Thanks for your response.

I have seen the workman layout, and it looks promising, but I wanted to try something which is more tried and tested. People have been using colemak for years and are still happy, but workman's only been around for 2 years besides for the fact that the founder uses a matrix keyboard.

Your suggestion is exactly what I had in mind (or maybe programmer's dvorak) in the event that I'm not destined for colemak.

It is my opinion that you'll get used to it with no complications. I too was worried about the "t-h-e" issue because I was seriously considering Workman & Norman over Colemak. When you first start out typing colemak you're usually slow; this is what I see as a contributing factor to discomfort when typing "TH". When typing slow, your fingers are slowly adjusting to the motion of the hand/finger(s) movement and the keys, and in time as you develop a faster reflex, the keys becomes easier to reach/press because your hand will naturally use the correct amount of muscles to reach those keys at the right amount of speed and wrist movement. The first week or two it'll take some getting used to. It is apparent that the "H" key wasn't switch in Colemak from qwerty, thus this is what I see as a no issue to most. I'm at one month and I see no serious complaints about the colemak layout. I was a qwerty typer 90+ wpm avg and developed a pain in my right wrist; Sure I miss my qwerty speed but I would never trade it over my 54 wpm colemak, even If I don't get any faster. This is saying a lot; I actually enjoy typing in Colemak (using alternating thumbs). Don't give up and reach week 3 and 4 and you'll be amaze that you will be able to type Colemak without much thinking.

Yes, it'll get all peachy. You should never ever judge a layout after its effect after only a few weeks (or days!).

You don't have to stay in-air all the time, although that's most effective if you're typing at full speed. I vary a bit and that in itself is a good thing. But I'm never glued to the keyboard.