Running advice from a professional: Olympic champion Desiree Henry

As we approach spring, more and more of us are preparing to put on our running trainers and take to the road in the name of charity.

The Bath Half Marathon is just weeks away (12 March). The dreaded London Marathon is only round the corner (23 April). The Great Manchester Run is getting ever closer (28 May).

And you’re planning to take part in any event for the first time, it can be difficult to know where to even start.

The amount of advice and inspiration on platforms like Strava and Instagram can be overwhelming. Even if you started your training weeks ago, it’s easy to plateau or not know how to progress beyond a certain point.

So to help clear a few things up, over the next few weeks we’ll be putting a series of questions on training schedules, diet plans and motivation tips to different athletes, veteran runners and experts.

This week, we caught up with Desiree Henry – the 21-year-old Adidas athlete and sprinter who won an Olympic bronze during the 4×100-metre relay in Rio last year.

How and why did you get into running?

My older sister was really into athletics, and I used to watch her train and compete – she was incredible, and it really inspired me.

It then got to a stage where I really wanted to have a go myself, so with help from my sister and school, I started training and it all went from there! I started when I was 11 and had been scouted by age 15.

What’s a typical day of training like for you now?

My days start around 11am with a track session which involves sprint and resistance runs for an hour or an hour and a half.

Then I have a short lunch break before I’m in the gym working on explosive techniques getting my glutes strong, strengthening my core and working on my upper body to make sure it matches. I do this seven days a week – I don’t have rest days!

And when you’re achy and tired, how do you motivate yourself to head back onto the track the next day?

I like the way my training makes me look and feel. Knowing what my body can do and maintaining an athletic physique motivates me not to miss a session!

What do you eat the night before and on the morning of a race?

The night before a race I eat foods heavy in protein, so a 250g steak and an omelette with tomatoes, spinach and cheese, finished off with a cup of tea.

On race day I’ll probably have a small bowl of porridge, a whole banana and a cup of tea and that will last me until the competition.

Bearing in mind the London Marathon is just eight weeks away, would you ever be tempted to do one?

I’m a sprinter, so I’m used to running for seconds not minutes but I think at the end of my career I will probably do a marathon for charity. For now, I think I will stick to running for seconds!

Do you have any tips for people who want to start?

My main tip for people looking to get into running is to ensure your feet are comfortable and you purchase the right pair of shoes.

As a runner, I’m on my feet all day, whether it’s in the gym or on the running track, so having the right support from your shoes is the most important thing for me.

I love the new Adidas UltraBOOST X because they’ve been specifically designed for a woman’s foot and because they’re adaptive, they feel like they’ve been tailored to me.

They help get through a session feeling comfortable and strong.

As a London-based athlete, do you have preferred areas to run around?

I have the Lee Valley Athletic Centre close to my home where I train regularly.

I’m also part of the Adidas Runners group, which runs a number of free, London runs during the week, including a women-only run from the new Adidas Studio LDN twice a week.

New Zealand debates a hiking fee

NEW ZEALAND’S chief conservation officer, Lou Sanson, caused a stir in October by suggesting that it might be time to start charging tourists for using the country’s wilderness trails. New Zealanders are keen fans of their national parks. Many would be outraged at having to pay. But many also worry about a huge influx of foreigners who have been seeking the same delights.

In 2016 New Zealand hosted 3.5m tourists from overseas; by 2022 more than 4.5m are expected every year—about the same as the country’s resident population. Tourism has overtaken dairy produce as the biggest export, helped by a surge in the number of visitors from China. The national parks, which make up about one-third of the territory, are a huge draw. About half of the foreign tourists visit one. They are keen to experience the natural beauty promised by the country’s “100% Pure New Zealand” advertising campaign (and shown off in the film adaptations of “The Lord of the Rings” and “The Hobbit”, which were shot in New Zealand’s breathtaking wilderness).

But for every happy Chinese couple snuggling up for a selfie next to a tuatara there is a grumpy New Zealander who remembers the way things used to be—when you could walk the tracks without running into crowds at every clearing. Many locals now wonder why their taxes, as they see it, are paying for someone else’s holiday. Mr Sanson would seem to agree. Entry fees could be used to upgrade facilities such as cabins, car parks and trails. A varying levy could also help reduce numbers at some of the popular locations by making it cheaper to use lesser-known, but no less beautiful, trails farther afield.

