Events – 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 […]

Events, London, Running, Sport

Marathon memory lane part 2

May 9, 2021 No Comments

3. London, April 2016 Time: 2:51:29 Halfway: 1:26:57 With: John Conditions: Freakishly perfect. Sunny and cold again Fresh from breaking 3 in Rotterdam, I waited eagerly for the London Marathon Good for Age entries to open in August 2015, and secured my place for 2016. I’d been living in London for 8 or 9 years by that point, had been in the marathon crowd most years, and half-heartedly applied (unsuccessfully) for a ballot place a couple of times too. So, this definitely felt like my home race, and a big moment. I was working in central London by this point […]

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 […]

Diets, Events, Fibre, Micronutrients, Nutrition in the media, Plant based, Protein, Public Health, Research, Sport, Veganism

Veganuary 2021

January 10, 2021 No Comments

Veganuary is back, and more popular than ever, with over 500,000 people signing up in 2021. Inevitably this also means more backlash than ever from the closed-minded meat-chompers who feel threatened by plant-based diets, but I find it’s best not to rise to the red-faced haters! If this pandemic has taught us one thing, it is hopefully that we should never take our environment, wildlife, or health for granted. OK, so those are three things really, but nevertheless, they are also the three main reasons that people choose to go plant-based. And unlike Dry January, which, although important, only serves […]

Clinical dietetics, Events, London, Public Health, Running, Sport

2020: An unforgettable year as a runner…and ICU Dietitian (part 2/2)

January 2, 2021 No Comments

July and August The second half of the year started in a similar fashion to June – just enjoying being in good shape and the very gradual easing of lockdown restrictions and return to some semblance of normality across the UK. This included our ‘Last Man Stands’ cricket season belatedly getting underway, albeit with lots of hand gel, elbow bump wicket celebrations and socially distanced team photos. I developed and delivered ‘introduction to running nutrition’ webinars to local running clubs and had a great response. We were also able to escape London and get a proper change of scenery for […]

Clinical dietetics, Events, London, Nutrition in the media, Public Health, Running, Sport

2020: An unforgettable year as a runner…and ICU dietitian (part 1/2)

December 31, 2020 No Comments

Perhaps a little self-indulgent, but this year has been unforgettable for all the right and mostly wrong reasons, so here’s my month-by-month recap. I’m lucky that running is a constant in my life, and something I can turn to on even the hardest of days, so I’ve based this blog around that. January: Starting the year buzzing with optimism but still burdened by my terrible sense of direction, I got lost and missed the start of Whitstable parkrun, but caught up from the back and swore this year was definitely going to be the year I got to my first […]

Events, London, Running, Sport

Running in 2020 / virtual races

September 5, 2020 No Comments

So virtual races are now a thing, and they’ve certainly stirred up some strong opinions out there in the running community. Here are mine! (Apologies for the London bias of this piece) Overall, I think it’s a positive move. It’s all well and good using running for routine, relaxation and to stay sane (and I can say with some certainty that I would have struggled to achieve any of those 3 in 2020 without it), but competition is important. For some people, keeping fit, pushing themselves in training or following a strict schedule are sufficient running goals in themselves, but […]

Events, Running, Sport, Uncategorized

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 […]