Full look BOSS / Tie Hermes via Designer Exchange / Shoes Manolo Blahnik

Hey Josh, how was the shoot?

It was great, thank you. We had a blast. They made me look like I kind of knew what I was doing, so it was a good day.

You’ve had a pretty incredible couple of weeks. World Mile Record, Commonwealth Games Gold, has it actually sunk in yet? Or are you still in competition mode?

It’s a weird one because with the world of athletics, it keeps moving. There’s always the next competition, but during the process of building towards the World Record in Commies, it was very much staying in the process of everything and not letting it overwhelm you, like what could happen or what could be. It is starting to sink in a little bit, but also at the same time, it’s kind of overwhelming because I never really thought about what the outcome would look like. I was just so focused on the process of what I wanted to do. So, yeah, it’s been great to be honest. It’s been really fun the last couple of weeks.

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Congratulations again! The Commonwealth Final was kind of a different race to your world record run I am assuming. How did you approach that race differently, if anything?

For the difference between the two races, the best way to put it is like one was racing a clock, something pretty analogue, and then the other one, I’m racing people, which is very emotional. It is an extremely different kind of prep, but the training is pretty similar. So we didn’t change too much in training. But my approach was talking about the emotion of it a lot more than the physical aspect. So just keep energy in one spot and keep it contained. But you know, the clock and people are very different, but they’re also similar in the way that you have to treat them with great respect and know that there’s just much more variables when you’re raising people versus the time. 

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But how do you block out all the other people? I would just look at the other people to see how far they are. How do you just focus on yourself and not get distracted by how far your competitors are? 

I’m a very confident person within races. I ran a world record, I’m in great shape. And so my big thing is, wherever I am, if I feel like I’m tired or I’m working hard, then I know everyone else is. So I just kind of dictate the race the way that I want it to play. And normally that works out in my favor but it’s an interesting approach. Those guys are really good. And so not to disrespect anything of what they’re doing, but I do feel like the shape I was bringing into that race was going to be pretty tough to beat. So I was just going to focus on my tactics and my racing strategy.

That’s the way to go. So for your world record, you obviously spent months preparing for it. And I remember reading somewhere where you said that you knew that you could achieve a world record, but when did you first genuinely believe or know that you could definitely cut such a chunk off of it?

There’s a couple key sessions that allowed me to feel a bit more relaxed in fitness. We ran a time trial two weeks before, a 1200 time trial that went extremely well. That was a big moment, but to be honest, I knew that as long as my body kept responding and I wasn’t going to run into any injury problems or things like that, I was going to have a really good shot at it. My body’s great at responding to big moments and my coach does a great job of peaking my fitness at the right time. So it is a really trusting the process kind of gig. It’s one of those things where you’re not going to be able to test all the time, but you just have to trust that it’s going to be there when you need it. And that’s the big thing that I was leaning on.

Full look Margaret Howell / Boots Manolo Blahnik

For the Commonwealth Games and training for a world record, how long is actually a specific training block for that? If you can share, what’s your training split for that and up to what mileage do you go to when you prepare for those races?

We released all of our sessions in the last five weeks leading into the London Championships and then from there we didn’t do any specific work for the Commonwealth Games just because if you’re in shape to run 3.42 in the mile, then you’re going to be able to deal with a lot of things come the Commonwealth Games. I only run 70 miles a week and I say only because within our sport, that’s not a crazy amount for a miler. But I know that’s kind of where my body’s limit is. If I go a bit more than that, then it just becomes a bit junk mileage-y. And then if I try to push the mileage more than that, then my body doesn’t respond well and starts to run into injuries and fatigue.

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How often did you do race pace runs?

We did race pace work once a week. And so variable distances from pretty much from 200 all the way up to 1200 meters at one time. We would never go over 1200. Some people ask like, have you done it in training? That’s not something that we really do in running, like completely doing the whole race. But we got pretty close to the 1200 for sure.

Jacket, Shirt, and Jumper Les Deux / Jeans NN.07 / Shoes Duke and Dexter / Belt Margaret Howell 

I’m always so curious what goes through athletes’ minds when they are literally giving it their all. What goes through your mind when racing? Or is it just no thoughts at all.

Thinking slows you down. So I’m never pondering a thought. I would say, obviously things come and flow through the brain. My big thing is making sure that my brain gets out of the way of my body. Like the only thing that could have stopped my body that day was my brain. I knew my body was fit enough to run at least 3.42 minutes, if not faster. And so my brain was just the only thing that can sometimes panic and get anxious. There can be a lot of negative sticky emotions that come in during race time, but it was just training the brain to make sure that it flows through each of those emotions without getting stuck. So yeah, it’s just about training the brain to switch off a little bit.

