Celebrity supporters for Mind

Some top British athletes have recently given some words of encouragement and support, based on their own personal experience, for the Mind challenge team. We hope they inspire you!
	"Running is a great sport, it gives so much back. Almost anyone can do it anywhere. Always set yourself a goal and work steadily towards it as this helps with motivation. Train with a group of friends to help encourage each other through the tough spots. Take your resting pulse each morning. Listen to your body and if it is tired take a rest of have a very easy day. Enjoy the race. Get there fresh and allow plenty of time to warm up and stretch as well. Don’t wear new kit of shoes that you haven’t tried before. Stick to tried and tested foods beforehand."
	"You don’t have to be an Olympic athlete to enjoy cycling. The beauty of riding a bike is that no matter what your ability is you can try as hard or as easy as you like and still get a sense of achievement that your exercising your mind as well as your body."
	How do you keep on going when things get tough? "I visualise my dreams and this keeps me focused." What would you say to someone who is thinking of starting running? "If you are going to start running make sure it is fun! Because if it isn't fun and you don't enjoy it, you won't want to go out training." Do you have any secret tips you could share about getting through race day? "When it comes to race day I remind myself why I do this, and I do this for fun and this helps to keep me relaxed."
	"The hardest part is motivating yourself to get up and go to the track, gym or park but once you are there you will soon find that you enjoy exercise and gain satisfaction from doing so."
	How do you keep on going when things get tough? "I focus on the goal I want to achieve and this helps me to move on through the tough times" What would you say to someone who is thinking of starting swimming? "To take up swimming as a form of exercise is excellent. However, if you want to be come a competitive swimmer you would have to be committed to a strict training regime including early morning and evening training sessions." Do you have any secret tips you could share about getting you through race day? "Everybody prepares differently for a race – my philosophy is to stay calm, remove yourself from any distractions and stay focused (that’s why I use my minidisk with favourite music – this helps me to concentrate my mind on what I need to do)."
	"When things get tough I find it helps to remind myself the reasons why I want to achieve the goal. Having a motivating force really helps to make me determined to push myself to the limit. I would say to anyone thinking of taking up cycling that they should give it a go - it's fun, it's exciting, it's great for improve general fitness and is low impact and so less likely to cause injury compared to running for example. On race day, have a breakfast high in carbohydrates (bread, cereal and so on) drink plenty of water before. During the race pace your effort to make sure you get all your energy spent by the finish line, and when it's hurting, remember; those around you are suffering too!"
	"I would recommend swimming to anyone. It is a fantastic sport, which can keep you fit, is fun and is readily accessible to the vast majority of people. Whilst I have enjoyed competing at the very top level of the sport, swimming is a sport that enables everyone that swims to achieve, I have seen people be just as delighted with a ten metre badge as with a championship medal. Achievement is proportionate. Therefore, whatever, you want to achieve you need to believe in yourself, be committed and be prepared to fail before you can be prepared to succeed. On the day of any competition, I think positively about doing my best. The night before I won my bronze medal in Athens I went to bed for the first time thinking I could win the gold medal and whilst I was disappointed I did not win gold, if I had not thought I could achieve what I wanted to, then the chances are I would have not."

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