Learn to Coach Yourself
Psychology-based ultra, trail and road run coaching in Scotland and worldwide. You'll get a plan built around your life and enough understanding of it to make your own calls when I'm not there.
Ultra, Trail & Road Running Coaching That Teaches You Why
You've done the training. You've read the books. You've followed the plan. And somewhere past mile thirty, none of it seems to help, because the problem stopped being physical a while ago.
Maybe it's the self-doubt that arrives on long runs. The race-day nerves that undo months of work in twenty minutes. The voice asking who you think you are. Or maybe you're just tired of plans that treat you like a machine, all mileage and no sense of the person doing the running.
I'm Kayleigh. I went from Couch to 5K to winning a backyard ultra in four years. I've also had stress fractures pull me out of races I'd spent a year dreaming about, and I've had to start again from almost nothing more than once. I know what it's like when the whole thing falls apart.
I work with all types of runners (and now hikers!) who want more than a schedule. People who are curious about why they think the way they do under pressure, and willing to do something about it. My coaching comes from a psychology degree, UK Athletics and UESCA certification, movement analysis training with Shane Benzie, and a long list of mistakes I made myself.
Why my coaching works differently
The plan is the easy bit. Anyone can write you a schedule. What's harder is knowing what to do when it doesn't survive contact with your week, and what to do at mile forty when everything in you is arguing for stopping. I coach both.
Psychology is built in, not bolted on. It's in every session, every check-in and every conversation. We work on your head at the same time as your legs, because on race day they don't operate separately.
Your life is data, not an excuse. Work stress, poor sleep, family pressure, hormonal cycles. These get accounted for rather than ignored. Your plan adapts to the week you're actually having.
I've been where you are. Complete beginner. Terrified first-time ultra runner. Injured athlete watching a goal disappear. I coach from having lived it as well as having studied it.
The aim is that you outgrow me. You'll finish knowing enough to make good decisions on your own. A coach who leaves you dependent hasn't done the job.
NEW FOR 2026
Running Movement Analysis Workshops
Learn to read your own running
Most runners have never seen themselves run, and have no reliable way of telling what their body is doing underneath them. You feel slow, or sore, or heavy, and you have no idea which part of your movement is causing it.
These workshops teach you to diagnose your own running. We work outdoors over real ground, looking at your posture, arms, leg cycle and how you meet the floor as one connected system. You learn what to feel for and what to ask yourself while you move. This year I have trained directly with Shane Benzie, and I am now certified to deliver his methodology.
Outdoors, never on a treadmill - On a belt the ground moves for you. Outdoors you drive yourself over ground that stays put, which is the movement you actually race.
You leave able to check yourself - Two or three specific things to work on, your own footage, and a way of assessing your form on any run afterwards.
I come to you - Club nights, group bookings and one-to-one sessions across Scotland and northern England.
1-TO-1 COACHING
Your running, your life, your head. I learn how you train, how you recover, what derails you mentally, and what else is going on. Then we build something that fits all of it.
Personalised
Responsive
Expert
PERFORMANCE NUTRITION
Fuel the training and the goal. You'll learn the science and the psychology of eating for performance, with sustainable strategies rather than rules you'll abandon by week three.
Simple
Practical
Sustainable
MINDSET COACHING
What happens between your ears decides whether you thrive or just endure. Visualisation, attention control and cognitive reframing, used properly, so you stay steady when the day turns hard.
Psychology-Informed
Confidence-Building
Proven
INTELLIGENT TRAINING
Running, strength, mobility, form and recovery, planned around the signals your body is giving you. When life interferes, and it will, the plan moves. Durability is the point.
Adaptive
Comprehensive
Smart
YOU'LL UNDERSTAND WHY
Become your own best coach. Energy systems, adaptation, recovery, all explained in plain English. By the end you'll make good calls whether I'm there or not.
Empowering
Evidence-Based
Lasting
What my athletes say
Every runner here came to me with something different. Most of them stayed longer than they planned to.
Alice Townend
"if you're looking for someone to work with who seeks to understand what makes you tick, who really listens, and who will transform your mindset while giving you a training plan that will push and challenge you but is achievable because it's written with your life and goals in mind, look no further."
Michelle Young
"Kayleigh is a joy to work with, explains everything so well and is so positive! If you're looking for a coach who always has your back and knows what they're talking about - I 100% recommend Kayleigh / Run Smile Inspire!"
John King
"Working with Kayleigh has been a game changer for all aspects of my running & I definitely feel lucky to have such a great coach!"
