Garmin
A GPS running watch and the HRM-600 chest strap. Routes go on as GPX files before a race, and the strap gives better heart-rate data than the wrist.
How I use it. Every run and every strength session. Race routes loaded the week before.
Reignite Your Life · pillar
Health
What I take, what I recover with, what I listen to and where I run. My days are built around training for ultras. Most start with breathwork and, when I’m brave, a cold plunge, then a good mug of coffee and some reading before I head out for a run. I’m also trying to fit in more strength and mobility work, though given the choice I’d rather just put my trainers on. I plan the day around my energy, so the important work happens between 9 and 12.
2 in Library20 in Tools2 in Audio8 in Trails
Tools 20
Strava
The app most runners use to record, compare and share training. Mine goes back years: morning runs around Greenwich Park, the O2 loop, the Thames Barrier, and race days.
How I use it. Everything is public. Follow along.
Wim Hof Method app
Guided breathing rounds, a cold-exposure log and mobility sessions, built around Wim Hof’s method of breathing, cold and commitment.
How I use it. Breathing early most mornings, then a three-minute cold plunge when I’m brave. On long-run mornings I usually skip it.
HigherDOSE Infrared PEMF Mat
An infrared heat mat with pulsed electromagnetic field coils, from a US brand. I bought mine through Healf, with the cover.
How I use it. Recovery afternoons after the Saturday long run. Feet up.
Cold plunge
A MyoMaster ice bath with the chiller unit, in my garden.
How I use it. When I’m brave, 3 degrees for 3 minutes, after the breathing.
Nurosym
A wearable from Parasym, a London company, that sends gentle electrical impulses to the vagus nerve through the ear, in timed sessions run from the app. Parasym say it is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
How I use it. Every day. I find it keeps me calm and focused.
BodyView
DEXA body composition scans: a low-dose X-ray scan that measures fat, lean muscle and bone, region by region, with the report in an online dashboard.
How I use it. I book a scan every few months to track my body fat, muscle and weight through the training year. The scales give me one number; the scan shows what that number is made of, and whether the training is building muscle or just burning it.
Randox Health Everyman
A broad blood test from Randox Health, taken at one of their clinics, with results released to their app over the following days.
How I use it. I have it twice a year to track my blood markers through the training year. Seeing the same markers side by side over time tells me far more than one result on its own, and it means I spot a trend early rather than waiting until something feels wrong.
Slant board
A wooden board that puts your heels below your toes, for calf stretching and loaded lower-leg strength work.
How I use it. Slant Sessions, Level 1: the knee and lower-body strength programme I do, typically on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings.
Salomon
Trail shoes and the race vest, the pack that has to carry the mandatory kit, water and food for a day on the hills.
How I use it. Every trail race.
Saucony
Running shoes: the Xodus Ultra 4 for the trails and the Endorphin Azura for the road.
How I use it. My shoes for road and trail runs.
Gymwash
A laundry powder made for sportswear, from a UK brand, sold in 900g bags.
How I use it. All my training kit, to avoid softeners damaging it.
Bare Biology
A UK supplement brand, batch-tested and sold direct from their site. What I buy: Life & Soul omega-3 fish oil capsules, High Flyer creatine monohydrate and Ready & Rested magnesium bisglycinate.
How I use it. Creatine in the morning, the omega-3 with breakfast or dinner, and magnesium at dinner.
Green Vibrance
A greens powder from Vibrant Health: cereal grasses, spirulina and chlorella, vegetables, herbs, fibre and a probiotic blend in one scoop. I buy it from Water for Health, its UK stockist.
How I use it. A scoop goes into my morning protein shake. I’ve trusted it for a long time, and it’s the simplest way I know to get greens in before the day gets going.
Time Health
A UK brand selling single ingredients at stated doses, direct from their site. What I buy: NAC, MSM, Lion’s Mane and a curcumin extract.
How I use it. Taken in the morning or the evening, depending on the supplement.
Simple Science
A UK brand with short ingredient lists and lab testing on every batch. What I buy: Alpha GPC, trans-resveratrol and nicotinamide riboside.
How I use it. Typically in the morning, so I start the day focused.
Veloforte
Energy bars, chews and gels made from real food. What I buy: Avanti bars, Nero chews and Rosso gels.
How I use it. Long-run and race fuel, Saturday mornings and race days.
Hunter & Gather
A UK brand built on real-food ingredients and no seed oils. What I buy: the olive oil and avocado oil mayonnaise.
How I use it. Great for making healthy sauces.
Fussy
Natural deodorant in a refillable case with compostable refills, and body wash sold as refills, from an East London brand.
How I use it. On subscription, so the refills just turn up. Body wash in Sicilian Lemon, Rhubarb Rush and Juicy Peach.