Some are not so sure it would work. Hugh Logan, a former chief of conservation for the government who now runs a mountaineering club, worries it would cost too much to employ staff to take money from hikers at entrances. It would also be difficult to prevent tourists from sneaking around the toll booths.

Some argue that it would be easier to charge visitors a “conservation tax” when they enter the country. The Green Party, the third-largest in parliament, says that adding around NZ$18 ($12.50) to existing border taxes would still make the total amount levied less than visitors to arch-rival Australia have to pay. But some travel companies oppose the idea. They note that tourists already contribute around NZ$1.1bn through the country’s 15% sales tax. Better, such firms say, to use foreign tourists’ contribution to this tax for the maintenance of the parks.

Among the fiercest critics of a charge are those who point out that unfettered access to wilderness areas is an important principle for New Zealanders. It is enshrined in a National Parks Act which inspires almost constitution-like devotion among the country’s nature-lovers. Mr Sanson has a rocky path ahead.

Johanna Konta searching for new coach after parting company with Esteban Carril

Johanna Konta is hoping to appoint a new coach before the end of the year after parting company with the Spaniard who guided her into the world’s top 10. In one of the most surprising coaching developments of the current off-season, Konta has split with Esteban Carril less than two months after becoming the first British woman to break into the world’s top 10 for 32 years.

Konta began her pre-season training programme at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton this week and will be working with a number of different coaches with a view to recruiting one of them before she heads for China just after Christmas for her first tournament of the new season.

The 25-year-old Briton confirmed her split with Carril in a statement but did not go into the reasons for it. “After two and a half successful years working together we have mutually agreed to explore new options,” Konta said. “I’m looking into these with my team and once things are confirmed we will share the new set-up.”

Juan Coto, a Spanish “mind coach” based in London, had also become an important member of Konta’s team but the player was shocked to learn last month of his sudden and unexpected death. A friend of Carril’s, Coto had worked with Konta when she was in the country and also talked to her on the phone when she was away at tournaments.

Whoever heads her coaching team will have a hard act to follow given the progress Konta made after appointing Carril as her coach in the summer of 2014. She was the world No 150 at the end of that year – and was still No 147 at the start of the 2015 grass-court season - but her career has since taken off.

After reaching the fourth round of the 2015 US Open following a run of 16 successive victories Konta finished the year at No 47 in the rankings, an improvement of 100 places in just seven months.

Konta has built on that progress this year, which she began by reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open. She was the first British woman to make the last four since Sue Barker in 1977 and the first British woman to play in any Grand Slam semi-final since Jo Durie at the 1983 US Open.

After winning her first tour title at Stanford in the summer Konta went on to reach the fourth round again in New York, made the final of the China Open in Beijing and broke into the world’s top 10. Konta also went within a whisker of earning a place in the elite eight-woman field at the year-ending WTA Finals in Singapore and was voted the most improved player on the Women’s Tennis Association tour in 2016.

Konta’s Spanish connection dates back to an 18-month stay at the Sanchez-Casal academy in Barcelona when she was a teenager. She had left Australia, the country of her birth, in search of a training base in Europe when she was 13.

After her family settled in Eastbourne, Konta trained at Roehampton, but in the summer of 2014 she linked up with Carril and another Spanish coach, Jose-Manuel Garcia, who are based in Gijon. Carril, who had worked with Konta when she was a teenager, became available after parting company with Roberto Bautista Agut, the current world No 14.  Since linking up with Carril, Konta has often split her training time between Gijon and Roehampton.

A calm and thoughtful coach, Carril worked hard on Konta’s mental approach. The Briton has always been a fine athlete and good ball-striker, but nerves had often got in the way of her progress. Under Carril’s guidance, she became calmness personified on court and her results quickly improved.

Konta will need to hit the ground running next month if she is to stay in the world’s top 10. In the first two weeks of the new season she plays tournaments at Shenzhen in China and at Sydney before heading to the Australian Open, where she has semi-final points to defend.

The close season often brings changes in coaching personnel, but what is surprising this year is the number of players, like Konta, who have made changes after highly successful seasons.

