top of page
326d130c-dae6-4e19-93ae-081f73f4d4e5.JPEG
Run Smile Inspire Logo in White

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.

IMG_1371 (1).JPEG
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.

IMG_1378.JPEG
an outline of hands to demonstrate 1:1 personalised support

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

an outline of a banana to demonstrate nutrition strategies

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

an outline of a brain to demonstrate mindset coaching

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

An outline of a weight to demonstrate run training

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

an outline of a book to demonstrate education of coaching

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

NEW FOR 2026

 

Running Movement Analysis Workshops

 

Most runners have never seen themselves run, and have no reliable way of telling what their body is doing underneath them. 

These workshops teach you to diagnose your own running.  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.

IMG_2520.JPEG

Let's Talk Coaching

Book a free 30-minute call. We'll talk about where you are now, what you're working towards, and what's getting in the way. No obligation, and no pitch if it isn't right. If coaching is something you want to go ahead with, we'll work out which option suits.

From the Blog

Advice from a run coach, race reports & nutrition tips
Dunrobin.jpg
IMG_3516.JPEG

Newsletter


Join the Run Smile Inspire newsletter for run coaching advice, inspiration, and first access to coaching spaces.

Thanks for submitting!

bottom of page