SURI
A sonic electric toothbrush with plant-based replaceable heads and a UV case, from a London brand that takes used heads back. I use their refillable toothpaste with nano-hydroxyapatite too.
How I use it. The Pro 2.0, morning and night, with heads on subscription. New to me in autumn 2026, so I’ll update this as I go.
Library 2
Mindfulness
Mark Williams and Danny Penman · 2011
An eight-week course of short daily meditations, ten to twenty minutes a day, from an Oxford professor of clinical psychology and a journalist. It is built on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, and the book links to guided audio meditations for each week. If you are struggling, speak to your GP.
What I took from itA doctor recommended it to me when I was struggling with depression and anxiety. Eight weeks that, like the IBS audio programme, were life changing for me.
The Metabolic Factor
A diet programme from nutritionist Jonny Bowden: a quick-start guide, meal plans and a book of ten-minute meals.
How I use it. Excellent principles for health and wellness, with quick start guides and trackers.
Audio 2
IBS Audio Program 100
A gut-directed hypnotherapy course from clinical hypnotherapist Michael Mahoney: recorded sessions you listen to at home on a set schedule over 100 days. If you have gut symptoms, see your GP for a diagnosis before starting a programme like this.
How I use it. In my early twenties I had IBS that was sometimes debilitating, and anyone who has it will know it’s just awful. I’ve rarely had an issue since listening to this. For me, it was life changing.
Huberman Lab
Andrew Huberman, a Stanford neuroscientist, on science-based tools for sleep, training, focus and health.
How I use it. One of my podcast subscriptions.
Trails 8
Done · 2026
Ultra X Madeira
Madeira, Portugal110 km over two stages
Called off at the final checkpoint for weather.
ResultUnofficial 10th overall
Trained for it in Snowdonia, and with laps of Greenwich Park in full race kit.
Done · 2022 and 2025
Dragon’s Back Race
Wales, Conwy to Cardiff380 km over six days
First attempt 2022: didn’t finish. Back in 2025, and finished.
Result87th of 278 · 86:00:40Full results ↗ · 2022 results ↗
Bonkers hard, as the event director put it, and I still can’t quite believe I got through. In the end it came down to being in the moment and not looking at my watch. Knowing how far I’d come would have told me how far I still had to go, and that would have broken me.
Done · 2025
Serpent Trail 75k
South Downs, England75 km
Result6th of 105, 3rd man · 7:52:37Full results ↗
A surprise. I ran it as a B race to prepare for the Dragon’s Back and didn’t expect to be competitive.
Done · 2022 to 2025
Great Lakeland 3Day
Lake District, EnglandA range of courses each day
Three days in the Lakeland fells. Each morning you choose your course from a range of distances, so every day is a choose-your-own-adventure. The event is taking a pause in 2026.
Entered · 3 to 4 April 2027
Lakes Traverse
Lake District, England, St Bees to Shap100 km
Getting some quality time in the Lake District, and part of my preparation for Ultra X South Africa later in the year.
Entered · 2027
Ultra X South Africa, Max
Western Cape, South AfricaAbout 330 km over six stages
Entry asks for your race history. I put down the Dragon’s Back, and that was enough.
37 parkruns
parkrun
Thames Path, Woolwich, and Piggly Wiggly, South Africa5 km
Where I go for a small dose of competition, and to benchmark where I am in my training.
| Date | Event | Time | Place | Age grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 Oct 2026 | Thames Path, Woolwich | 19:42 | 2nd of 256 | 72.00% |
| 29 Aug 2026 | Piggly Wiggly, South Africa | 22:21 | 1st of 169 | 63.46% |
| 22 Aug 2026 | Thames Path, Woolwich | 19:08 | 7th of 297 | 74.13% |
Thames Path best 18:53 · My Strava ↗All my parkrun results ↗
4 halves
Road half marathons
Hilton, Luxembourg, Dublin and Brussels21.1 km
Three city halves in Europe in 2014 and 2015, then a long gap. I needed something really scary to train for, and that’s when I spotted the Dragon’s Back to get me back into serious training mileage.
| Date | Race | Time | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Jan 2026 | Hilton Harriers Half, KZN | 1:37:20 | 25th overall, undulating course |
| Aug 2015 | Rock ’n’ Roll Dublin | Not recorded | Tough on minimal training |
| 30 May 2015 | ING Night Marathon Luxembourg (half) | About 1:35 | Night race, minimal training |
| 5 Oct 2014 | Belfius Brussels Half | About 1:31 | Top 1,000, just off a sub-90 |
Hilton is my watch time; the older ones are from memoryMy Strava ↗
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This is not medical advice. It is what I use and why. Consult your doctor before starting a supplement, device or new routine, especially if you have a health condition or take medication.