Sammy Rashid - Liverpool Pembroke AC - September 2005

"I’ve been coached by Martyn (as part of the University of Sheffield Athletics Club) since September 2001. I came into the sport relatively late (age 27). This year I became a V40 and my performances are still improving despite my advancing years and injury problems. I didn’t used to stretch, do weights, or hills, my training consisted of 1 track session a week and 5 or 6 20-30 min runs a week. I was introduced to 2 track

sessions a week and the infamous 3 minute runs. Within 3 months my 10K road PB dropped from 32-30 to 31-41. My half-marathon PB dropped from 1-15-40 to 1-12-38

April 2004) and I have lowered my track 10K track PB to 32-29 (May 2005). In August 2005 I came 9^th in the World Masters 10k track final. During the last 12 months my training has been limited, by injury, to no more than 25 miles a week, but the cross training Martyn has had me undertake has still enabled me to increase my performance.

My training now includes weights, strengthening/conditioning/stretching, a hill session and 2 track sessions a week. I would never of considered weights or strengthening exercises as a training method, Martyn has devised sessions for both and tailored my training so that I am able to peak for important races."

Tim Higginbottom - October 2005

"I have been running competitively in various disciplines and at different levels since the age of 14. As a teenager I was a keen middle distance track runner and cross-country runner, with a sub 2min 800m time and representing Hertfordshire, and later Essex at cross-country. I was then introduced to Orienteering, and was successful at a regional level, being Northern Champion and East Midlands champion. I have always been fell running, but never with any real success until 2002, with a better ability at long races over rough terrain.

Since moving to North Wales in 2000, fell running has been much more prevalent than other disciplines, and as I started to see some success, I consciously decided to follow that thread. My training was very haphazard, with no plan and no structure. Success was limited and unpredictable. I was happy to finish in the top 5 or 6, and rarely finished higher than 4^th. A string of decent results in 2002 gained me the last place in the Welsh team for the International Snowdon Race. The race was a disaster, and I had no idea why.

Another feature of my running year was an almost guaranteed injury from mid-Jan to mid-March, and another in May/June. Again, I was unable to predict either why they happened, and how to avoid them. Training advice was normally anecdotal, rarely scientific, and never holistic.

In the summer of 2004 I first approached Martyn, introduced by a mutual friend. We fist had to decide where I was, and where I wanted to be, and then be realistic about my goals for the year. We decided on 3 major goals, of which I have achieved 2, narrowly missing the 3^rd.

Martyn’s approach made perfect sense when laid out, with clear cycles of increased load followed by recovery, coupled with a large amount of core strength and specific strength training. It gave a very full, but remarkably varied routine, which was carefully fitted into my working week, and tailored to meet specific race requirements. A good deal of contact between us helped to sort anything out before problems occurred, and to tweak the plan as appropriate.

To say the results have been remarkable would be an understatement, and I hope to improve as each year goes by.

I have yet to suffer an injury since training under Martyn, by far the longest injury free period to date.

This year I have won 8 races in Wales, one in Switzerland, and expect to finish in the top 3 of every race I enter. I have represented Wales all season, narrowly missing a place in the World Trophy team. I am North Wales champion for 2005, and have not been able to complete the National champs due to an illness in march.

The transformation from high finisher to race winner has been hard, but was only possible with Martyn’s careful guidance and monitoring. The results speak for themselves. I cannot commend him highly enough as a coach".