As an athlete, my goal is to achieve optimal performance, and I'm always looking for new ways to improve myself. I'm constantly learning and spending hours in the evenings researching ways to improve my performance; I have recently discovered the importance of sleep quality, hydration, fuelling, oral hygiene, and gum health. It's been a revelation how amazing I feel now while drinking water throughout the day.
I have developed a love for trail running and racing, and being surrounded by nature. The connection I feel with my surroundings is a unique experience for me. I really believe I can excel at this sport. However, I also enjoy competing in athletics, and I find myself drawn to the cross-country race circuit as well. Additionally, I have progressed with 10k and half marathon racing on the road. I am torn between these different types of racing as I enjoy them all equally, but I need to decide what to focus on for the 2024 season. Along with my dilemma, I faced a fueling issue during my Rocacorbba Trail Running race.
So, my team and I decided it would be a good idea to get a clearer picture of my current health and fitness and what distance I am more suited to by conducting Sports Performance Testing to identify areas where I could improve.
This will help my coaches, Terry Skelton and Stella Bandu, prescribe my training sessions and assemble my race diary for 2024.
I've only been on my athletic journey for four years, so I haven't had the same experience as many peers who have raced as juniors and experienced racing at the English Schools' junior national level. However, with the help of the testing, I hope this may indicate the distances I should concentrate on that are more suited to my physiology.
I made the long journey North from Sussex with my coach Stella, who kindly accompanied me for the testing.
During my visit to Leeds Beckett University, I was hosted by Daniel Snape, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Sport and Exercise Physiology within the Centre for Human Performance. A big thank you to Daniel, who pulled together a team of colleagues specialising in various areas at short notice, allowing me to make the most of the day.
I had a complete set of bespoke multidisciplinary services, including a body composition scan examining my bone density, blood screening to check different health markers, cardiac screening to check my heart health, complete one-to-one dietary analysis, and a running physiological profile.
The running physiological profile assessment involved a submaximal protocol and a VO2 max assessment. This will help identify my training zones based on lactate thresholds and VO2 max, allowing my coaches to optimise and fine-tune my training. It will also allow me to repeat the testing to see how my physiology has changed.
Daniel is now profiling me as a runner to see what distances I'm more suited towards.
The Carnegie School of Sport is one of the largest sports providers in UK higher education. They are home to world-leading experts and have had decades of successful graduates. They work closely with Olympians, British Athletics, and elite sports clubs, and I was thrilled to have the opportunity to be part of their testing program.
Daniel and his team work with various groups, including British Athletics, England Athletics, British Triathlon, and multiple individuals, from professional to recreational athletes. They are experts in their field and gave me invaluable insights into my physiology and how I can improve my performance.
In part two of this blog, I will provide more details about the testing, discuss my results, and how I will use this information to move forward with my 2024 race season.
Find out how testing at the Carnegie School of Sport can help you.
Best, David.
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