James West

“I’m a 5000m runner for New Balance. I compete for GB on the track, and I do cross country as well. I played football, as everyone did, and my dad felt like I needed to make that decision between football and running. I just preferred running—the individual side of it shouted to me. I remember going to a local club and just really enjoying myself. I thought I had some potential in the sport and never looked back, really.

I love competition! I’m so competitive. It would have been great to go to the Olympics. Obviously, I won the trial but didn’t have the qualifying time—I just missed out, so it meant I couldn’t go. That feeling with the family when I won that race, and kind of that culmination of all the hard work you’ve done coming to fruition, that’s a great feeling.”

“Wellbeing-wise, the go-to is always just an ice bath. In a hotel, I do it for races. It’s never really very accessible, as not all hotels have a bathtub these days. I’ve never had a tub like this, where it’s just on, ready at a set temperature, and really easy to do.”

“One of the benefits is just feeling good, but then I’ve been sleeping really well off it too. I’d say the mindset—you do feel fresher after it. There’s a good feel-good factor when you get out. Racing-wise, I’m so zoned in. In the main summer season, you can have three races in a week, and that’s when it comes in really handy. You need the fatigue out of your legs. Stretching and rolling—all of those things—it’s a 24/7 job. Although you’re training a couple of times a day, you really need the rest of the day to focus on recovery to get ready for the next session. It’s a lot of hard work, and realising how much you want it is going to determine the outcome.

I see the Chill Tub as a way of getting me to where I want to be in the sport. Although you are training twice a day, the recovery aspect is just as important, if not more, and a lot of people don’t realise that.”