Being Ready: Jess Runs Towards Her 10K PB Attempt

In partnership with Under Armour

What does it mean to be ‘race ready?’ Do we ever really know that we’re ready, both physically and mentally? 

Jess is just a few weeks away from running La Cursa El Corte Inglés 10K, and as she hits the peak of her training, her thoughts are beginning to focus on race day.

Visualising Success

“I’ve started visualising the race, which is something I’ve never done before,” Jess says. It’s helping her focus on the outcome she wants, which motivates her during the difficult training sessions. 

“I’m thinking about the final 500m, when I know I’ll really be digging deep and will have almost nothing left to give,” she says. “Imagining what it’ll be like to run a new PB gives me all the energy I need to finish those hard reps.”

While she visualises crossing the finish, she’s preparing herself as well as possible for the start line. 

I’m believing in myself

“Getting the time I want is going to be hard, and I know that,” Jess says. But this run has come to mean a lot to her: “I’ve never committed this much to a race before, or stuck to a plan so strictly.” 

In other training blocks she’s skipped runs, or swapped training around, but this time she’s fully trusting her coach and following the plan. “I want to know that I haven’t left anything behind.”

Jess has found that consistency has really helped her during this training. It’s the routine structure of the running week with its easy runs and workout days (Jess shared some of her 10K workouts). It’s the confidence that comes with wearing the same comfortable and responsive Infinite Elite shoes. It’s focusing on good nutrition before runs, and finding the best ways to recover afterwards. 

By doing all of this, she can be sure that she’s done the best training to feel ready to race. “I have to put in everything I’ve got,” Jess says, “and I’m believing in myself.”

As New York City Marathon champion Sharon Lokedi told Jess when they met earlier in the year: “Bet on yourself.”

Being Supported

As well as taking confidence from her training and backing herself, Jess remembers something else Sharon told her: “Success takes a village.” Sharon might be the one running the race, but it’s a team effort to get her to the start feeling ready. Jess has come to realise how true that is for her as well.

From the guidance of her coach, to having the best kit and shoes to achieve her goal, to family members running with her, and friends who help by preparing dinner for her if they know Jess will be back late from a run, no PB is ever just the work of one person. 

That support, plus knowing that the hard training she’s put in has prepared her as well as possible, means Jess will be ready to race in Barcelona on the 5th May. And she won’t need to visualise the finish line any more, because she’ll be running towards it. 

We’ve got videos on our YouTube channel showing how Jess has been training from La Cursa El Corte Inglés 10K, and you can see more tips on our Instagram page. Jess is running in Under Armour’s Infinite Elite for all her training and she’ll also wear the shoes on race day. Learn more about the Infinite Elites here.