Full-Time Sprints & Hurdles Coaching

WLTF is set to launch it's first full-time Sprints and Hurdles squad.

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Following three successful seasons working with over 30 athletes, Lead Sprints Coach - Laura Turner-Alleyne is now directing her focus and expertise to coaching a group of athletes dedicated to training full time.

WLTF Sprinter Clieo Stephenson & Gareth Degg

Turner, an Olympian and GB Team relay coach is set to lead a squad of committed athletes through a comprehensive, individualised, programme designed to maximise performance.

The new squad will train 5 days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday) from 10am – 1pm. Track and gym sessions will be programmed with the individual in mind, and supervised throughout. With speed at the heart of the training programme, Laura and her team will ensure athletes develop technical mastery, as well as the physical prerequisites for success.

Therapy support will be provided by Gareth Degg (lead therapist WLTF) who has already had an amazing impact on the quality of athlete movement and performance in his 3 years in post. Gareth is an Osteopath and Movement specialist, and his philosophies around movement and performance are a common thread in Laura’s training programme.

The WLTF core values will be at the heart of the squad:

Precision – purpose, pride and precision in everything we do.

Dedication – to commit to do everything to the best of our ability.

Respect – for ourselves, for others, for the sport.

Perseverance – taking ownership of challenging situations and working towards solutions.

Excellence – chose to work towards excellence in all areas of life.

For more information on joining this squad and our other squads, coaching fees apply, please contact Laura laura@westlondontrackandfield.com

British Championships Preview

This weekend twelve West London Track & Field athletes will head to Birmingham to compete at the British Outdoor Championships. With seven athletes from the sprints and hurdles group and five pole vaulters, this is the most athletes that West London Track & Field has had at a British Championships.

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Here are the events that we'll be contesting:

Men's 100m:

Marvin Popoola - Coming back into form after a few years of injury woes, Marvin ran a seasons best of 10.62 at the under 23 National Championships and will be looking to improve this again in Birmingham.

Jahde Williams - Fast improving in his less favoured sprint event. Jahde ran a personal best of 10.73 at the Under 23 National Championships to make the semi-finals.

Women's 100m:

Clieo Stephenson - Fresh from her bronze at the Under 23 National Championships, Clieo is looking to build on a consistent first half of the season in which she has ran 11.7 on two occasions.

Shereen Charles - Experienced sprinter who thrives on the big occasion and will be looking to break the 12 second barrier when it counts.

Men's 200m:

Marvin Popoola - Running two personal bests at the Under 23 National Championships including a time of 21.27, Marvin will be aiming to run faster again in Birmingham.

Jahde Williams - In his more favoured of the two sprints, Jahde ran a personal best of 21.55 from lane 1 at the Under 23 National Championships. Lots more to come.

Men's 110H:

Jack Kirby - A finalist at the Under 23 National Championships and a former GB Under 20 representative, Jack will be aiming to get closer to the 14 second barrier this weekend.

Reece Young - Another finalist from the Under 23 National Championships. Reece ran a PB to make the final in his first race of the season. He'll be hoping to build on this in Birmingham.

Men's 400H:

Max Schopp - Max is in his first season with West London Track & Field and has run consistently close to his PB every race. He'll be looking to break this over the weekend.

Courtney MacGuire - Bronze medallist from the Indoor British Championships

Men’s Pole Vault:

Max Eaves - Max will be hoping to go one better than his silver medal from the indoor championships. Having already contested numerous British Championships, Max will be looking to step up again in Birmingham.

Women’s Pole Vault:

Henrietta Paxton - Coming off of back to back season’s bests including a commonwealth games qualifier of 4.25m, Hen will be looking for another strong performance over the weekend.

Jessica Robinson - Jess won a silver medal at the Under 20 National Championships and will be aiming to back up this performance with her efforts at her first British Outdoor Championships.

Courtney MacGuire - Courtney will be hoping to add another medal to her collection after winning a bronze medal from the Indoor British Championships.

