Tom Hollis Health

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Tom Hollis Health

Sports nutrition & running coaching
Registered Dietitian & UK Athletics Coach
MSc, SENR Practitioner

'As a Registered Dietitian with years of experience and a love of distance running, I offer tailored nutrition advice and structured diet plans specifically periodised to your schedule, to optimise your training, race day, and recovery. Consultations can take place face to face (London) or virtually, and consist of one-off appointments or ongoing sessions as part of your race day build up. My primary interest is delivering vegetarian and plant-based advice, but all dietary preferences are welcome.'

27/09/2026

Embodying some running clichés in a tricky week 🤕.

I've been niggle-free for ages and was due one (although I attribute that to good management rather than fortune).

Then a setback with a minor distal hamstring strain this week. Cue the coaching clichés / some tales as old as time:

👎 Highest risk of injury when fit and confident
👎 Possibly overdid it on strides / hilly session?
👎 Definitely a 42 year old man and not invincible
👎 Ignored on day 1 (pain 2/10) and ran easy rather than rest, clearly making it worse (3-4/10)

But then at least:

✅ Belatedly took 2 rest days (rare)
✅ Prioritised being ready for the family walk in the hills
✅ Ended my long run session early today as it crept up again (second pic, mild concern).
✅ Crucially remembered that 'no run defines a week and no week defines a block' etc...

Overall...the most important training this week was probably the running I didn't do. Although I could have held back more, I easily could have pushed through and made it far worse.

In marathon training, there will always be aches and pains, and 90% just pass with sensible recovery protocols.

Occasionally though, it's higher risk, and the challenge is identifying and acting on this...often while endorphins are flowing and we feel as fit as a fiddle otherwise.

Pretty sure most of us can relate to this so just thought I'd own it and share, as it can be so difficult!

Some big races round the corner for me and this one may take some TLC and very careful management 🙏. We live and learn.

17/09/2026

All smiles after a top race for podium spots 🥇🥈🥉Sutcliffe & Co Worcester City Run

Equal parts:
😁 Delighted it's over
😁 Glad to be back racing
😁 Looking forward to lunch

Roll on next year.

14/09/2026

Medal Monday 🥉(+ 3rd place prizes 🙏)

Among a very generous and unexpected selection of prizes (not that I'd checked as I definitely wasn't expecting to podium) was something new for the office mantlepiece, and some local honey. That's September's' session breakfasts taken care of then.

Cheers Sutcliffe & Co Worcester City Run! Will be back next year 💯.

13/09/2026

Worcester Half: 3rd place 🥉🥳

Back in business? Quite possibly.

First race for 5 months after the last one ended in A&E with (still undiagnosed) massive GI bleed, so I was a little apprehensive to say the least.

Needed a well executed confidence booster, and ideally some good old fashioned racing for places today, and got all of that. I managed the 99% humidity with a strict HR plan, and fuelling was genuinely 10/10.

72:12 in the end after a couple of wrong turns 🤦, and just 30 seconds separated the top 4.

Been buzzing all day. Nothing beats that solid race day feeling.

Sutcliffe & Co Worcester City Run

04/09/2026

Major omission...

Dawned on me that in my 'six week summary' post yesterday of life in the countryside, I somehow forgot to include that this has been a pretty standard view for me all summer.

The buggy running has been prolific. In fact, I realised that today featured my 20th...and then 21st buggy runs of the last 40 days.

With this old tank of a buggy, and the hills of Malvern, it has felt more like cross training than running sometimes, but it all counts, right?

Not glamorous, and terrible for stats, but don't let perfect be the enemy of the good and all that. Plus, he loves it, we chat rubbish to each other, and it's the ultimate school holidays multi-tasking tool. Everyone's a winner.

03/09/2026

Herefordshire summer bulletin 🍎🏃

So it seems I've only posted once in four months and should probably try a bit harder...

Six weeks after the big move from the Smoke to the Shire, and I have been mostly:

⛰️ Running insane elevation (for me)
🍇 Semi-pro fruit picking
🤹 Juggling my first school holiday of childcare
✍️ Adjusting to full freelance life
📈 Starting to feel close to PB form again (whisper it)

I have to pinch myself daily that I live somewhere as beautiful and chilled as this. Business is flowing, and I've now had to set up a waiting list for coaching and nutrition clients, but I'm finally getting close to finding that perfect balance. I don't think it's a coincidence that health and running stats are following suit 🙏

Remind me why I didn't do this sooner?

01/07/2026

The next chapter begins 📖

Not posted for a couple of months, so just popping up for air during a hectic period to confirm some big recent updates:

1. Had my last day as an ICU dietitian. 13 wild years as a frontline clinician that I will never forget. Big highs, big lows, no regrets.

