THE BIG INTERVIEW GUY LEARMONTH
gone with it and just hung on – because that’s
what I do in training.”
Well, actually, that is not what he does in
training quite so often any more. Learmonth has
lofty ambitions and knew he needed more. The
strength of the relationship between a coach and
athlete who are both learning as they go is such
that alterations have now been made.
The two-hour round trip to that Tweedbank
track has become a much more regular
occurrence, for example, while training stints on
foreign shores are commonplace these days.
“We’re mixing things up in training and Henry’s
putting me in uncomfortable positions on the
track and recruiting other athletes to come in, be
around me, come in at different points in the rep,
put me under pressure and see how I respond,”
says Learmonth.
“That’s what we’re working on and that’s what
I’ve never done. I think things like that are going to
play a big part (in his improvement). We’ve made
quite a few changes.
“We’re learning together. Henry’s never had an
athlete running the times that I’m doing. We’ve
got a plan but some of the stuff we do is also
trial and error.”
Learmonth adds: “As much as it sounded
great and it was a great story, running on the
River Tweed was...
“Before the Commonwealth Games (last year),
I had a torn ligament in my left ankle and it took
about five to six months to be completely pain-
free and I think one of the main problems was
doing our main sessions on the roads because
I was running and jumping over potholes and
trying to avoid dogs on leads and thinking ‘this
isn’t good’.
“We just have to take the trip up to Tweedbank
a lot more – sometimes two or three times a
week – and then in the winter we are based in
Lisbon quite a lot.
“We realised we have to get away to these
facilities as much we possibly can.”
Learmonth is not on British Athletics funding
but his sponsorship deal with New Balance, as
well as the help of a private sponsor, have given
him the opportunity to go full bore at his sport –
and to do it his way.
“New Balance have given me the backing to
really do this’,” he says. “I have a private sponsor, a
man called Joe Perryman who owns a company
called Cost Plus and he’s based in Florida. He’s
originally from my home town and he got in
contact, wanting to support myself and Henry.
“He basically said: ‘What do you need? I want
to help’. I’m extremely grateful and I’ve built my
own team over the past couple of years.
“I’m glad I’m doing it this way. I’m not
restricted.”
Learmonth is in a buoyant, ebullient mood
as the track and field season begins to move
towards the business end of things. He insists
he did not dwell on an indoor campaign earlier
this year during which things could barely have
gone worse and where people certainly called his
decision-making into question.
He was presented with what would have been,
under normal circumstances, a dream scenario- being made captain of the Great Britain team
at an event where he would be given the chance
to play to a Scottish crowd.
Yet he arrived at those championships
more than a little beaten up. A fall during the
Birmingham Indoor Grand Prix saw him thump
the track in frustration and break his hand.
More crucially, however, his crash landing had
damaged intercostal muscles in his ribs which
meant Learmonth couldn’t breathe properly.
Then, during his semi-final in Glasgow, he
spotted a gap and took it, only to make contact
with Irish runner Mark English and find himself
not only lying prostrate once again but also withGuy Learmonth is
now spending a lot
more time on the
track in training