Milos Raonic, the world No 3 and Wimbledon runner-up, has parted company with Carlos Moya, who had formed a two-man coaching team alongside Riccardo Piatti, with some help from John McEnroe.

It remains to be seen whether Raonic will bring in support for Piatti, but David Goffin is apparently one player who has decided that one voice is better than two. The world No 11 will continue working with his regular coach, Thierry van Cleemput, but has parted with Thomas Johansson, who had joined his team as a consultant at the start of the year.

Meanwhile Madison Keys has stopped working with Thomas Hogstedt and Elina Svitolina has parted company with Iain Hughes, her British coach. Kristina Pliskova and Petra Kvitova have effectively swapped coaches. Jiri Vanek, who split from Pliskova last month, is to work with Kvitova. Pliskova has teamed up with David Kotyza, whose seven-year partnership with Kvitova ended at the start of this year.

The evolution of Arsenal’s Mesut Özil earns comparison with Bergkamp

Basking in the glow of the masterpiece match-winner that was the talk of Europe this week, Mesut Özil made his way serenely, contentedly, back towards London. It seemed as if half of Bulgaria wanted a bit of him before he left. He gladly had time for everyone – finessing every photo, every signature, every word of appreciation with a special touch.

It was not so long ago this particular player’s body language was routinely picked apart. He was too languid. Too casual. Did not want to know. Wilted under pressure. All softness without the required substance. Too many big games passed him by ... but those criticisms have faded into the shadow of an emboldened talent who is relishing the spotlight.

The Özil of today carries himself differently. The composure and confidence represents how he is enjoying the feeling of being centre stage. That is what is expected of him on Sunday, in the heat of the north London derby, where the early title credentials of both teams will undergo a particularly spicy examination. Tottenham have ruffled Arsenal at the Emirates in the last couple of seasons, requiring late equalisers from the home team to save face. It promises to be as frenetic and fierce as usual, which is not the stereotypical idea of Özil’s favourite environment.

Yet there is more obvious determination in him to want to influence games these days. “He pushes himself much more,” Arsène Wenger says. For a start he is much more muscular than the slender figure who arrived at Arsenal, discarded by Real Madrid, three years ago. It has been known for defenders to bounce off him this season, a far cry from the elegiac shrug he used to give when unsettled by some opposing hulk.

His reinvention as a player who has added a striker’s runs to his playmaking passes looks intriguingly transformative. Özil the goalscorer? Who would have thought it? Well, Wenger did. It took some time, and some encouragement but Özil’s adjusted position, as a high 10 rather than a deep-lying creator, makes him an even more effective performer.

“I convinced him that he has it in his locker to score goals,” Wenger says. “He was more focused on giving and looking. Today he understands he can have those qualities but as well be on the end of things. The timing of his runs is good. In training I noticed he is a very good finisher. When you have that in your locker you have to try to get it out. Slowly, he now realises that. Now he makes more runs to score goals. On top of that he has a fantastic attribute of a guy who is a good finisher – he is calm. You notice all the finishers are killers. That means they keep their nerve in front of goal and he has that.”

The old Dennis Bergkamp comparison has been aired recently. Wenger sees the similarities and is urging his current master of technique to do what it takes to earn the kind of status Bergkamp enjoyed at Arsenal. “He can be a legend if he commits,” Wenger says. “Dennis Bergkamp committed for a long period, he played until he was 38. I wish we have 10 more years of Özil. To become a legend at the club you need to stay for a long time. If you stay two years you would not be a legend.”

Arsenal are doing their best on the contract front to secure an extension. “We work on it,” Wenger said, accentuating the positive sign of how content Özil seems on and off the pitch. “A player needs to meet his needs inside a club. It is difficult not to be happy in London and happiness that a player has when he plays comes out by his performance.”

It is typical of how Özil has come out of his shell that he is keen to be a face of the club more readily. In this weekend’s buildup, he took part in a social media Q&A session. The hashtag #AssistMeMesut invited fans who needed some help with anything to ask Arsenal’s No11. Some of the requests were unsurprisingly left-field. Özil filmed answers to a handful of questions, ranging from a Turkish restaurant recommendation to relationship advice. “So my friend,” Özil told @theDjole, “Just be nice to her, show her your qualities and I wish you all the best.”

