British marathoner Charlotte Purdue is preparing for the heat of Doha at next month’s World Championships. Before she set off, we sat down with her to talk about the highs and lows of her running career so far, and take a peek at her training diary.
The kit she can't live without:
Shoes: 'My everyday training shoes are Nike Structures or Pegasus Turbos. I’m pretty sure I’ll be wearing the NEXT% [in Doha]. I’ve worn the Vaporfly 4% for all my other races, I love them. I won the Big Half in them and at London, so they’re my lucky shoes, but they’re getting a bit old now and I need to move on!’
Watch: ‘I have a Garmin that plays music, but I can’t remember what particular model it is.
But, really, the only time I listen to music is when I’m on the treadmill – I’m usually running with people so I don’t actually listen to music on those occasions.’
Tools: ‘When I’m travelling I take a small resistance band for activation exercises that I can do in my room, and my foam roller is an absolute necessity – I don’t know what I’d do without it!’
Age-grading calculator for runners.
Resistance bands
Nutrition
Breakfast: ‘Usually oats. I add protein powder, nuts and seeds to make them more interesting. I always have coffee in the morning before I run, after I run…and right throughout the day!’
Lunch: ‘Sometimes a salad, or poached or scrambled eggs on toast, or sushi if I’m at training and I need to pick up something. I eat fairly light as I’m always training again in the afternoon.’
Dinner: ‘Rice, sweet potato or pasta if I have a big session the next day. I eat chicken and a lot of fish and veg. Evening meals are quite boring: I don’t want to wake up feeling heavy before I run.’
Snacks: ‘Greek yoghurt, dark chocolate, nuts, seeds, rice crackers with peanut butter. I like making smoothies, as well. I also eat a lot of cereal without milk during the day.’
Bryn Lennon//Getty Images
A typical training week:
Monday: ‘Mens Health resistance bands 5 pack, £19.99.’
Tuesday: ‘Intervals. Usually shorter reps – 1km, or a mixture of 1km and 500m reps at around my 10K race pace.’
Wednesday: ‘Recovery day with two easy runs. Also a quick gym session – a 30-min circuit with a resistance band or kettlebell. But no heavy weights or squats – I don’t want to make my legs too tired for running sessions.’
Thursday: ‘Marathon-specific session, something like 5 x 3km at marathon pace with a 3-minute rest or 1km jog recovery, and sometimes a straight tempo, 10km, 15km or 20km, depending on where I am in the build-up. And then a second easy run.’
Friday: ‘One easy run of around an hour, or two shorter easy runs. Sometimes I’ll do gym, but it depends on how I feel after Thursday.’
Saturday: ‘A mix of long and short, such as a longish tempo (8km), and then something like 1-min hill reps, or two fast 1kms. And a second easy run.’
Sunday: ‘Long run. In the marathon build-up I get up to two and a half hours. It’s usually quite an easy pace, but sometimes I’ll do the last half hour at marathon pace.’
