Daniel Bagley | Running Coach

For those that are new here, I’m Dan. I’ve been coaching runners for around 5 years… this is just the next step. Over that time I’ve worked with runners of all levels, from first time marathoners to those chasing serious PBs. I’m a UESCA certified run coach, a 2:22 marathon runner, and someone who’s fully invested in helping people improve. For the last 2 years I’ve been coaching full-time and now I’m building everything under my own brand: bagsofrunning Same coaching. Same approach. Just my own space to do it properly. Right now I’m training for the London Marathon 2026 (my 11th time running it) While continuing to coach runners to: • run their first race • break PBs • train consistently If you want help with your running… 👇 Follow the link in my bio #runningcoach #marathontraining #londonmarathon #dubairunning #runcoach

It took me 11 years to go from a 3:23 marathon to 2:22. No shortcuts. No breakthrough moment. Just years of getting things wrong… and slowly figuring them out. I ran my first half marathon back in 2009 in Sheffield while I was at university. At the time, it was just about getting fitter and losing a bit of weight. That then led to my first marathon in London in 2012. I ran 3:23. I had no real structure to the training. I thought if I ran 20 miles a couple of times before, I’d be ready. What followed was 11 years and 8 more marathons of learning: • how to actually structure training • how to fuel properly before and during runs • how to control effort instead of chasing pace • how to be patient and build over time One of the biggest shifts came when I got a coach myself. That’s when I stopped guessing… and started understanding what I was doing. The improvements weren’t just physical. They came from understanding the process. Because the biggest challenge most runners face isn’t motivation. It’s guesswork. Guessing pace. Guessing mileage. Guessing when to push and when to hold back. In the end, there’s no shortcut. Just time, consistency, and getting the basics right. If you’re trying to improve your running and want help structuring your training properly, send me a message.

How to train through summer in Dubai. If you approach it properly, summer can actually be a REALLY good time to build fitness. Heat training can help your body: • improve cooling efficiency • increase blood plasma volume • handle effort and fatigue better This is the reason why so many runners suddenly feel amazing once race season starts again in Dubai… or when they go race somewhere cooler later in the year. The key is adapting HOW you train. - Run more to effort instead of pace. - Slow easy runs down. - Hydrate and fuel properly. - Recover harder than you think you need to. And not every session has to be outside either. - Use the treadmill for quality sessions. - Use the malls for easier aerobic running @dubaimallathon - Get outside for some heat adaptation when it makes sense. And unfortunately there’s no medal for overheating during a Dubai summer 👍 #dubairunning #heattraining #summertraining #treadmillrunning #mallathon

A few bits from the last week back in Dubai. 90km of running 3 gym sessions (had major doms this week 😅) And next week… back on 2 wheels too 🚴 Training has shifted slightly recently. Different focus, different stimulus, different goals for this next phase. And honestly, it’s felt refreshing. This week has also felt like I’ve been chasing myself a little trying to get back into Dubai time, Dubai pace and normal routine again… but underneath all of that has been a very real feeling of excitement for what’s to come. A few new opportunities and partnerships starting to come together too… which makes this next chapter feel even more exciting. More on that soon. 👀 I think sometimes we spend so much time chasing the next thing that we forget to actually experience where we currently are. The sessions, the people, the tired legs, the coffee stops, the random conversations, the process of building towards something. And lately I’ve tried to be a bit better at that. Just being present in it all. “Presence is a privilege. If your mind is always elsewhere, you’re not really experiencing anything. Nothing is ever real.”

Back on the track this morning for something a little different to the usual session 👀 Started a new testing protocol which is designed to build a full performance profile of where my fitness currently sits, rather than just relying on race times or a watch score. One of the tests included a 20 second all out effort to dig into the metabolic side of things too… Hit 2:13/km pace, so definitely fancy myself against @sawesebastian for another sub-2 marathon sometime soon 😅 Still got 2 more protocol tests to complete before I share the full findings, data and what it actually means from a training/performance perspective, but it’s been interesting already seeing where the strengths (and weaknesses) currently sit. Also, getting photobombed by @therebornrunner whilst he was somewhere around lap 64 of his 30km easy run on the track. The ISD track segment king 👑😅 #tracksession #bagsofrunning #bagsoftesting

