George Mills, On Running, Eights Questions to the INIT Meeting Karlsruhe 1,500m winner…

RunBlogRun, #2.  That is a strong 1,500m opener, are you planning to race the European Indoors? 

George Mills:  Yes, I’m planning on trying to make the British Team for European Indoors. Despite having a really solid opener in Karlsruhe, I know there is a lot of work to be done in the next few weeks to get ready for the British Championships.

RunBlogRun, #3. Do you train in the UK or are you training in Boulder with OAC?

George Mills:  No, I don’t train in Boulder with OAC.  I spent a month there in October but mostly did my own training. I’m a part of OAC Europe, we’re slightly more nomadic. We have a few training bases which is normal for European athletes. In the winter we spend most of our time in Dullstroom, South Africa which is at an altitude of 2000m. Our sea level base would be considered Leipzig, Germany. We spend time

here between camps and base ourselves here over the indoor season. During the summer, usually from May to October, we are based in St Moritz, Switzerland. I’d consider this the best place in the world to train, it is beautiful, and we’re very privileged to spend so much time there.

RunBlogRun, #4:  How do you juggle the travel, do you have any secrets?

George Mills:  I love travelling and seeing new places so I don’t see it as stress at all. If I was to give 3 top tips it would be to unpack your suitcase as soon as you arrive, living out of a suitcase may seem easy but you’ll feel much more at home if you unpack it. Sleep as much as you can, the guys on the team will tell you I’m a big napper, I’ll usually sleep for 90mins – 2 hours every afternoon between training sessions. The third tip would be to be organised and plan a few days ahead so you know where you have to be and what you’ll be doing. This will take away some of the stress from travel. (Everyone on the team always jokes around asking if we’re sticking to my ‘schedule’ when travelling haha)

RunBlogRun, #5. Will you compete at the British Indoor Champs or Birmingham Indoor this season?

George Mills: Yes, as I said earlier I’ll be at the British Indoor Champs in Birmingham. We have to compete there to have a chance of making the British team for the Euro indoors.

RunBlogRun, #6.  For Budapest 2023, you are running for a country that has some serious 1,500m runners, how do you position yourself?

George Mills:  We all know how strong British 1500m is at the moment, and I think it’s probably the hardest team in the world to make, However, I see this as a huge positive as it makes me reevaluate the level I need to be at and pushes me to the max day in day out. I believe I can achieve this goal of being in Budapest and I will work as hard as possible behind the scenes with my team so that I’m ready to give everything when it comes to the trials in the summer.

RunBlogRun, #7.  What model of shoe do you train in, and what do you race in?

 George Mills:  I love all the On Shoes. My favourite training shoes are probably the Cloudmonster, Cloudgoa and Cloudstrauts for easy and long runs. For Threshold & track work I use the Cloudboom Echo 3 which is an incredible shoe. I race in the On Distance spike, this is genuinely the best spike that I have ever worn, the team who designed this are incredible, the best in the business.

RunBlogRun, #8. You won the 2020 British Champs, how did that give you confidence?

The 2020 British Championships feels like a very long time ago, a lot has changed since then but I look back on it with positive recollections and obviously it is a great accomplishment. However, I don’t think it has much to do with the confidence I have now. I like to put the confidence I have now down to my new team OAC Europe which I have been a part of for just over a year now, without them and the support of On, I don’t think performances like Karlsruhe would have been possible