Wenger remembers the day well when Özil arrived in a flurry of deadline day activity in September 2013. “In fact on the day we signed him we played against Spurs,” he says, breaking into a grin. “We won without him.” It was a landmark signing for the club, at £42m demolishing its transfer record.

Özil has grown into life at Arsenal. Even for a player with his experience and the expectation that comes with such a high-impact signing, it was a slow burn. The efforts that have been a hallmark this season took some time to develop. Wenger acknowledges the Premier League was a bit of a culture shock for Özil. “He left some people sceptical – saying he didn’t go too much into challenges or tough contact. [He punches his hand for emphasis.] He’s a player who is more a guy whose strength is to get out of things but on the physical front I believe he’s improved as well.”

For Wenger, the main difference between the Özil he signed and the one he will pick this weekend boils down to commitment. “He is 28, an age where he is more mature. The difference today is he focuses more on efficiency. When he arrived here he was more focused on playing. Today efficiency is more in his mind. Sometimes the trap for very talented players is it is easy for them. They know subconsciously they don’t need to push themselves too hard to be efficient. It’s so easy.”

The desire to push himself more is making a tangible difference to his game. Özil’s increased runs, added to the indefatigable darts of Alexis Sánchez, make it that much more difficult for defenders to guard their area. Arsenal are less predictable and more punchy.

Tottenham arrive at the Emirates as the league’s dominant rearguard, with only five goals conceded, so Arsenal will need their front players to continue their lively form. Sánchez has scored eight, and Özil seven (Theo Walcott, who is hoping to return to fitness, also has eight and Olivier Giroud is trying to catch up), so Arsenal feel they have goals in them even against a resolute opponent.

So has Özil changed enough to become the type of player determined to take a tough derby by the scruff of the neck? He excelled recently in the 3-0 defeat of Chelsea, and he will be expected to emulate that performance against Tottenham. “That’s what you want,” Wenger says. “Of course he can be dangerous but in big games there is always a lot of expectation from him. But I believe that depends more on the team performance. If the team performance is strong then Özil will always shine.”

Bangladesh fall short as England secure victory on final day of first Test

Ben Stokes was England’s saviour as he took both wickets needed to wrap up a 22-run victory in the first Test over Bangladesh on a nerve-shredding final morning in Chittagong.

Stokes had both Taijul Islam and Shafiul Islam trapped lbw in the space of three balls to deny a spirited Bangladesh, who began the day needing just 33 runs to complete a historic maiden Test win over England.

As it was, Stokes rode to the rescue and not for the first time in the match, having taken four for 26 in the first innings followed by a mature 85 from 151 balls to ensure England left a testing victory target of 286 which proved tantalisingly out of Bangladesh’s reach.

Sabbir Rahman marked his Test debut with an incredible 64 not out, running out of partners at the end, to take the Tigers within reach of what would have been their finest hour in the format, but England prevailed after 3.3 overs and 19 minutes on the fifth day.

Bangladesh were chasing just their eighth win from 94 Tests and first over England, who had won all eight of their previous encounters in the longest format.

Bangladesh’s previous wins have come twice against an under-strength West Indies and five times over lowly Zimbabwe, while this is their first Test in nearly 15 months.

For those reasons, an England defeat, on paper, may have been regarded as embarrassing but Bangladesh have proved more than a match on a pitch which has offered plenty of turn from ball one as well as some reverse swing later on for the seamers.

It was with the pacemen, notably Stuart Broad and Stokes, whom England captain Alastair Cook put his trust on another hot day on Monday morning.

Broad opened the bowling after a fine spell on Sunday night that yielded two for 14 from nine overs and he nearly had a third wicket when Rahman’s inside edge narrowly avoided his stumps.

It was pace from both ends and Stokes’ bumper found Taijul’s glove, only for the ball to sail over wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow for four and the first boundary of the morning.

Stokes had more fortune in the next over when an inswinger glanced off Taijul’s pad with umpire Kumar Dharmasena’s not out decision overturned on review - the 25th challenge of the match, with 11 referrals reversed.

Eight of those decisions overturned have come at Dharmasena’s expense but he he was vindicated by technology two balls later when Shafiul padded up to another in-darter from Stokes, with Bangladesh’s review proving fruitless as they were all out for 263.

The win was the 10th narrowest for England in terms of runs as they prevailed following an absorbing contest.