Brian Cole - Q&A

Tell us about yourself and the sport you compete in..

I was born in Blackburn and brought up in Darwen in Lancashire. I attended Darwen Moorland High School. I was a keen Footballer and trained with Darwen FC which is a semi-pro side in the northwest counties league.

I joined the Royal Marines on the 20th June 1991 and passed out of CTCRM in March 1992 and moved to 40 Cdo RM, Taunton to join Bravo Company and was deployed to Norway for artic warfare training.

I began training for the Royal Marines Biathlon team selection which I passed in 1995 and join the Squad in August; I competed in the interservices and several civilian competitions representing the RN, including the Norwegian cup events. I quickly began to win races and was then selected to attend the Great Britain biathlon team selection camp in Scotland. I gained selection after only 1 season skiing and joined the GB squad. I went on to win many titles including Navy, Interservices, Combined services and National. I felt that after representing Great Britain for 7 years at European and world level I had achieved what I wanted and decided to concentrate on my running aspirations.

I decided to run the London marathon in 2002 and ended up 2nd in the Interservices with relatively no training. I began to train properly and soon got selected to run for the navy and combined services. I did a 20 week build up to the interservices marathon the next year and had trouble with numb feet; I was very disappointed with this and decided to find another race as I was very fit. The only race available was the national 50k championships in Birmingham. I did the race and came 2nd, 10 seconds behind the winner, I was later told that it was a GB selection race and I had beaten most of the squad. The selectors wanted to know who I was and if I would do another ultra marathon the following week to show that my performance wasn’t a fluke. I did the ultra marathon the following week and won the race and broke the course record that had stood for 5 years.

I have continued to represent England and Great Britain for the last 5 years winning many tittles including being ranked number 1 in the UK for the 100k and 50k.

What does your weekly training programme consist of?

Regular training week:

Monday
AM: 6 miles, easy.
PM: 1 mile warm up then 10 miles hard. 1 mile warm down.

Tuesday
AM: 6 miles, easy.
PM: Track session, i.e 1 mile/2 miles reps, 2 mins recovery.

Wednesday
AM: 4 miles, easy.
PM: Long steady run, 15-20 miles.

Thursday
AM: 6 miles, easy.
PM: Track session, 400s/800./1ks reps, 1 min rec.

Friday
AM: 6 miles, easy. (Recovery day).
PM: Off.

Saturday
AM: 6 miles, easy.
PM: Hardish, 10 miles (Farlek session).

Sunday
AM: Long, steady run. 35-45 miles.
PM: 3 miles, easy with strides to flush legs through.

Which Maximuscle products do you use?

Immune Support,
Protrient,
Ache-Free,
CLA-1000,
Maxi-EFA,
Viper,
Recovermax,
Promax.

How do Maximuscle products help you during your training and whilst you compete?

Maximuscle products help me during training a lot with recovery, a good example of this was after winning the combined services marathon which was incorporated within the London marathon on a Sunday morning and ran 2 hours 28 mins, I was able to train that very afternoon and was straight back into a good training week the next day. I take Recovermax within 30 minutes of completing the race and then Immune Support and Ache-Free, CLA-1000 and Maxi-EFA within 2 hours. On one occasion I forgot to pack my products after a 40 mile race and didn’t take them for 2 days, I struggled to train the very next day and was stiff as a board for about 5 days.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

Being ranked number 1 in the armed forces, Number 1 in UK and 13th in Europe all in the same year.

Who are your heroes?

Ron Hill and Paula Radcliffe.

What do you enjoy doing on your days off?

I don’t really have days off but if I do I usually like to spend time with my 11 month old daughter.

How do you stay relaxed and focused when the pressure is on?

I stay relaxed and focused by being confident, I gain my confidence from training hard and knowing that I am in great shape and very hard to beat.

What is your favorite Maximuscle product and why?

My favorite Maximuscle product is Viper. It is a brilliant product and I have it with me everywhere I train and compete. I believe that the proof is in the pudding, I have raced 8 hour races just on Viper and Viper Extreme and just watch the athletes around me run of fuel and suffer in the latter stages of the race.

Do you have any future goals?

My future goals are to be ranked number 1 in UK again as I have been for the last 3 years, Top 10 in the world and top 5 in Europe. I also want to attempt a world recorded, which is a mile on a treadmill in under 5mins 38secs with 40lbs on my back, And a marathon in military uniform and boots in under 3 hours. I think this is well within my scope and has the potential for massive PR as the TV and press are interested in covering it.