Sport – Page 3 – Tom Hollis Health

Five lessons from London Marathon 2019 (including how not to run it)

May 7, 2019 No Comments

It’s now been a week or so since I staggered over the finish line on The Mall, and I’ve been enjoying not breaking out of walking pace since then (I couldn’t have if I’d tried for the first three days). But while I’m just starting to think about lacing up the trainers again and getting going on the next challenge (nailing my 5K PB this summer), I think it’s a good opportunity to reflect on the big day and what I learned from it. Setting off too fast Training had gone well, tapering had been sensible, and the weather was […]

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 […]

Running, Sport

Nuggets of running wisdom (part two)

March 19, 2019 No Comments

Following up on part one, here are the next set of nuggets of wisdom which have helped to transform the way I look at running. These three are all focused on specific elements of a training regimen. 4. Park runs = helpful I always used to think running training had to be really specific. In other words, if you’re training for a marathon, all training sessions have to be focused on going long, or at least long-ish. Only if you’re training for short or middle distances would you bother with high intensity, short duration training, right? Wrong. Very wrong. In order […]

Running, Sport

Nuggets of running wisdom (part one)

March 10, 2019 No Comments

Well, that came along quickly…it’s now just FIFTY days until the London Marathon 2019. After getting fed up with relentless training from 2013 to 2017, I took a year off marathoning last year, and it has had the desired effect of making me return with a fresh focus and love for it. But, determined not to fall into old bad habits, I have decided to become a ‘student of the sport’, learning from experts and putting a lot more thought into training rather than going hell for leather on every run, slowly sapping my reserves and enthusiasm in the process. […]

Clinical dietetics, Running, Sport

Sports nutrition (and combining passions)

February 12, 2019 No Comments

I’ve always loved sport. In fact, some (my wife) would say I’m obsessed with it, based on what must seem like an endless stream of ‘unmissable’ action from around the globe (test match cricket is particularly rewarding for truly year-round entertainment). But it’s not just the watching that floats my boat. If I go more than a couple of days without going for a decent run or some serious physical exertion (ideally with a competitive element), I get very crabby. So that’s most of my spare time covered, but my day job is of course centred around nutrition, and primarily […]

Events, Hydration, London, Running, Sport

Marathon blues

April 17, 2018 No Comments

I’ve got the marathon blues. Last year’s final few weeks of long training runs were so punishing that I’d made up my mind long before race day that I’d be taking the following year off. More importantly, I then stubbornly stuck to that decision despite the euphoria that followed. So, I won’t be running London on Sunday, and it will mark my first year in six without a marathon. With my usual home town half in Bath also cancelled this year due to that (first) ridiculous week of spring snow, the only organised runs I’ve been doing are Park Runs. […]

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 […]