Struggle with your breathing?
Difficulty running?
Runs feeling harder than they should?
Out of breath before your legs give up? Fix your breathing. Run better.
Breathing better. Running stronger.
Tom woodward
– Physiotherapy for runners who train around real life.
I’m Tom, a competitive runner and NHS physiotherapist sharing simple, evidence-based ways to breathe better, move better, and stay running.
Breathing & performance
Enrich our growing community.
- If your breathing is holding your running back, this is why.
- Out of breath before your legs give up?
- Runs feeling harder than they should?
Running life & training
Support special exhibitions.
- Follow on my journey to Liverpool XC ’26
- Find out how to balance work & training
Physio insight (no fluff!)
Take support to the next level.
- How to prevent those pesky injuries
- Recover from those run stopping pains
-
Week 15 – The False Dawn
Week fifteen felt like the turning point… until it wasn’t. The return to training was finally here, or so I thought. Foam rolling before the session worked a treat, the warm-up was completely pain free. For the first time in weeks, everything felt normal again. No tightness, no hesitation, just moving properly. Onto strides, and
-
Week 14 – Progress isn’t always linear…
Week 14 brought something that has felt slightly rare over the last couple of months, normality. Not perfect running, not a dramatic breakthrough, just steady training ticking along again. 38km of running went into the week, and perhaps more importantly the calves held up (ish). Mentally things are still in the right place too. Liverpool
-
Week 13 – Buried and Reborn
Week thirteen very nearly put me in the grave. Two miles. That’s the grand total. Not a typo. Not a clever deload. Just illness doing what illness does best, humbling you at precisely the moment you feel ready to rebuild. One minute I’m mapping out a grand rehabilitation arc post-Nationals, the next I’m horizontal, negotiating
-
Week 12 – A lesson learned and a turn taken
Week twelve was never going to be one of those triumphant entries where everything clicks and I write confidently about momentum building at the perfect time. Nationals came and went, and if I’m being honest, it was a stinker. I went into the race trying to be sensible. I started at a pace that matched
-
Week 11 – The Road to Liverpool Continues
Hello again. Eleven weeks ago I started a journey, a commitment to record and reflect on my training as I build towards Liverpool XC 2026. At the time, it felt simple: be consistent, track the process, improve gradually. Eleven weeks later, it already feels like a condensed career. There’s been the high of placing second
-
The beginning
“Pressure means they believe you can carry weight, so wear it like a crown… not a curse.” – Asma Merzougui Hello, my name is Tom. I’m an NHS physiotherapist, currently working as a Band 5 rotational physio within the NHS, and alongside that I’m a competitive runner who has represented my local club since the
Follow along on Instagram, TikTok & YouTube; explore the blog for longer reads.
Proudly powered by WordPress