racing
All night long: the 24 Hour Ultra Trail Race
It’s dawn, and I am sitting on a fold-up chair in a field, eating a bowl of porridge. At this moment in time, it is the best porridge I’ve ever tasted, warming my insides and replenishing my much-depleted energy stores like five-star fuel. I savour every mouthful as I watch the mist rise above the […]
Make mine a half - my debut half ironman race
At 7.35am yesterday morning, I waded into a lake on the outskirts of Ashford, Kent, to embark on my first ever half ironman distance triathlon, The Owler. Five hours, 58 minutes, 9 energy gels, 2 litres of sports drink and 70.3 miles later, I crossed the finish line, exhausted in a way I’ve only previously […]
Using caffeine for sports performance
There is little doubt that caffeine can have a beneficial effect on endurance running performance. But there’s more to getting a performance boost than glugging down a pre-race coffee. “A dose of around 3mg of caffeine per kg body weight is needed to have an ergogenic effect in endurance exercise,” says sports dietician Ruth McKean. […]
Different stroke
I have had a lot of input into my swimming stroke over the last few years - I’ve improved my body position, my timing, my catch and recovery to the extent that I often get compliments on how graceful my stroke is. The only trouble is, it isn’t very fast. Even after more than two years […]