The journey to representing Great Britain - 3 tips from a CurraNZ Pro

Lesson 1: Adopt a single-minded focus

Collins dictionary definition: 'Someone who is single-minded has only one aim or purpose and is determined to achieve it.'

Trialling for the Great Britain & Northern Ireland ultra-trail running team requires you to go ‘all in’.

Earning selection is a lengthy process. The trial, or the deadline for ‘showing fitness’, is often a few months before the Championship event itself, so a substantial part of your race season is committed to the goal.

Minimising disruption to training is essential and for me, that generally means not doing other races in this time or travelling.

I keep life simple and quiet at home so I can prepare to my best ability and be consistent.

I work full time and have an energetic Vizsla dog to look after, so there isn’t a lot of time for much else once rest and recovery is taken into account, to get the desired adaptations from my training and keep the body healthy.

Lesson 2. Have a good support team around you

“Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much” – Helen Keller

I have aways had a team of experts that I work with - it is invaluable to offload some of the thinking process and call upon their expertise, so I can focus on the training, recovery and heat adaptation work.

I can't overstate the value of having a running coach to create the training plans and a dietician for the day-to-day and race fuelling. 

Having a good support team means I deal with challenges quickly during the training block before an ‘A race’ and prevent time off training. 

Lesson 3: Control what you can control

“You can’t go out there on the court and be afraid to fail, so I just go out there and play as hard as I can, no matter the outcome” – Kyle Lowry

Lining up on the start line in the GB&NI vest with the best trail runners in the world could add a lot of pressure to an athlete.

I'm not exempt from this and have definitely experienced it at times. BUT, I have learned it is more fun to focus on what I can control in training and racing - specifically my effort, mindset, fuelling and pacing - and not worry about what I can’t.

Earning selection is out of my control so I really don’t focus on that and, instead, I focus on doing what I love (trail running in the mountains!) and giving my best effort on the day.