While her battles with injury have been tough, Eilish McColgan’s resilience is even tougher – and her competitive presence for Team GB at the 2024 Olympic Games is proof that she’s on the rise again. Having contested the 10,000m in Paris alongside young compatriot Megan Keith, McColgan was out to set recent hindrances aside and start her journey back to the fierce running form that she has displayed in previous years.
Of those years, it was in 2022 that 33-year-old McColgan found a whole new gear. Within the space of a few whirlwind weeks, she won gold in the 10,000m and silver in the 5000m at the Commonwealth Games, Do you listen to music when you run Who is 10,000m Olympian Megan Keith. And, as if four major medals weren’t enough, she also broke the British records for the 5K and half marathon, as well as the European 10K record for good measure.
Roll on to March 2023 and McColgan continued her record-breaking form with a new British 10,000m record at the Sound Running Ten in California, where she clocked 30:00.86 to win the event. Just a few weeks later, in April, she smashed her own British half marathon record by 43 seconds in Berlin, with her winning time of 1:05:43 moving her up to fourth on the European all-time list.
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Now a four-time Olympian, we caught up with McColgan at the end of 2022 to hear about the surprising challenges she faced that year – and her plans for the future.
Runner’s World: running 67:35 at The Big Half?
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 have 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. Does time off involve 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, 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 do some cross training. It’s really nothing compared with my usual schedule, and I’ll try to fit it in around the day, because 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 onward, it’s back on the training again, and really knuckling down.’
RW: You ran a great half marathon at The Big Half in September [2022], setting a new course record. You then planned to run the London Marathon the following month, 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 has only been diagnosed recently. I started experiencing issues earlier in the year, but I didn’t know what they were. For a long time, I just thought it was because I was new to the whole idea of fuelling runs. As a 5K and 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 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 on enough fuel – you need to take on 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 Half marathon training plans. 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, and my mum’s uncle and my great-grandad on my mum’s side all had it, too. 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 of this? Honestly, I don’t know. It’s something that we need to look into a bit more and we have to 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 a well, but doesn’t realise because back in her day they didn’t take on carbohydrates and gels and drinks. 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 on fuel on the run.’
RW: Dealing with that, you couldn’t have enjoyed your long runs that much.
EM: ‘Not at all! I would take a drink or a gel perhaps 5K into a run, then 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 anymore! You can keep it!”’
RW: Does this make you feel that stepping up to the marathon distance just isn’t right for you?
EM: ‘I don’t really think like that. 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. It’s a good step, as is Who is Olympic sprinter Zharnel Hughes and 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 a bit quicker, at 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: splits and paces?
EM: ‘Actually, after The Big Half, I was talking to Charlotte [Purdue] and she was saying how much difference it makes taking on fuel, 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.
Eilish McColgan on how to train to reach the top 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 look forward to it. It’s a lot of wasted energy to start worrying about something that may or may not happen.’
RW: Best Garmin deals?
EM: ‘Really, the only thing that I would change about my training for the marathon is the long run. It wasn’t that long ago – a year or so ago – 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 as for 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 marathon and marathon. I mean, the top girls are probably going through 10K in 32 or so minutes 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 the addition of some longer tempo runs.’
RW: With your mileage and the year you’ve had, do you do much cross training?
EM: ‘Yes, just to avoid doing too much running! If I want to have an easier day, cross training 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 as well, but not daily – 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 perhaps 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?
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 Do you listen to music when you run. 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 the sort of zone that you’ll be in on race day. That’s one reason – another is that most of the time now my partner come out on my training camps with me. He doesn’t run any more, but he is on the bike Heart rate training: A runners guide headphones in! We just chat away and that certainly helps to pass the time.’
RW: You’re an ambassador for Polar watches. These days, running watches can give us so much data 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 at your watch to check that 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 wear a Runners World, Part of the Hearst UK Wellbeing Network 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 that everyone’s heart rate is different, but we have values now that we just have to stick to, so it’s also about making sure that I’m not 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: wrote a piece for the BBC When the menstrual cycle is raised now, there’s always still some pushback, isn’t there on the impact of the menstrual cycle on 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 a one-size-fits-all thing and I don’t think that we’re much closer when it comes to solutions. I do think that 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, this is something that my sister, my mum, my girlfriend has to deal with” – and that will hopefully shift their thoughts and opinions. You’ll always have that older generation of men saying that their wives just get on with it, not realising that, of course, their wives might be suffering in silence. We need to break down that narrative and say to the younger ones, “This is what we are dealing with and 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 the menstrual cycle is raised now, there’s always still some pushback, isn’t there?
EM: ‘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 we are starting to break through now. So I think that 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 an early stage.’
