Jesal Finishes the Cambridge Half Marathon 2025
Jesal recently completed his goal of running the Cambridge Half Marathon. Over the last few months, Temple Performance has supported Jesal by writing a personalised Strength and Conditioning program as well as providing advice on nutrition, recovery and reducing injury risk. Here is what Jesal had to say about his experience working with Temple Performance:
What was your goal/aim when you contact Temple Performance?
”Having had no prior running experience, and directionless, inconsistent training in the gym, I was told by a good friend of mine that Temple Performance would help me to achieve the unachievable - completing the Cambridge Half Marathon. I signed up for the event in December 2024, and promptly contacted Temple Performance to help guide me to my goal of running a half marathon by March 2025.”
How did Temple Performance support you in achieving your goals?
“We arranged a video call where my S&C coach, Harris, attentively listened to my concerns, low-confidence levels, and injury history with my shoulder and sacroiliac joint. I explained how I like using the ‘Runna’ app for my running training, so given my experience levels, he advised that we split my training into 2 x 6 week S&C training blocks - the first block aiming build strength and improve shoulder imbalance and back functionality, as I aimed to run my first ever 5km; the second block reducing running injury risk and improving running efficiency. “
“A question I had for Temple Performance was ‘how can I ensure that I am doing these new exercises correctly without the physical presence of a coach?’ Harris addressed this in its entirety by curating a user-friendly spreadsheet that I could interact with, where each exercise was hyperlinked with video examples and detailed written instructions - this made following the S&C plan fun and frictionless.”
Did you enjoy running the Cambridge Half Marathon?
“Yes, the event was a success! Despite a small injury that I picked up a few days before, my confidence in my physical ability to complete the Cambridge Half Marathon was sky-high as a result of Temple Performance’s training plan and support. It’s important for me to have perspective - I went from being someone who couldn’t perceive running a 5K (let alone enjoy it), to running 21.1km and intrinsically believing that it was possible.”
Would you recommend working with Temple Performance?
“I truly believe that if you have any training goal, big or small, Temple Performance will be there to help you achieve it - hence why I will be recommending them to my family, friends, and colleagues.”
Jesal enjoying the Cambridge Half Marathon 2025.