After more than 20 years as an athlete, most recently at the very top flight of her sport, medal winner Jenny Meadows knows what works for her on the track.
She says: “I used to worry about the other athletes too much and I would respond to what they were doing. If it was a slow race I would slow down, and if it was a fast race I’d go too fast trying to go with them.
“Now it doesn’t matter to me so much what the other athletes do and I try more to run my own race.
“In Berlin in 2009 when I got my bronze medal at the World Championships the other girls went out incredibly quickly, a crazy pace over the first 400 metres.
“But I had worked out that if I was in really good shape, then I would only run my fastest race if I ran the first 400 metres in 57.5 seconds. You don’t have to keep watching a trackside clock to judge that, you just feel it.
“If I go faster than 57.5 seconds over the first 400 metres, or I run that when I am not in great shape, then the wheels will fall off.
“The result in Berlin was that on the second 400 metres lap it looked like I was kicking. In fact I was slowing down but the other girls were slowing down more than me so it looked like I was kicking on towards them.
“People do get caught up in the moment but by sticking to my own plan I was able to run a huge personal best in Berlin, and that came through my having belief in myself rather than reacting to the other girls.”
The race was particularly memorable as South African female runner Caster Semenya won gold, and the controversy over her gender began.
Jenny, who is full of sympathy for what Caster has had to endure, said that the way Caster ran the race improved her own performance.
“I was behind her in Berlin when I got my bronze but was still totally delighted with my medal and I do think that the way she ran helped me to a much faster time.”