Under the microscope
Roger Black, 50, Olympic silver medallist, takes our health quiz
CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS?
YES. My wife Julia, 47, a theatre director, goes for a half-hour jog in the woods every day and I usually join her three to four times a week. Before I retired from competitive sport in 1998, I’d train for five or six hours a day at least six days a week. Back then it was all about performance and trying to run fast. Now it’s about moving and keeping healthy.
GET YOUR FIVE A DAY?
YES. We eat baked salmon, rice and steamed broccoli, asparagus or carrots three or four times a week. My favourite fruits are mangoes and lychees.
EVER DIETED?
NO. WHEN I was training I chose healthy food such as chicken, rice and vegetables but if I fancied a McDonald’s or a KFC, I’d have it. I saw it as a reward. I used to train in the U.S. with Daley Thompson and Kriss Akabusi and as soon as we finished, we’d be down in the sandwich shop to eat what we could.
ANY VICES?
NOTHING too extreme. I caught a train to London this week and had a Cornish pasty on the way up.
ANY FAMILY AILMENTS?
MY FATHER, a GP, survived a heart attack at 50. He’d previously been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, an abnormal heart rhythm. He died of a brain haemorrhage eight years ago in his late 70s. I was born with a leaky heart valve and I’ve had annual check-ups since it was diagnosed. I missed one in 1996 — the year of the Atlanta Olympics [when I won two silver medals] because there was a chance doctors could have said: ‘It’s deteriorated, you can’t compete.’ I don’t know if it’s genetic, but I’ll have my ten-year-old twin sons George and Max checked to be sure.
SLEEP WELL?
I DREAM of having eight hours unbroken sleep and waking up refreshed. I never achieve that as I’m a worrier. A lot of that is to do with being a parent. I’m always listening out for the children and so I wake up a couple of times a night.
BIGGEST PHOBIA?
EVER since seeing Jaws as a child I’ve not liked open-water swimming. I can’t relax not knowing what’s underneath me.
WORST ILLNESS OR INJURY?
GLANDULAR fever. I was 27 and it nearly ended my career. I was drained and out for a year. I rested, tried relaxation techniques and acupuncture.
POP ANY PILLS?
I TAKE an iron supplement if I’m feeling rubbish. When I was an athlete, I was tested and found to lack it.
COPE WELL WITH PAIN?
VERY well. If you run the 400m you need a high pain threshold: it’s all pain.
LIFE-CHANGING HEALTH BOOK?
PSYCHOLOGY books had a big impact on me when I was competing. It’s not a case of eat well, train hard, win a medal. You’ve got to think right, too.
HANGOVER CURE?
BIG Mac, fries and a spicy tomato juice.
LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER?
NO, BUT I’d like to live for a long time.
RogeR is encouraging people to sign up to the Blenheim Palace half-marathon and 10km on october 2 to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation’s research. go to bhf.org.uk/blenheim