Moments from the Grey Days Relay in the Neighbourhood. @newbalancerunning

Friday Feels There’s something special about a group of people choosing to show up at sunrise on a Friday morning. Different goals and different stories, all brought together through running, conversation and coffee, of course 😆 A little reminder that running is about far more than just the running 🫶 #bagsoffeels #bagsofrunning #runningcommunity

People love calling things “luck” when they only see the outcome. The PBs. The races. The sessions that finally click and go well. What they don’t see is the boring part. The repeated part. The months and years of sessions when nobody is watching. That’s the bit I’m excited about again right now. Building. Learning. Getting stronger. Getting faster. The track sessions are about to get spicy again… and there may be a few other challenges / races mixed in over the next couple of months too 👀 Different stimulus, but same mindset. Looking forward to building more speed to take into some big races in the second half of the year. Rep by rep. Not, luck by luck. #running #trackrunning #marathontraining #runningcoach

You trained for months for one day. Long runs. Early alarms. Missed plans. Structured weekends. Everything revolving around one race. So when the marathon is over… You do NOT need to immediately panic about losing fitness. You probably don’t need another race booked that same night either. And recovery doesn’t only mean sitting still waiting until you’re “allowed” to run again. Sometimes the smartest things you can do after a marathon are: • Celebrate properly • Spend time with people again • Move differently • Eat socially • Let life revolve around something other than splits and pace targets for a little while Because marathon recovery is mental as well as physical. Your body gets stronger when it absorbs the training. Your mind usually does too. The next build will come soon enough.

A different kind of running event this morning with @newbalancerunning for their Grey Days event at Alserkal Avenue. Instead of another standard “run down the beach track”, they brought together different running communities from across Dubai for a relay race around Alserkal in a way that actually felt fresh, competitive and community-driven all at once. That’s what running should be about sometimes. Not just chasing splits and uploading another Strava map. But people coming together, running hard or just for fun, supporting each other and enjoying the morning. Very cool to be working with a brand that’s helping make running feel different, creative and accessible in unique ways. Run your way. Finished off with coffee and breakfast at @nightjar.coffee ☕️ Dubai’s running community keeps getting stronger. #greydays #dubairunners

I didn’t get faster by training harder. I got faster by training smarter. For a long time, I sat in the middle. Not easy enough to build an aerobic base. Not hard enough to really improve performance. And well, I was just… tired. The biggest shift in my running over the last 14 years came from this: Learning how to actually train at low intensity. Running slower than I thought I should. Letting easy runs be EASY. Building volume without constantly stressing the body. And it wasn’t just by doing more running. Cycling helped me add volume without impact. Walking more kept overall load up without adding fatigue. Both helped to keep me in zone 1 and zone 2. And contributed to building a stronger aerobic system. That’s the part most runners skip. They chase pace or speed instead of capacity. But without aerobic development, there’s nothing to support the faster work. But the result you’ll end up with is that you’ll feel like you’re working hard all the time… But not actually moving forward. Once I fixed that, everything changed. Better sessions. Better recovery. Better race performances. That’s how you improve long term. You don’t always need to do more, but doing more at the right intensity. If your heart rate spikes the moment you start running… it’s probably not fitness you’re lacking. It’s structure to how you are training and a lack of patience.

Hrair’s journey to the London Marathon. This one didn’t start when we began working together. The goal was already set. The work had already started. By the time Hrair reached out in mid-January, he already had months of consistent training behind him building towards his first marathon. We set the plan to build through races like Burj2Burj and RAK Half. Burj2Burj went incredibly well. Then came the setback. A grade 2 TFL tear. 6 weeks. No running. At that point, a lot of runners training for a marathon would question if they could even make it to the start line. Instead, he stayed patient. Adapted. Trusted the process. We leaned into cross-training, worked closely alongside great support from @upandrunningdubai and focused on what he could do, not what we couldn’t. And when the time came, he got himself back to the start line. That alone is a win. But he didn’t stop there. Start line ✔️ Finish line ✔️ First marathon done. Over £3,000 raised for @childrenwithcanceruk 👏 Six months of training. And well over 1,000+ km on the road. A full journey that didn’t go to plan, but still led exactly where it needed to. We didn’t need to change a huge amount, more about applying structure and executing properly, and building on what was already there. A huge amount of patience. A huge amount of resilience. And a result that means far more than just a finish time 🙌 If your training hasn’t gone to plan — it doesn’t mean your race can’t. DM me “MARATHON” and I’ll help you map it out