Find Your Inner Olympian

If you’re a runner wanting to channel your inner Olympian, or just feeling inspired to set a new running goal, here are some tips on getting the best out of yourself.

How to be a strong, successful runner

Getting the best out of yourself is not just about training right and physical fitness, but also having a strong mindset to overcome obstacles. Jo Pavey, a five-time Olympian who represented Team GB at every Olympic Games from 2000 to 2016, speaks in a Runner’s World article ‘Dig for Victory’ (Nov.23) about how toughness and perseverance can help us to get the best out of ourselves.

Jo’s tips for overcoming tough situations in races include using visualisation techniques and using positive mantras, such as repeating to yourself, ‘You’re strong, you’ve got this!’ Also, by focussing on running form, putting trust in your training, and breaking a race down into manageable time chunks can help when the going gets tough.

Setting goals and making progress

Of course, before dealing with race day itself, the training foundations need to be in place. Four key training pillars are rest, nutrition, emotional state, and the types of training you do. Profeet ambassador and run coach, Andy Brodziak, spoke about setting realistic running goals in our article – how-to-set-2024-running-goals. This includes some useful training rules, for example not increasing your running volume by more than 10%. Also, building strength training around your running for injury prevention.

Whether you have aspirations of being an Olympian, or if you just want to run a new distance or run the fastest mile that you’ve ever run – it’s important to set a SMART goal, i.e. a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Action oriented, Realistic, and Timed. Keeping your goals compatible and flexible with the demands of your everyday life can help integrate your training into your daily routine better.

If your goal is to increase speed or distance, then gradually increase the distance of your long runs, or increase the pace for a section of your run. By embracing interval training and tempo paced runs (around 70 percent effort), your body will get used to ‘shifting gear’ and will build endurance so your perception of effort will change.

Performing at your best and avoiding injury

It is natural to want progress to happen faster than it realistically will. Be patient and stick with it, and progress will happen. Planning purposeful hard sessions with adequate rest and recovery afterwards can help to avoid injury. There are plenty of online run plans (Runners World has several) and most run clubs have coaches who can assist with this. But, despite the best-laid training plans, injuries can, and frequently do, still happen.

There may be consistency in your training, but when your footwear isn’t correctly supporting you and niggles are constantly creeping in, then it is worth visiting Profeet Run Lab for an expert analysis of your movement. Our expert run technicians can help advise on your specific running technique, identifying whether different run shoes and custom insoles will help improve your running efficiency, allowing you to perform at your best. They can also help with strength and conditioning exercise advice.

Book a Profeet Signature Fit with Custom Insoles for a truly personalised fit – Call 020 7736 0046 to book.