I see George fairly regularly, running at the speed of light round streets of Winchester or lapping me on the track. I'm looking forward to seeing what else is to come for this very talented runner.
I’m a plumber and gas engineer living in Winchester. I run for Winchester and District AC and am coached by Tom Craggs.
I was at the pub on a Thursday night with some mates and one them was running the Brighton marathon that Sunday. His other friend had pulled out and asked if I wanted to do it. I managed to get round in one piece and quite enjoyed it! I went back and ran for charity the following year and that’s when I really caught the bug.
I raced quite a lot before lockdown. Earlier this year I came 2nd at Stubbington 10km. I also ran Armagh 5k which was great fun although I had a nasty fall. I managed to just about to salvage the trip with a 14:59. And just before lockdown I grabbed a new PB at London big half with 67:17.
My training changes a lot throughout the year and we often change it as the week goes on depending on how I’m feeling, but a normal week would be something along the lines of
Mon AM 1hr easy
PM Strength and Conditioning (S&C)
Tues AM 40 min shake out
PM Tempo/Shorter rep session
Weds AM 80 mins easy
PM S&C
Thurs AM 40min shake out
PM Tempo blocks or threshold run
Fri Rest.
Sat 60 mins easy with drills and strides after.
Sun Long run up to 20 miles.
My favourite session has got to be mile reps, either on the track or road, I don’t mind which. I just love that kind of effort and intensity. Although I do love a good long tempo run as well.
Lock down has affected me massively due to the fact my work has reduced a lot. I am spending most days at home all day which is weird for me but I’m trying to take positives from it and keeping fit and healthy.
I think my best performance was Valencia marathon 2019. I went into that race the fittest I’ve been in my life. I felt great going through halfway but had some stomach issues and a serious stitch which had me stopping three times at about 23 miles. It took some serious words with myself to keep at it and I ran a huge PB of 2:23:59. Not the time I was aiming for, but I couldn’t be prouder of how hard I worked for that.
My worst performance has got to be Highgate ‘Night of 10k PBs’ in 2018. I felt good for about 4 laps. Then it was a 21 lap suffer fest. That one hurt.
I love my Nike Pegasus. It’s a trusty work horse of a shoe. The Nike Vaporfly are alright as well.
I’d recommend Let your Mind Run by Deana Kastor. Or Running with the Buffaloes by Chris Lear. They’re both good running books.
I’ve lost my running mojo by being too stressed with other things going on, work or moving etc. Then training seemed another thing to squeeze in. I eased off sessions and just ran when I felt like it and just to clear my head, not to get faster. Then it becomes fun again and it all becomes easier.
I don’t follow a special diet as such, but I am vegetarian, and I like to eat whole foods and I make sure I’m getting plenty of the right kind of food when I need it most and lots of carbs.
My running philosophy is ‘train with your head, race with your heart’. I do need to remind myself of this sometimes though.
I’m not really passionate about any other sport the way I am about running. I enjoy cycling and love following Formula 1 racing.
Managing an injury at the moment is strange. There’s never a good time to be injured but this year is probably the year to do it. I’ve been keeping fit on the spin bike and going out for long rides. Now it’s a mix of cycling and running which will gradually work up to normal mileage.
You can find George on Instagram @kinger93 and twitter @georgeking93.
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