Yahoo Finance How I train: British half marathon record holder Eilish McColgan on how to get to the top
Eilish McColgan's record-breaking form continues, as she smashes her own British half marathon record by 43 seconds at the Berlin Half Marathon (Sunday 2 April 2023). She crossed the finish line in 1:05:43 to take the win, moving her to number four on the European all-time list.
It comes just a few weeks after the 32-year-old set a new British 10,000m record at the Sound Running Ten in California, where she clocked 30:00.86 to win the event.
Last year, McColgan seemed to find a whole new gear. In the space of a few whirlwind weeks, she won the Commonwealth Games 10,000m and was silver medallist in the 5000m, then followed it up with a pair of European Championships medals. And if four major medals wasn’t enough, she also broke the British records in the 5K, 10K and half marathon, and the European 10K record for good measure.
Currently in training for the London Marathon, where she'll make her marathon debut next month, you wouldn’t bet against more record breaking being on the cards.
We caught up with McColgan at the end of last year to hear about the surprising challenges she faced over a year filled with records and medals, and her plans for the year ahead.
Runner’s World: You had an incredible 2022. Looking back on it, does it feel a bit like a dream?
Eilish McColgan: ‘It’s funny – it was actually a really up-and-down year. I had Covid, then I got laryngitis, then I got a hamstring injury and then I went into three championships, and all through that I’ve been having a fuelling issue during long runs. So I know from the outside it looks like I had a fantastic year and, yes, obviously, I am really happy with it. But there’s also definitely been a lot of challenges along the way.’
RW: It’s always interesting to ask elite athletes how much time off they have, and if that actually really means no running at all?
EM: ‘Actually, in the past, when I’ve tried to take time off completely, I’d get injured. I think my body is so used to exercising hard and running that the worst thing I can do would be to take weeks off entirely. My achilles, my ligaments and tendons would all just start seizing up. But I hope most casual runners wouldn’t have that same issue.
I do always take a good couple of days off entirely to start with. Usually, I’d plan a holiday with my partner Michael [Rimmer, former GB Olympian and middle-distance runner]. We’ll go somewhere that’s pretty relaxing and chilled out. After that, I’ll start to exercise on alternate days. I might just go for a really easy 20-minute jog, and then I’ll have maybe another two days off. Or I might go on a spin bike for 20 minutes, or I might cross-train. It’s really nothing compared with my usual schedule, and I’ll try to fit it in around the day, as if we’re somewhere new we like to go and explore properly.
Then the following two weeks are pretty flexible. I’ll be back running every day, but also trying to fit in sponsor events or other commitments. Then, from October or November onwards, it’s back on the training again, and really knuckling down.’
RW: You ran a great half marathon at the Big Half in September, setting a new course record, and were planning to run the London Marathon in October but had to pull out. Was that due to the fuelling issues?
EM: ‘Yes. And it’s not something I’d ever come across, to be honest, it’s only been diagnosed recently. Earlier in the year, I started experiencing issues but I didn’t know what it was. For a long time, I just thought it was because I was new to the whole idea of fuelling runs. As a 5K/10K runner, I’ve obviously done longer runs, but not so long that I need to fuel during them; I’d just have my normal breakfast and then head out.
I was feeling awful after fuelling, but the trouble is, as an athlete, you’re used to just trying to battle on and muscle your way through. But it was getting worse and worse. I spoke to experts and they all said, “Well, you aren’t taking enough fuel, you need to take more, more, more,” and that was just making it even worse. Eventually, I thought, something isn’t right here. So we got in touch with another expert and he reckoned the issue was this thing called rebound hyperglycaemia.’
RW: Does that mean that your blood sugar actually gets lower after fuel – or food?
EM: ‘Yes, and I’ve got two brothers who are diabetic, so I realised what he was describing was something like what they go through. So from that standpoint, I kind of understood it, because I know what my brothers have to face. It’s a similar mechanism but, with me, it’s only when I run and take on drinks and gels. I don’t get it otherwise. I can do an 18-mile run with no fuel and it’s totally fine. It’s a bit unusual and still very strange to me.