2. Now full time freelance. My little sports nutrition and run coaching consultancy was never intended to exceed side hustle status, but it's grown organically over the past 7 years. Let's go.

3. Leaving London for the countryside. 19 years and essentially my whole adult life in this incredible city, but it's time to try something new, and we are going full rural.

All these changes are not without risk, but I turn 42 this month and I am absolutely ready to get out of my bubble and embrace the next phase. Roll on new challenges, a slower pace of life, and hopefully much more time to spend with this little nugget.

09/05/2026

You win some, you defer some.

Incredibly grateful to for the elite entry spot this year, but despite my recovery from London going ok so far, it would be highly irresponsible to run a marathon tomorrow, regardless of pace (at least until I have a clearer diagnosis of what caused the GI bleeding in London). Health has to come first.

So, I've deferred until next year, but made use of my flights to come and support my friend and soak up the frankly terrible views round here.

05/05/2026

My dramatic and unforgettable London Marathon 😳. What have I learned?

It's hard to believe it's little over a week since I was rushed to A&E after the finish line. It's been a wild time, and while I still await a clear diagnosis on what caused my severe GI bleeding, here are a few early reflections:

After 15 years of endurance running and 19 marathons, I thought I knew my body pretty well, but the complex interaction of health status, life stress, fitness and training load is always evolving and often on a tightrope. Regardless of what led to my bleeding last week, this has led me to rest, reset, and reassess my own balance in the same way I do for my clients.

My first experience of accidentally going viral, and with it, the toxic / trolling side of social media. I have thick enough skin to dismiss this, but it shone a light on the negativity of certain demographics and platforms.

When to listen to your body and when to ignore? This is a key question. Anyone who has pushed themselves over the marathon knows it is a unique and ongoing battle against any number of physical and mental discomforts, so it shows a complete lack of understanding to suggest that discomfort means you should stop. In this case, with the benefit of hindsight, clearly I wish I had stopped for the loo, then seen blood, then stopped altogether. However, there's every chance I would have assumed beetroot juice (as I did when it first happened) and carried on, so who knows.

In my post before the race I said I was 'determined to enjoy' my last London Marathon as a Londoner. Well, it's fair to say that didn't happen, but I'll certainly never forget it. And although I feel completely detached from the results of the day, it's special to have been on the course while human history was made.

Finally, I bloody love the NHS. Imperfect, yes, but full of talented and kind people. In all my ICU years, we'd usually see 2-3 marathon admissions on the Monday, but this was the first time I'd seen the much steadier flow of marathon A&E admissions. I'm so grateful to those that helped me through such a scary time last Sunday ❤️‍🩹.

01/05/2026

London Marathon horror story continued...
..better not delay this, given various toxic messages and assumptions over on Facebook where these posts automatically get copied to. Wow 😳.

So at the finish line, a few familiar faces tried to chat as I staggered around, and I overheard chat of world records and sub 2, but it was all a blur and I couldn't engage.

Then I went into some toilets...huge amounts of bright red liquid 💩. At first I thought this was the classic beetroot juice effect 🤦‍♂️...then it happened again, but more. Then I bumped into , who in no uncertain terms told me I looked horrendous and to get to the medical tent.

The next 90 mins were spent with St John's Ambulance, where the kind staff became increasingly concerned as I kept passing blood (5 times), and shivering uncontrollably with a tender abdomen. They called for an ambulance to A&E, fearing ischaemic gut.

Getting an ambulance to the Mall on marathon day was an issue in itself, but the paramedics were incredible and blue-lighted me through the busy streets.

At the entrance to A&E I went from freezing cold to pouring with sweat and very nearly passed out. That lasted about 5 mins and was the scariest part of all.

Then after a few hours, things started to stabilise. Bloods (lactate and CK) were nowhere near elevated enough for ischaemia or rhabdo respectively, and abdo pain eased slightly. PR exam was reassuring. BP was REALLY low (they used 2 different machines as they assumed it was faulty), but was able to tolerate water rather than IV, and eventually it was felt that I was no longer an emergency situation and would be better off spending the night at home, with a low threshold to come back.

I was delighted to get home late that night, and the shower was as good as any post festival one (I was disgusting), but it was a wild night, with loads more bleeding and abdo cramping throughout.

The working diagnosis is acute colitis, which I am willing to accept, but what I need to know as I now slowly recover is, after 19 marathons, why now, what was underlying to cause this, and have I done any lasting damage? I now await colonoscopy and some answers🙏.

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