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Today we interviewed Ross Murray, a young charismatic 29 year old runner, with an incredible Olympic athletic career under his name. Ross Murray made his Olympic debut at London 2012. He got into running at the age of eight, made the England team at 14 and GB team at only 16!
Ross Murray had to give up racing due to continued injuries but still runs on his own time. The discipline and passion it takes to reach the elite athlete level is extraordinary, so we were thrilled for the opportunity to interview Ross Murray and learn from his routine during confinement.
You were sick last week with COVID-19 like symptoms! How did you treat yourself? What was it like for you?
Well, I don’t want to say for sure that I was COVID-19 positive but there’s certainly a good chance! It was very odd, like no illness I’ve had before. I lost all sense of smell and taste for one, which was very annoying as I fancy myself as a good cook!
Aside from that, I had headaches, couldn’t focus, fatigue and a dry cough. However the weirdest thing was that this has persisted for 2 weeks and has come in waves, I would be ok for a day or two, then really bad for a day or two. Hopefully I’m out the other end now and I can get back to training!
What does your routine look like during COVID 19?
7:30am – Alarm goes off
8:00am – Have a cup of tea and breakfast & bring myself up to speed with what is happening in the world
9:00am – Start work
11:30am – Workout, i.e. go for a run or in house circuits
12:30pm – Lunch
1:00pm – 5:30pm: Work
6:00pm – Relax, watch tv (Tiger King) and unwind.
I’ve tried to keep as much normality as possible, this even extends to no alcohol mid-week and save it all for the weekend.
As an ex Olympic athlete runner, what advice do you have for beginners who are now running more frequently?
The biggest piece of advice I would have is to start easy! The biggest mistake I see runners making is they start running and do too much too soon, and what happens? They get injured. Think about where you want to be in 3-6 months, not 3-6 weeks. You want to remain injury free so that it stays fun and the journey is enjoyable!
Injuries are almost inevitable in an athlete’s life, how do you prevent them and how do you care for yourself when injured?
Again, this goes back to my previous point. You HAVE to manage the overload in training in a sensible way. Even when you’re in big blocks of training, you have to adapt it in times when your work or social life becomes more hectic. Continuously re-evaluating your training program with your coach is key to staying healthy and making those improvements over a longer period of time.
What is your stance on listening to music while running? And if you do listen to music what are your favourite running songs?
I’m a big fan of listening to music when running, it’s so much more fun. When we talk about being in ‘your happy place’ – one of my happy places is running in the summer, the sun on your back and listening to your favourite music. I like to listen to upbeat, house music typically but this can change, some days I find myself listening to folk music or my guilty pleasure is listening to ‘movie soundtracks’ haha. Things like ‘Concerning Hobbits’ from Lord of The Rings…an odd one I know!
What is your diet like?
I have a basic diet most of the time. Like most of you, I work full time and don’t get home until around 6:30/7pm. The last thing I want to do is start a meal from scratch so I work off a principle of a meal with 3 pieces of veg, carbs in the form of potatoes or rice and a meat/fish/protein loaded vegetarian alternative. At weekends when I have more time I get much more adventurous and try new meals from cookbooks etc.
What are your favourite self-care products?
From a health and wellbeing perspective, my WholyMe balm and drops. The balm is fantastic for an ongoing ache I have on my heel after runs and I’ve noticed the drops have been great for recovery post exercise. Now, from an aesthetic perspective, it has to be the Eucerin face scrub, it’s fantastic. I have sensitive skin so the ‘Simply’ moisturising range a favourite.
Given the current isolation, what do you miss most?
The pub and eating out…I can’t wait till this is all over!
How do you keep positive and productive?
On the grand scheme of things, this isn’t too bad. Most of us still have a roof over our heads, have our health, have our jobs (hopefully) and can speak to our loved ones whenever we want. There are people out there who have lived through civil/international wars and have none of these luxuries, you have to keep that in mind and gain perspective on the situation.
Ross Murray has started online consultations for runners, helping build a healthy running schedule, he is kindly extending an offer for the WholyMe community with an exclusive free one on one coaching consultation. To benefit, all you have to do is follow us on instagram @WholyMe_Official and message Ross directly on his page @Rosscojammin.