STEPH Twell has put her faith in a rigorous programme of yoga to deliver her fit and healthy to the start line in Rio. The 26-year-old, born in Colchester but whose mother hails from Paisley, has had more than her fair share of injury troubles in recent season but with two Olympic qualifying times for the 5,000m under her belt, the portents look bright for her as 2016 begins. Twell, who featured in Beijing at the age of 19 but fractured an ankle running cross country back in 2011 and saw a further foot problem keep her out of London 2012, dropped out of British Athletics' world class performance programme but has been upgraded from Scotland's B team to the A team for the 4x1km international relay at the Great Edinburgh Cross Country event this weekend. She is joined there by Jake Wightman, Cameron Boyek and Laura Muir and will take on teams from Great Britain, USA and Europe.
"I have really increased my yoga as I have not had the same support in physio as some of my peers," said Twell. "You have to put your own plan in place. Yoga is something that has mobilised my body and helped me recover from sessions a bit more. I have been doing it since 2007 but it has been broken up in cycles, whereas now I see it as a staple. Before I would just do yoga in the summer but I like it a lot for my hamstrings, for my core."
While everything is up for grabs until the trials come along this summer, Twell feels happy and confident. "Having the qualifying times it gives you that understanding of where you are at and where you need to go and what you need to do," she said.
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