But it’s clearly genetic – my cousin is diabetic, my mum’s uncle, my great-grandad on my mum’s side all had it. So diabetes, unfortunately, genetically runs in my family. I’ve got four siblings – my two younger brothers are diabetic and then the two youngest are totally fine. So is that a factor in all this? Honestly, I don’t know. It’s all something that we need to look into a bit more and do a whole load of tests now that we have this kind of diagnosis. Sadly, it all came a bit late for me to do the London Marathon in the autumn, though.'
RW: The genetic link is really interesting given your mum’s amazing career. Did she ever have similar issues?
EM: ‘To be honest, I think my mum probably did or does have it, too, but just doesn’t realise because back in her day, they didn’t take on carbohydrates and gels and drinks anyway. The only thing she used when she ran was watered-down Gatorade. But she did try a gel the other day and she really didn’t get on with it at all! So yes, I think she probably has got it, too, but without realising just because she’s never had to take fuel on board on the run.’
RW: Dealing with all that, you can’t have enjoyed your long runs much.
EM: ‘Not at all! I would take a drink or a gel perhaps 5km into a run and I’d get to about eight miles and start feeling horrific. Yet, I could do 18 miles with nothing and feel great. But it got to the point with the fuel that I was like, “I’m not doing this any more.” I gave it all back to my boyfriend and said, “I ain’t drinking that any more! You can keep it!”’
RW: Does all this make you feel that perhaps stepping up to the marathon distance just isn’t right for you?
EM: ‘I don’t really think like that. I think at the end of the day, my attitude is more like: I could get hit by a bus tomorrow and never run again; you just never know what’s around the corner. So I don’t like to set a limit on what I feel I’m capable of doing. I think the fact that I’m on 18 miles without any fuel at all bodes well in itself, like it’s a good step. As is running 67:35 at the Big Half and also pacing at the London Marathon – I paced Molly Seidel to 17 miles at 2:25 pace in 2020 with no fuel, and Charlotte Purdue to halfway in 2021 actually a bit quicker, in 2:23 pace, again with no fuel. So that gives me enough confidence that if we can get the fuel right, there’s no reason why my body shouldn’t be able to do it.’
RW: Have you had any good advice from other marathon runners?
EM: ‘Actually, after the Big Half, I was talking to Charlotte and she was saying how much difference she finds taking on fuel makes, and how it makes her feel better and stronger, and how it will make a big difference if I can find something suitable for me. And I think I get my confidence from other people, from talking to people like her who have more knowledge about this than I do.
But I was nervous to even move up to the half marathon, I wasn’t sure if that would go well, then it did. I was the same over the 10K, too, and that went well. So I feel like this is just another new challenge and a new stepping stone. I suppose I’m just trying to think positively and looking forward to it. It’s a lot of wasted energy to start worrying about something that may or may not happen.’
RW: How has your training changed as you’ve stepped up from middle distance to now eyeing that debut full marathon?
EM: ‘Really, the only thing that I would change about my training for marathons is the long run. It wasn’t that long ago – a year or so – that a long run for me was 12 miles. So that’s the area to really focus on – building up that long run, probably to something like 22 miles.
But the actual training sessions… I’m naturally quite a strong athlete rather than a speedy one, which means a lot of my sessions are geared towards the longer distances anyway, so I don’t think my interval sessions have really changed a huge amount. It’s still really important to have that 10K speed for a half and into a marathon – I mean, the top girls are probably going through in 32-odd minutes for 10K in the marathon, then keeping going! That means it’s still important for me to have that 10K element in there. So it’s really just the long runs and maybe just the addition of some longer tempos.’
RW: With your mileage and the year you’ve had, do you do much cross-training?
EM: ‘Yes, it’s just to avoid doing too much running! If I want to have an easier day, it just lessens your heart rate – it’s easier to keep it lower on the cross trainer because there’s no impact. There’s less stress going through the body and it reduces injuries, too. It’s a huge component of my schedule.
I use a treadmill, too – not every day, again it’s a supplementary thing to running outside. I’ve got seven screws and a metal plate in my left foot so if the weather is really bad, I might not risk going out. And if I have a key training session and need to hit the paces ahead of a race, sometimes I’ll do that inside because you can’t get that same quality when you’re battling into the wind. Of course, it depends on the time of year – we train a lot in Dubai and there might be days when I go on the treadmill just to offload and not stress the body out too much because it’s so hot. I also run on trails, again to try to offset a little so you’re not having the impact all the time that you would on tarmac. I think a lot of people maybe make the mistake of trying to run on a hard surface all the time – it’s just an added stress for the legs.’
