We speak to an endurance athlete who has made big changes as she looks to make the most of her potential
Balancing a full-time job with the hard work and aspirations of a full-time athlete was taking its toll on Sarah Astin. Although she had won the 2023 English National cross country title and run a series of personal bests throughout the year, she wasn’t convinced she was maximising her potential.
Something had to change, and with the backing of Hoka and support from the charity Isle of Man Sport Aid, she made the tough decision to leave a job she loved to work part-time.
Initiating a positive chain reaction of events which has most recently seen her link up with coach Andy Hobdell and join Hoka’s UK-based professional running team, Makou Endurance, Astin’s decision to commit to running has been a good one, but it hasn’t been straightforward.
“Signing with Hoka [in December 2023] gave me a new lease of life,” she says. “There had been times where I’d thought about quitting – it got to the point where I was thinking: ‘I’m either done here or I need to make a change and have another go’ – but it was a dream come true to finally sign with a brand and I just felt like I owed it to myself and to them to keep going.”
Following a spring training camp in Flagstaff, Arizona this year, Astin anticipated a strong summer, but instead of running well on her return she felt flat and demoralised. She failed to finish at the UK Athletics Championships
in June and opted to end her season after the FAST 5000 in Paris. With her aim in the French capital simply to finish, she knew it was time for a re-think.
“It’s hard to pinpoint what happened [in Flagstaff], but I think I maybe did too many miles out there or too many doubles or not enough rest days,” she says. “It was quite high (7000ft) for my first serious training camp and I think I learned a lot. I ended up in a bit of a bad place running-wise and I didn’t really know what to do. Although Andy wasn’t my coach at that point, we had a good, positive conversation after the race in Paris and he could tell I wasn’t happy.
Sarah Astin (Charlie McCarthy)
“I had my end-of-season break really early and it got me thinking about what I needed to do next. Andy coaches Chris [Chris Rainsford, Hoka’s senior athlete manager] so I had a good chat with him and asked him what Andy was like as a coach and a bit more about his training. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, I was with Geoff Watkins and he’s a great coach, but motivation-wise I just felt like I needed a new stimulus.
“I met up again with Andy when we got back and I remember him saying: ‘You need to get your mojo back’. He made me believe that I was still a good runner and that excited me. I thought that was a good sign.”
Since moving to Hobdell at the end of the summer Astin has enjoyed a gradual re-build, which in the beginning meant reducing her mileage and session days. She has also experienced her first Hoka altitude camp with Team Makou (in Font Romeu), having been officially announced as the group’s first female athlete in October.
READ MORE: How they train series
“I think I’m only going to run well if I’m happy,” says the 31-year-old. “This whole time Andy’s target hasn’t been about how I perform but about making sure that I’m enjoying it.
“Being part of the team has massively helped with that too. I can’t tell you how good Font (Romeu) was, just having the boys there, they’re just the best team to be around. I felt like I wasn’t even thinking about my running. Everyone is different, but personally I’m better being around people who are a bit more chilled – and it’s all meant to be fun, isn’t it?”
Andy Hobdell (Charlie McCarthy)
Astin usually runs to feel but in Font Romeu (at altitude) she used heart rate as a guide. As a rule, easy run pace is rarely under 7-minute/miles while steady runs typically start just outside 7min/miles and get down to just under 6min/miles (close to tempo effort).
Since joining Hobdell, Astin has introduced rest days and strides to her training, in addition to more steady runs.
“I think this will be a fairly typical winter week for me with Andy,” she says. “Since I came back from camp I’ve just been doing more stuff on grass to prepare for cross country but not a lot else has changed, the structure is still the same.”
READ MORE: Andy Hobdell interview
Highest mileage week at altitude in Font Romeu in October 2024
Monday: (am) easy 50min; (pm) gym
Tuesday: (am) easy to steady 45min; (pm) easy 5 miles
and strides
Wednesday: (am) track session: warm-up – 5 x 2km off 2min – cool down. “This was meant to be a controlled
session,” explains Astin. “I think we started off at around 6min/mile pace and got down to about 5:30s.”; (pm) 10min easy – 5km steady – 10min easy (starting at about 6:20min/miles and getting down to about 5:50s).
Thursday: gym/rest
Friday: (am) easy to steady 45min
Saturday: controlled 20 x 400m off 30 seconds (track); (pm) 5 x 1 mile off 90 seconds at tempo pace. “We started around 6min/miles and got down to about 5:30s, although I think the last mile was slightly downhill!” says Astin. “I was really surprised with how I handled the double session, but I think it’s a lot easier when you’re on camp with more recovery time.”
Sunday: 90min easy
Sarah Astin (Mark Shearman)
Favourite session: “Probably a controlled track session, for example controlled mile reps off a short recovery – even better when you can share the load with company.”
Least favourite session: “Long run. Even though I loved my first half marathon I just find a long run really hard. I’ve only recently been doing 90-minute long runs, but I used to do about 18 miles every week and mentally I just found them quite challenging.”
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