Interviewee: Interviewee: Michael Collard
Hello my name is Michael, uh I’ve been asked to speak to you today about running um in particular competitive running and running in general.
When did you start running competitively?
Well, I actually run competitively when I was younger, um I used to enjoy doing athletics and middle distance running in school and also cross country as well although, I found that a bit difficult with hills etc, but I returned to running competitively I think more or less last year in 2017 so various distances, 5km, 10km and half marathons as well. And if I’m not running against people uh I’m more or less running against the time the clock, in order to beat that and to you know achieve better times.
What do you do to prepare for races?
Well I I do quite a few things um, one that comes to mind is um nutritional. So I eat a lot of carbohydrates in the days prior to a race. Um, my previous one was in the city of New Port in South Wales on a Sunday, so Friday Saturday I ate a lot of whole meal, whole wheats and whole grain foods in order to build up my you know stamina I guess for the race. Um, I also on the day of the race I also prepare by sort of by doing some stretches and some dynamic stretches and also some running around uh on the roads in order to sort of warm up. I’ll also take like a nice tonic drink as well in order to increase the sugar levels in order to you know really go for it in the run.
What is your most memorable race?
Yeah my most memorable race was in Birmingham west of England where I completed my first half marathon. Just that that feeling of of completing it was incredible. I loved the atmosphere. So many people on the streets uh with chocolates uh you know to encourage the other runners etc, um but the aftermath or the after effects were that um I decided to stop smoking and it was a very good influential factor in helping me you know progress and to try and improve myself even more.
This is Michael Collard for Learning English Matters, uh don’t forget to check out the Learning English Matters blog. Thank you for listening. Goodbye.
Words in this story:
Etc: Abbreviation for et cetera; used to say there are many other things that are of the same kind
Prior: before
More or less: mostly, approximately, almost
Stamina: having the physical strength to keep going or doing something longer
dynamic stretches: a way of stretching for athletes where they stretch but don’t hold the end position
influential: When something or someone has a big impact or has the power to make changes
If you liked this story, share it with a friend!
Our Blog: http://learningenglishmatters.wordpress.com/
Our website: www.easienglish.it