RW: Do you listen to music when you run? On the treadmill or even outside?
EM: ‘When I’m doing hard intervals outside, I don’t listen to music just because my mum stopped us doing it when we were kids at the track. She hated it because she wanted us to be able to hear her giving information on splits and paces. And it is important for us to be able to hear our coach when we’re training. So I suppose even as an adult, I’ve got into the habit of not having anything in my ears. Plus, on race day, you can’t have that. So on your hard efforts, you want to be in that sort of zone that you will be on race day.
That’s one reason, but also, most of the time now my partner is actually able to come out on my training camps with me now. He doesn’t run any more, but he’s on the bike alongside me and so it would be a little bit unsociable if I had headphones in! We just chat away and that certainly helps the time pass.’
RW: You’re an ambassador for Polar watches. These days, running watches can give us so many metrics about our running – how much attention do you pay to all that information?
EM: ‘For me, it’s all about the heart rate. When I’m in a recovery period, I’m a lot more relaxed, just because it really doesn’t matter. I’m not looking for a fitness boost, and I’m not training hard during that time. I know that during that period, my heart rate will be low anyway. But it’s more important when I build back into serious training, because I have to make sure that my hard days are hard and the easy days are easy.’
RW: How often do you look to your watch to check you aren’t overworking?
EM: ‘I think a lot of people get sucked into just doing everything hard. And you can get away with that for a couple of weeks, maybe even a couple of months, but eventually you dig yourself into a hole that you can’t get out of. So, for me, that’s where the heart rate becomes really important. For instance, with all the cross-training, it’s making sure that it’s not taking away from my priority, which is my running. I have a heart-rate strap, a monitor alongside my watch as it’s a bit more accurate. So I like to wear that on cross-training days just to make sure that I’m in the right heart-rate zone.
I suppose I’ve just learned over the years what works for me. I know everyone’s heart rate is different, but we have values now that we just have to stick to so it’s also making sure that I’m not just dilly-dallying – it’s very easy to go on a cross trainer and not really do much! I want to make sure I’m getting enough out of that session to justify doing it, but at the same time not overdoing it. That’s where heart rate really comes into it, and it’s a key area for me.’
RW: Talking of tracking things, you wrote a piece for the BBC last year about the impact the menstrual cycle can have for female athletes. Have you seen any new research about it since then?
EM: ‘Not a huge amount, I feel. There is research going on, but perhaps not as much as we’d like. Of course, it’s not one-size-fits-all and I think we’re not much closer when it comes to solutions. I do think there’s been a much more open conversation than I’ve ever seen before, though, which is great. I just hope that the next generation coming through don’t have to go through this same kind of farce of trying to work out what’s best for them. We should have solutions by then. For me, talking about it has been really important and I hope that the conversation continues. Of course, we’ll always have men stuck in their ways who just say, “Crack on,” but they aren’t the ones who have to go through it. Hopefully, it’s educating the younger men who are coming through to read all this and realise, “Oh, okay, this is something that my sister, my mum, my girlfriend has to deal with.” That will hopefully shift their thoughts and opinions. You’ll always have that older generation saying, “Well, my wife just gets on with it,” not realising that, of course, his wife might well be suffering in silence. We need to break down that narrative and say to the younger ones, “This is what we are dealing with, we aren’t making a fuss, this is just real life, this is reality. And your sister, your wife, your mum: every one of them has had to go through it at some point.”’
RW: When it’s raised now, there’s always still some pushback, isn’t there?
‘Yes, and it’s also being aware that when it comes to sport, it can affect someone’s performance. In the past, there’s been an attitude of, “They are just making an excuse or making it up.” But they aren’t trying to justify it, they’re just telling you. I think that’s really important to get across and I think we are starting to break through now. So I think the more people who do speak out, the better. There’s still so much research to do, but it’s good that there’s a more open conversation now and perhaps also more practical things, such as apps, that girls can use from early on.'
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