I went from a 3:17 marathon to a 2:19. From a 25:14 5K to a 14:34. And if I'm being completely honest with you — a huge part of that improvement had nothing to do with running more miles. It came from getting serious about recovery. I spent years thinking the answer was more sessions. More mileage. More intensity. And yeah, that stuff matters. But if you're not recovering properly between those sessions, you're leaving a massive amount of progress on the table. Recovery isn't a rest day. It's a discipline. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here are the 10 things that made the biggest difference — to me and to the athletes I coach every week: 1️⃣ Protein within 30 minutes of every hard session — have your shake ready before you even start. 20-24g. Don't wait until you've showered and sorted yourself out. By then, you've already missed the window. 2️⃣ Electrolytes, not just water — start every morning with a hydration tablet. The difference between feeling flat at 8km and feeling strong is often just this. 3️⃣ Good carbs before, protein after — you can't out-train a bad diet. Fuel it properly and it'll repay you on the roads. 4️⃣ Warm up and cool down every single time — I know it's boring. I know you're tight for time. But runners who skip these get injured. Runners who do them consistently stay healthy for years. 5️⃣ 8 hours of sleep — since having kids, I haven't always managed this. And I've felt every single missed hour on my runs. No app, supplement or training hack replaces sleep. 6️⃣ Yoga or mobility work once a week — when I went to my first class, I looked like a baby giraffe doing downward dog. Now I don't miss a week. Completely different runner for it. 7️⃣ Compression socks post-session — my calves used to twitch like mad after big tempos. 2-3 hours in compression socks after a hard run and it sorts itself out. 8️⃣ Legs up the wall — 30-45 minutes. Free. Simple. Works. Do it in the evening while watching TV. No extra time needed.

🏟️ Welcome back Your weekly dose of what's happening in the running world — with a coaching lens on what we can actually take from it. This week, the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń just wrapped up. And Great Britain had a historic one. This one’s performance is worth breaking down. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Keely Hodgkinson — World Indoor Champion On March 2026, she delivered one of the most controlled championship performances we’ve seen. The result: 800m gold. 1:55.30. Championship record. How she did it: She took the lead from the gun. 27.26 through 200m. 56.96 at the bell. Never looked back. Won by 1.34 seconds over Audrey Werro — a gap you almost never see at this level. Why it matters: At 24, she's the Olympic champion, the world record holder (1:54.87), and now the world indoor champion. Every expectation was on her. She didn't force it. She executed a plan and let the race come to her. The coaching takeaway: That 1.34-second winning margin didn't come from going out reckless. It came from years of controlled racing — knowing her splits, trusting her fitness, and not panicking when the pressure was highest. She ran to her plan, not to her limit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 🇬🇧 Britain's Biggest Week in Indoor Athletics It wasn't just Keely. → Georgia Hunter Bell — 1500m gold in 3:58.53 (British indoor record, world-leading time). First global title. → Molly Caudery — Pole vault gold, clearing 4.85m. Regained her world indoor title. → Josh Kerr — 3000m gold in 7:35.56 the night before. Second world indoor title. Four athletes. Four world titles. Two nights. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 💬 Be honest with me: What's your niggle? The one you've been ignoring. The one you warm up and it "goes away" so you keep running. The one you haven't told your training partner about.