Sophie Dowson - Sophie won a bronze medal at the Under 20 National Championships with an outdoor seasons best of 3.75m and will be hoping for another season's best at her first British Outdoor Championships.

10 Ways To Improve Performance

Max Eaves training at Solent HPA

This past weekend at the British Universities Championships we sat down with Dan Cruse and Jordan Niblock of Solent University's High Performance Academy (HPA) team and heard their thoughts on the best ways for athletes to improve their performance. The team at HPA have worked with West London Track and Field pole vaulters Max Eaves, Courtney MacGuire, Laura Edwards, Kieran Apps and Dan Hoiles - three of whom opened their outdoor seasons with new personal bests over the weekend.

Here are their top 10 ways that you can improve your performance:

Willingness to Learn - A common trait among all great athletes is an insatiable desire to get better. Each training session and competition is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn and improve – imagine how much better you could be if you embrace this for the rest of your athletic career?

Open To Constructive Criticism - This is very important in our opinion, and something that a lot of athletes can struggle with. Part of the learning process is being able to take on board constructive criticism, and harness that as fuel to improve in future sessions and competitions. Good coaches have your best interests at heart, any criticism is designed to help you get better - not as a deformation of your character!

Get On Top Of Your Nutrition - An easy way to gain an advantage on your competition, given it’s a performance variable often overlooked by a lot of athletes. How can you expect your mind and body to perform at its best, if you’re fuelling them with foods that give you nothing in return?

WLTF athlete Laura Edwards - Student at Solent University

Surround Yourself With Like Minded People - “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with” (Jim Rohn). Make sure that support network is allowing you to be the best possible athlete and person that you can be.

Don’t Cut Corners In The Warm Up - Sessions and Competitions start with the warm up – this is the perfect time to get your mind and body best prepared to go out and execute. Cutting corners and missing elements of your routine, just lends itself to poor preparation. Focus your mind on what you’re there to do.

Flick The Switch Approach to Training and Competition - This leads on nicely from our last point about not cutting corners. Some days, we don’t want to train. We don’t want to work, and we find distraction wherever possible. Flicking the switch affords us the opportunity to leave our bags at the door when it’s time to train, and make sure that we leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of excellence.

Courtney Macguire working with

HPA manager - James Grant

Use Your Time Away From Training - Every day is game day by Mark Versteghen summarises this point quite nicely. Time is a precious commodity, and recognising that every hour of the day is an opportunity to improve performance can help you get even more out of your training. Taking the time to consider things such as a bedtime routine, or even preparing food ahead of time can help to form long term habits which will make your time away from the track more productive. Count up how many hours you spend at training against how many you don’t, and then tell us you couldn’t be doing more!

Keep A Training Diary - Keeping a simple log of how long your sessions are and how hard they are on a scale from 1 to 10 is a great way to keep track of how much your training is progressing week to week, as well as showing trends in your wellness over the course of a season.

Ask Questions Of Your Coaches - Not surprisingly, coaches love what they do, almost as much as athletes love winning.  Questioning the process may seem counter intuitive, but asking your coach about the rationale behind what you do in training is a great way to help reinforce your own understanding of how each session contributes to achieving your season goals. It also creates accountability for your coach as well. Some of the best changes we’ve made to an athletes programme have come off the back of their own ideas.

Play The Long Game - Nobody wants to be a glass cannon. Reframing adversity as opportunity is a great idea, rather than sacrificing long term progress for short term gain, which can cost you success in the long run. Not only that, but making sure you are consistently prepared to train and compete by managing your workloads and recovery strategies will mean more chances to succeed every season. So many potentially great athletes have their careers cut short by injuries and setbacks that could have been avoided. Don’t let this be you.

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Dan, Jordan thank you for your time and all the best to you and the athletes you work with on your future success. There will be plenty of West London Track and Field athletes hoping to maximise their own performance this weekend as they start their outdoor campaigns at their respective British Leagues and U.K Women's Leagues. Good luck!