Carbohydrates – Tom Hollis Health

Carbohydrates, Events, Fibre, London, Running, Sport

11 things I learned from London Marathon 2022

October 4, 2022 No Comments

Let’s start with the headlines: a first London Championship start, a 2:38:12 finish, a PB of nearly two minutes, and a negative split (1:19:21 / 1:18:51). I am genuinely over the moon with this, but as ever with the marathon, this is just the start of the story, and I learned so much more along the way. I like writing these blogs after big races in case others find them in any way helpful, and because my brain just does not retain this sort of detail, so I find them useful to look back on too. Training block issues I’ve written […]

Carbohydrates, Events, Running, Sport

Manchester Marathon 2021

October 11, 2021 No Comments

It’s that time again. My precious day off after the marathon, where I spend the day eating, drinking, and reminiscing on the sofa, overflowing with pain and pride. When you’re a recreational runner, these moments are so monumental and unforgettable that they inevitably punctuate and, to some extent, define the whole year. Looking back on my last one of these pieces, reflecting on London 2019, I mentioned that the next aim had to be to have a go at going sub 2:45 and achieving a London Championship place. Sadly for me, that 2:45 cut-off had become 2:40 the time I […]

Carbohydrates, Events, Hydration, Micronutrients, Running, Sport

Race week booster

August 7, 2021 No Comments

Good nutrition goes hand in hand with good training, and should start long before race week. However, a smart fuelling strategy in race week (not least race day) can be transformative to performance, and it is understandably an area that many clients want to focus on. With this in mind, and with race season fast approaching, I’m offering a new race week only service, for those of you that are short on time but want to know how to give your body what it needs to boost your performance on the big day. I’d love to help as many of you […]

Carbohydrates, Dairy, Diets, Micronutrients, Plant based, Protein, Public Health, Running, Sport, Sugar, Veganism

Plant-based milks: 6 top tips

May 31, 2021 No Comments

There is one section of every supermarket and corner shop that is unrecognisable from ten years ago: plant-based milks. Or ‘mylks’, ‘m*lks’, or sometimes, confusingly, just ‘drinks’. I’m going with ‘milks’, partly for simplicity and partly because it amuses me that this offends some people. Terminology aside, one thing not in question is their unstoppable rise in popularity. Ethical and environmental concerns, dairy allergies and intolerances, and health considerations are all contributing factors here. Anecdotally, I’ve also noticed that friends and family find plant-based milks an appealing option even if they have no intention of going vegan or vegetarian. The […]

Carbohydrates, Clinical dietetics, Events, Running, Sport

Marathon memory lane

April 26, 2021 No Comments

I struggle to accept the fact that this week marks two years since my last marathon, but that’s what my phone has been telling me, so accept it I must. And while I don’t have any 2021 races inked into my diary just yet, I am starting to consider options for a winter marathon PB push…and in the process, I’ve found myself having a good old reminisce of the five previous times I’ve covered the 26.2. I have full respect for ultrarunners, sprinters and middle-distance runners, but for me, the marathon is the holy grail. The ultimate test. The perfect […]

Carbohydrates, Diabetes, Diets, Fats, Ketogenic, Plant based, Public Health, Research, Running, Sport, Weight loss

Keto diets in endurance exercise (part II)

October 3, 2020 No Comments

I introduced the definitions and basic theory underpinning endurance athletes’ ketogenic diets (EAKD) in the first blog, but what happens when the theory is subjected to scientific research? A recently published systematic review (which by definition should incorporate all relevant, good quality studies) will help us answer this question. I will warn you that this is quite a detailed synopsis, so feel free to skip to my ‘take home thoughts’ at the end if what comes before is a bit too heavy. The review claims to be the first of its kind looking at EAKD and key outcomes for endurance […]

Brain, Carbohydrates, Clinical dietetics, Diets, Fats, Ketogenic, Nutrition in the media, Running, Sport, Weight loss

Ketogenic diets in endurance exercise (part I)

September 24, 2020 No Comments

Ketogenic diets have been used as an established treatment for epilepsy (particularly among children) for many years, but more recently there’s been a much broader interest in going ‘keto’, especially in certain dubious corners of social media. Most of the attention is based on its potential as a weight-loss tool, but there has also been a growing buzz about its capacity for performance-enhancement in endurance exercise. I’m not going to comment on the former here (especially as it has always seemed to me an unnecessarily restrictive approach to weight management…although each to their own), but I have been meaning to blog on the latter for […]

Carbohydrates, Clinical dietetics, Dairy, Diets, London, Micronutrients, Plant based, Protein, Running, Sport, Veganism

Nuggets of running wisdom (part three)

April 22, 2019 No Comments

Following on from blogs one and two, I’ll now bring this mini series of blogs to a close with four final nuggets of wisdom that have helped to inform and improve my running performance. Given my role as a dietitian, I’ve decided to finish up with some ideas on nutrition. I’m not claiming to be an expert on sports nutrition (yet!), but I’m starting to move in that direction at least, so I hope you enjoy my thoughts below. 7. Running on ‘empty’ can be a good thing When we train for a marathon, one of the key things we […]

Breakfast, Carbohydrates, Events, Hydration, London, Running, Sport

London Marathon 2017

April 24, 2017 No Comments

Reflecting on my time in South America, I mentioned that the unhealthy diet and scorching heat would probably end any hopes of beating my marathon PB this year. Despite my best efforts of catching up on return to the UK, this proved to be the case, although I was still chuffed to come in at 2h 53m, just a couple of minutes over last year’s time. Most people are familiar with the phrase ‘carb-loading’, and I always take this pursuit almost as seriously as the training itself, particularly in the days leading up to the race. Food basically becomes just fuel during […]

Carbohydrates, Fats, Heart, Mediterranean diet, Nutrition in the media, Public Health

Heart Month… and the saturated fat debate

February 17, 2015 No Comments

You may or may not be aware that we’re in the middle of Heart Month. I’m not sure if it’s got anything to do with Valentine’s and the preponderance of heart shaped tat filling shop windows, but February is the chosen month for raising awareness of this most vital of organs. A quick google search suggests USA and Canada do it in February too. Who knows – maybe we copied them. You don’t need me to tell you how important the heart is. Equally, I can’t imagine you need me to tell you that heart disease is, alongside cancer, the biggest […]