Mo Farah: Nine Running Tips

Mo Farah – Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion (twice), World 5,000m and 10,000m champion (twice) and 2:05 Marathoner. Someone we could all get a few running tips from.

The Sweat Elite team spent a month training in Sululta, Ethiopia in January 2019, whilst Mo Farah and Mudane Team were training towards the London Marathon 2019.

Here are 9 basic running tips from Mo Farah:

For A Quick Energy Boost… “Chocolate – usually dark chocolate – is good for an energy boost. There are all manner of sports snacks that pretend to do wonderful things, but I mostly like to stick to the basics.”

How to Keep Motivated… “When you’re competing, keep reminding yourself how much work has led to that moment. The training you’ve done means you deserve to perform well. That gives a huge confidence boost.”

How Important Are Recovery Days? “The day after a tough workout, you never want to push your body again. The most you should do is a comfortable run (or two) and/or cross training. Don’t have your heart rate up high again.”

Should you carry water during a race?“Drink immediately before or after a 5K or 10K run, but not during it. Running with a bottle puts more pressure on whatever side of your body it’s weighing down, and running well is all about balance.”

Keeping Warm Before The Race… “The morning before a race, I always have to wear my leggings to warm up my muscles. It’s weird, but if I don’t wear leggings in the morning, then I can’t compete in the afternoon. It’s a psychological thing. My coach once said: ‘It’s hot, it’s 80 degrees, take the leggings off!’ But I couldn’t.”

Increase Your Mileage Gradually… “Do not increase your weekly mileage by more than 10 per cent every month. No matter how good you feel, be very gradual. You won’t know you’re overdoing it until it’s too late.”

Strengthen Your Whole Body… “Good runners condition their whole bodies. The arms drive the legs. Keep your upper body and core toned with a lot of push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups, and back raises. Stay away from machine weights and stick to Pilates, climbing, and dynamic flexibility work like yoga.”

Think About Your Posture… “Every motion your body makes should propel you directly forward. If your arms are crossing or you are over-striding, you’re losing force. Your posture should be straight, and your striding foot should land directly underneath you.”

Stay On The Trails If Possible… “Pavement damages joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles. The more you can run on grass, woodchips or dirt, the better off you are. My athletes run 90 percent of their workouts on soft surfaces.”

posted Monday January 16th
by Sweat Elite