My method
Understand before training. Adjust before things go wrong. Be there on race day.
It all starts with you
Before writing a single session, I take the time to understand who the athlete is. Not just their fitness level — their life. Their job, their stress, their kids, their fears, their sporting past, any health concerns. For women, their menstrual cycle is part of the equation. All of that shapes the plan, not just a VO2max score.
Then, a field test — half-Cooper or cycling equivalent — to set concrete benchmarks. Objective data + life context = the foundation of the plan.
4 months max, no more
I don't do never-ending preparation blocks. 4 months maximum. Beyond that, the athlete burns out mentally before race day even arrives.
Within those 4 months, I include one or two shock weekends. The format: 2 to 3 days with at least two training sessions per day. Concretely: if the target is a 175km race, I aim for around 140km spread over 3 days. For an 85km, we'll do 60 to 70km over 2–3 days. We don't aim for 100% — we don't want to completely drain ourselves. And ideally, these weekends take place on the race course itself — the recce.
My last shock weekend in UTMJ prep:
3 days — including a night run to get used to running in the dark.
Better to arrive slightly under-trained than completely burnt out on race day.
Winter and summer, two different logics
Winter: shorter sessions focused on strength training and intervals. This is where we build force and speed.
Summer: volume build-up, long outings, work on specific terrain. We exploit the base built during winter.
Strength training — a pillar, not a bonus
Strength work isn't a supplement you do when you have time. It's 1 to 2 sessions per week, non-negotiable. With heavy loads to develop strength and muscle mass — this is what prevents muscular exhaustion during long efforts.
My favourite tool: the kettlebell. It works the entire body — strength, mobility, core — in one movement. I also love mixed sessions combining running, squats, wall sits, sprints, frog jumps and core work. We reproduce exactly what the body goes through in a race: relaunching when the quads are already on fire.
A framework, not a dogma
Based on 5 sessions per week:
Rest or fatigued session (training the body to restart after a heavy weekend)
VO2max intervals — the intense session of the week
Easy jog — keep the legs moving, active recovery
Strength: general/specific conditioning, kettlebell, mobility or core
Rest or light jog
Specific session (hills, tempo, mixed strength+running)
Long run — volume and base endurance
This framework adapts to each athlete, their prep phase and their life. It's a guide, not a dogma.
Planning + your feedback
Planning is at the heart of my approach. The athlete finds their sessions directly on the platform, and most importantly can log how they felt and assign a difficulty score after each outing. It's this subjective data combined with objective data that allows me to adjust.
The follow-up rhythm depends on the chosen plan: adjustments within 24h for the premium plan, or weekly follow-up on Sundays. In all cases, I never leave an athlete in the dark.
My model: structured feedback every week — what was done, what's coming, and modifications when life forces changes. A plan is never set in stone; we all have unexpected events and a life alongside training.
Not theory — lived experience
I don't do sophrology. My method for the mental side is training itself. Hard patches and low points during a race are part of it. You need to learn to manage them — and to manage them, you need to have lived through them before.
I deliberately create difficult sessions to expand the comfort zone. The low at km 60 — the athlete will have already pushed through it during preparation.
The other lever is the relationship. I ran a LAT with stomach pains wondering if I'd finish. A UTMJ with a tendinitis from km 100. When I share that with an athlete who's doubting themselves, it's not a generic motivational speech — it's lived experience.
Present on the course
If the location allows, I'm present on the course to cheer. Before the race, a 30-minute briefing to review the prep, the race plan, and make sure the mindset is right.
After the race, a full debrief: the performance, the goal, recovery, and what's next. It's not only the body that needs care — the mental side can have taken a serious beating too.
Knowing how to train means knowing how to recover.