did sleep or wider stress change?
• Did pain or illness affect the session?
• What does the next session now need?

After your next run, record what you did and add one honest sentence about how it landed. That context may be more useful than another screenshot.

Save this check for your next training review.

Evidence: Halson (2014); Saw, Main and Gastin (2016); Kellmann et al. (2018); Bourdon et al. (2017).

11/09/2026

Four ways to stop an easy run becoming medium:

1. Decide the purpose before you decide the pace.�2. Start more gently than your ego wants.�3. Use a hierarchy: speech and breathing first; perceived effort and heart rate next; pace last when terrain or weather changes.�4. Adjust before the run drifts.

An easy run that becomes moderate is not automatically a failed session, but it may no longer create the stimulus-and-fatigue balance the week was designed to produce. Coaching judgement sits in the whole pattern, not in one pace or one screenshot.

Today's newsletter gives the full explanation and a simple on-run protocol. If you are not on the list, the free Marathon & Ultra Runner's Training Audit is the best place to start: www.tompayn.com

Evidence: Esteve-Lanao et al. (2007); Seiler & Kjerland (2006); Foster et al. (2008); Achten & Jeukendrup (2003).

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