Venture Performance

20/02/2026

Speed work makes the dream work.

There are several building blocks to running economy.

Consistent overall volume - builds structural resilience and fatigue resistance and takes years to evolve. - ‘the foundation’

Good quality speed work - builds neuromuscular patterning and power - ‘raises the roof’

I’ve found that in adult runners, a vo2 max/ 5k/ 3k paced session once week provides enough stimulus to improve running economy in almost all of my athletes - and I often top this stimulus up with hill strides once or twice a week.

If you don’t work to build your speed at this pace regularly, many athletes will stagnate.

Raise the roof to make your speed at all paces grow!

Great effort by our Dacorum AC runners last night.

16/02/2026

Flow State.

In cycling we celebrate the melding of human and machine. Both working together to create a state of flow that feels like flying.

Build your cycling on solid foundations and the flow will result.

Bike fitting | Coaching | Sports Massage

13/02/2026

You only get fitter from the training you recover from.

Your lifestyle, diet, stress level, training history and injury history all affect how much training you can absorb - and therefore how much you can do before you start to get worse not better.

This can be really tricky to evaluate as an athlete and is fundamental to my coaching practice. So many injured endurance athletes in my clinic have made training, recovery or fuelling errors.

Sensible load setting ✅
Allowing flexibility around life stress ✅
Treatment support through clinical evaluation and sports massage ✅

DM to enquire further - limited weekly spots for Sports Massage, Small number of spaces available for one to one coaching.

















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11/02/2026

Build from good foundations.

There are millions of repetitions in the average bike ride. Sensible set up matters.

I coach runners and cyclists to help them match their training with their body, their time availability and their recovery.

09/02/2026

Athlete update - Did someone say mud?

As we warm into the year (yes, really, spring is on its way!) there have been some really pleasing performances for some of the athletes I coach.

Kate Rennie won the final round of the Chiltern Cross Country League on Saturday which also gave her 1st place VW45-55 and first place woman overall. Her finishing sprint was something to behold - more reason (if it was needed!) that strides are important! Congratulations to all the other Dacorum AC athletes and volunteers for a great finish to the league.

Bruce Ferguson has made a great improvement with his Duathlon over the last few years. He has transformed himself from a Duathlon neophyte to international medal winner through consistent training and sensible lifestyle choices. Bruce has managed to turn his weakness (running) into a strength and last weekend he conquered the tricky conditions at to finish 3rd in his age group at the New forest X duathlon despite a puncture on his bike leg - plenty more to come from Bruce this season!

Behind the scenes it's the unglamorous, consistent work that has underpinned both Kate and Bruce's performances here. As they build to future goals, it's really exciting to see what they can achieve!

Thanks to for the photos of Bruce.

02/01/2026

Things have changed with bikes a lot since 2017.

Rim brakes, mechanical gears, 25mm tyres, asymmetric chainrings to start with. I think they were generally lighter back then though?

- oh and don’t forget the red shoes!

This was an effort up the col de rates on a team training camp. Needless to say my time didn’t challenge Mr Pogacar.

19/12/2025

Feet are foundation!

Consent given.

Chris suffered a nasty ankle injury when he was younger resulting in a plated fibula.
Over the years since his accident, his nervous system has adjusted around the injury and consequently he is less able to load his forefoot into pronation on the right side. This is creating instability on his right side as he pedals and contributing to hamstring fatigue and cramp on the right hand side in hard efforts. We experimented with these wedges finding simple shapes to help his nervous system find the right foot again and will check up in the near future to see if Chris feels more stable on the bike as a consequence.

16/12/2025

A beautiful new SV for long standing client Joel. We were able to make use of the sensible stack and reach figures of this model to give him a sporty position that wasn’t too long. This is an increasing problem for modern road bike positions - brake lever hood shapes have got longer and we haven’t adapted frame reach to accommodate this yet. This Basso SV is a step in the right direction.

Can you tell which hip Joel injured in the past? Past injury plays a big role in how you sit on the bike - your nervous system remembers!

14/12/2025

You’re a long time retired!

Cycling is a funny sport. You build experience and skill over decades only for them to lose their relevance when life catches up with you and you hang up your wheels.

The skill and experience component of cycling is massively underrated currently. It’s understandable - there are no corners or crosswinds on Zwift! It’s easy to obsess about aero gains, power duration curves and LT1 and 2 - but please, if you want to ride a bike fast, dedicate some time to learning how to do that outside!

D

Bikefitting
Coaching
Sports Massage

22/11/2025

Bike Fitting, Sports Massage, Coaching for Runners and Cyclists. Helping you move better, feel better and perform better.

11/09/2025

https://mailchi.mp/venture-performance.co.uk/why-the-foot-is-foundation-what-makes-a-bike-fit-truly-great

At Venture Performance in Berkhamsted, we believe a great bike fit starts from the ground up — literally. Most riders focus on saddle height or handlebar reach, but the foot is where power meets comfort and performance. Get your foot positioning right, and you set yourself up for success!

24/03/2025

https://mailchi.mp/venture-performance.co.uk/the-road-ahead-podcast

I recently sat down with Josh for a recording of his ‘Road Ahead’ podcast. We discussed many aspects of bike fitting, cycling performance, health and the state of the cycling industry. Follow the link below to see more!