Speaking on Today FM today, David Gillick talked about his novel way of dealing with the problem of anxiety before races.
He admitted to struggling with nerves before major races, detailing how he embraces the familiar concepts like visualisation and focusing on his breathing.
More unusually, however, when sitting at home, he used to write down all the negative things he feared would occur during a race. He'd stare at the page for a while and promptly walk outside and burn the paper.
Hey presto. The nerves are banished.
The days leading up to [a race] I used to get quite nervous. So what I used to do before I leave the house, wherever I was going all over the world. Before I left the house, I'd get a pen and paper and I'd write down all the bad things that could happen. All the worst things like a false start or I trip or I fall or I just run bad.
All of these things.
And then I'd look at them and then I'd go they don't actually look too bad and then I'd burn them.
Listen to Gillick's interview on the Anton Savage show below.
I used to go into the garden and I'd burn them. And it was gone. And