Being an athlete obviously comes with pressure as well. How have you learned to deal with the pressure and expectations that come with it?

There’s a human element of sport and I give my best every day. And so I’m not really someone that’s worried about other people’s opinions of me because no one else is really doing what I’m doing. As athletes we deal with brands and things like that, but a talent that none of the brands or the project managers really have is to go out and run a fast mile. So I just don’t really mind too much about their opinions of me. I know that my staff and myself are working extremely hard to be the best we can. And if we come up short, then, you know, that’s kind of the best that we had. Iin this day and age, anyone can give you a comment or a message. They can be positive, and they’re very positive right now, and they can be negative and they have been before. And it’s just not something that I really open myself up to. I don’t really read a lot of that stuff and delve into other people’s opinions that I don’t know. I’ll listen to the people that I’m close to, but that’s pretty much it.

Blazer and Trousers Edward Sexton / T-shirt NN.07 / Shoes Manolo Blahnik

That is a great and super valid attitude to have about that! Do you remember the first ever run you did that sparked your interest in becoming a professional?

Professional running is not something that was well known as a profession when I was growing up, obviously. The sport has really developed over the last five to 10 years. But I always did want to do it when I was around my first couple races with my brother in the race and we’d finish first and second. He would be first and I was second. Those are the kind of memories that I love, just chasing him on a cross-country course and thinking to myself, I would love for this to be my day job. I was always eager, excited to go to training. Even just the thought that that could be the only thing I did that day. It’s pretty awesome. And that’s not worn off, to be honest. I love going for a run and feeling good about myself every day. There’s some low moments, but I owe the sport a lot. I do love it.

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Do you remember your breakthrough race?

Yeah, there were a couple. The biggest one before heading out to the States was I won European juniors in 2015. It was the first time I had a Great Britain vest, and I went out and won and I wasn’t even ranked to win. And I realized if I can show up and beat these guys, get a little bit less nervous, spend less energy on the variable bullshit, then I can really be someone and seize moments. And that was a huge moment for me to think, everyone’s human and everyone’s beatable. So why not me?

And then it just kind of spiraled from there and I worked along the US circuit for a while in college. Kind of went step and stone to step and stone. They were my first world team in 2017. I knocked out the first round, I think it was 37th. And then from there, it was like, okay, I can run at this level. I know what it’s like. And then sixth, third, and then first. Since then it’s kind of been, I know I can win. There’s space for me in this sport. Let’s keep that going along.

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Love that. What a journey so far! With so many medals and wins under your belt, is there anything that is coming up for you that you’re still chasing? 

I’m working through that now a little bit to figure out what excites me. I think that the biggest thing with sport is to find what excites you and that will help you with your goal. Obviously, the Mile record and the Commonwealth Games have been massively exciting for me over the last up to 10 months. But now we’re through that, it’s one of those things to go back to the drawing board and figure out what we’ve learned from this process and how we can apply that to the next goal. And the Olympics in 2028 is kind of the end goal, but that’s a couple of years away still. It may be a 1500 meter world record or it may be after a world indoor world record, I don’t know what it is yet, but we’re going to figure that out in the next couple of months.

Sounds exciting, can’t wait to hear about what it is! Please tell me you are going to relax a little bit as well. You deserve it.

I’m not a big relaxer, hah. No, I’m joking. I’m going to spend a little bit of time switching off and get to go home to the US and where my house is, my wife and my dog. My reset time is just with them. I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It’s not a big social hub which is really nice. It’s a really relaxed place to live in the mountains. My wife’s a dermatologist. And so when she gets back from work at five, five thirty, then it’s time to switch off and spend time with them, go for a walk, debrief on the day, eat lovely food and watch some TV or play a board game or do whatever. It’s a very simple life. I don’t live this kind of day to day, going out, following all different things. I don’t live that way.

Blazer and Trousers Edward Sexton / T-shirt NN.07 / Shoes Manolo Blahnik

That sounds super wholesome. What a great way to unwind. Also, what breed is your dog?

He’s a mini Schnauzer. He’s a little legend, his name is Presidente. My wife is Dominican and that’s the Dominican national beer. So Presidente it is. 

I love it! Thank you so much for your time.

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