Athlete of the Month – August 2021

The Athlete of the month, for the month August is.... Josie Golder!!

Josie is an incredible up and coming young athlete. She’s achieving times at the moment that most runners dream of. With her talent, recent progress and still only 17 years old, the running world is her oyster.

Some of her most recent performances include;

- 1st place in a recent 5km in 17:53

- 1st place recent 8km XC race in 32:58

- 7th female overall at the recent Asics 10km

- The list goes on!!

Having coached Josie for quite some time, I only met her recently at our team training camp, as she lives in Scotland. From the first moment I ran with her, I knew she had something special! Her form was great, and of course her speed phenomenal, pushing the fastest in the group at the ‘roll the dice’ track session. Mixing it up with the leaders right until the end.

She has the right mentality to go really far in this sport. Always doing research and looking into what the world’s best athletes are doing training wise, nutrition wise and recovery wise etc.

She’s always had a unique ability to put in big mileage weeks from a very young age, without feeling like they’re forced. This is a lot easier to do when you have a passion for the sport as much as Josie has. If anything, she always wants to run further than what I plan for her. Recently she’s discovered just how valuable cross training can be, with a midweek recovery swim. I’m looking forward to seeing just how beneficial this non-impact recovery proves to be to her running.

What I like most about Josie is that she’s not scared to go all out! It takes a lot out on you to regularly empty the tank. With her targeting a lot of shorter distances races, she’s able to push to her maximum ability and with her consistency in training, she’s also able to recover relatively quickly, before going again. Allowing her to race often, which is what she truly enjoys! That’s the beauty of racing shorter distance races, you can race them regularly, recovery quickly and go again!

Josie, I’m in awe of your talent and with your mindset and the right coach 😉 you’re capable of big things! I can’t wait to see what the future holds for you! The most important thing is that you keep running for the enjoyment and love of the sport, and the results will come.

Onwards

Upwards

Progress!

Who will be the athlete of the month for September??