Every runner starts with an assessment. It sets your starting training load, shows which areas to work on, and gives us a baseline to measure progress against.
Before any testing, we need to know your starting point.
Weekly volume over the last 12 months, longest runs, how much climbing.
Distances, results and how the races went.
Past injuries and anything still niggling.
Distance, climb, terrain and date.
How much time you have to train, and when.
Our health questionnaire, completed before training starts.
We also look through your recent training data from your watch or Strava. New client? Here's the health questionnaire.
Four simple tests you can do at home with a step and a chair. Each leg is tested separately, because differences between sides matter.
How: Raise up onto your toes on one leg, full range, at a steady pace, until you can't continue. Count the reps.
Why it matters: The calves take a high load with every stride, and on climbs. We compare your result with published norms.
How: Stand up from a chair or box on one leg and sit back down with control. Reps until form breaks down.
Why it matters: Quad strength and control, which you rely on for descents.
How: Lying on your back, one foot planted, lift your hips. Reps until form breaks down.
Why it matters: Hip strength, for climbing and holding form late in a race.
How: Hold on each side for as long as you can with good form.
Why it matters: Trunk and hip stability on uneven ground.
We look for low scores and big differences between sides. These feed directly into your strength programme.
Most fitness tests are done fresh. But in an ultra, what matters is how well you hold up after hours of running. Researchers call this durability: how much, and how soon, your fitness drops during long exercise.
You run a steady long run on a flat route in mild conditions. We compare your pace relative to heart rate in the first and second halves. If heart rate rises by less than about 5% relative to pace, your aerobic endurance at that effort is good. More than that shows where endurance needs building.
You repeat the calf raise test straight after a long run and we compare it with your fresh result. A large drop-off shows muscular fatigue that training can target.
Downhill running causes more muscle damage than flat or uphill running. After a set downhill session, you rate your muscle soreness the next day. This tells us how ready your legs are for descents, and how to build up to them.
Heart rate zones set from a test, not a guess.
We set heart rate zones from a 30-minute threshold test: a solo time trial, where your average heart rate over the last 20 minutes is your threshold heart rate. If that isn't possible yet, we use your max and resting heart rate instead.
Heart rate isn't the full picture. It rises with heat, altitude, poor sleep and the length of the run. So we also use effort (RPE) and the talk test, especially for long runs and races.
Try the zones calculatorBetween tests, we adjust your training each week based on your sessions and how you feel. This is why we only offer ongoing coaching.
How much running and climbing you begin with.
Built around your weakest tests.
Which areas to develop first, such as aerobic endurance, climbing or descending.
We repeat the key tests every 6–8 weeks to check that training is working.
Both coaching options begin with the full assessment.
See coaching options