Faking it firing up Mark English for Sky Academy Confidence Month

Playing mind games and listening to Rocky seems to be working a treat for runner Mark English.

The Sky Academy Sports Scholar has had a topsy-turvy season, belting round the track twice in all corners of the globe. He made the 800m semi-finals at the Beijing World Championships and ran a fantastic fourth at the Anniversary Games in London to overcome injury and wobbly form.

His rivals had better watch out. English's belief and confidence is starting to burn brightly and there's plenty more fuel stoking the fires for the build-up to his Brazilian Olympic trip next summer.

Tinkering with biomechanics (study of forces on the human body) is helping the 22-year-old, but it's what's happening inside the head that might just hoist him on to the podium in Rio.

Speaking at the launch of Sky Academy Confidence Month, attended by Sky Academy Ambassador Jessica Ennis-Hill, English opened up about his experiences with confidence, one of the skills which Sky Academy works alongside schools and role models to unlock potential in youngsters.

Here are Mark's words and how he's faking it to help conquer his opponents........

I'm growing in confidence every season. I know last year I won a medal and this season I won a medal indoors in March, but since then I've realised these guys I'm racing aren't just people on TV, they are just similar athletes.

It's important to reflect on that. Next year I'm going to be beating them. I don't want to be just making finals, I want to be challenging the top three on the big stage. I know I'm capable of it and I just need to believe in it. I just need a good winter's work.

I wasn't that confident at the age of 11. I became friends with runners and people from other schools but that was a tough period. I didn't know if I was fitting in the right social circles and didn't know friendships would last.

It was a period of uncertainty. My third year at secondary school was probably my low point. My running wasn't going too well and there was a lot of pressure to achieve good academic results. I just wasn't achieving what I wanted and I couldn't see the bigger picture.

I wasn't mature, I was much shorter and there were guys who I had already raced beating me. It was hard to comprehend how they were passing me. I was very narrow minded. Then having the studies gave me a distraction and gave me something else to make me feel good about myself. As I got older sport also really helped. Racing made me feel better about myself and built up my confidence. 

One trick I've been working on to boost my confidence is over-emphasising the race I'm in. It's faking it and there is a science behind it. 

If the race is just a nationals, then I pretend it's a World Championships. I try to get nervous. I know if I'm nervous I will run well. You need to get your body into the state it needs to be to run well. I like to get excited and get ready to fire. 

I try to think these guys I race are just people I've watched on TV and it helps me get up for the race. I've always run my best races at the big meets. This year I've done that.

It's like cheating my brain and it's hard to do. Music helps me though. It gets me emotional. Something like the Rocky music! Every race I'm thinking it's the biggest race of my life and I reason with that. Even though it's totally illogical.

When I was racing in Amsterdam over the summer I knew it wasn't a big race but I convinced myself it was. I told myself I wanted to impress on people how good I was and wanted them to take note who I was. You find ways to convince yourself and it gets the adrenaline going.

Adrenaline is such a factor. I know a guy who's 32 and he tells me the biggest challenge is to keep your hunger. That's the challenge to get that adrenaline running every race. It's much easier at a major championships and tougher for smaller ones.  

Planning and being ready also helps my confidence. I just need to know what I'm doing every single time I race and have back-up plans if things go wrong.

I've never been mentally weak. You have to adapt to situations. The 800m is one event you need to be mentally strong. Things happen and you need to adapt. The World Championships final was probably the slowest for 20-30 years. Very few athletes would have expected that. It means you have to change your plans. You keep your tempo up and keep going and make decisions on your feet.

As well as having a sharp mind, you need to be physically on it as well. I want to peak for Rio and I want to get my body in unbelievable shape and running great times. That's what excites me. Seeing what I can get out of my body.

I can then look back at the end of my career and be content with what I've done. I want to make the Olympic final at least. Everything is geared towards peaking at Rio and I'll be disappointed if I don't produce my best time. I'm aiming for 1 min 42 or 43. [Current personal best: 1 min 44.84s]

Something else to bear in mind is that most athletes run better at their second Olympics. The event is a completely different experience, or at least I imagine it is. In terms of the Olympic village and seeing athletes you have seen on TV, like the big basketball players. It could be an overwhelming experience.

On the track you can get caught up with all the emotions and you forget to run your own race. I will have to learn quickly when I get out there and be confident and treat it like any other major championships.

Look at Yuriy Borzakovsky - the Russian 2004 Olympic 800m champion. He was 19 at his first Games in Sydney and then won gold four years later. I will be much more experienced in Tokyo in 2020. But I'm not thinking about Japan just yet.

Find out more about Sky Academy Confidence Month, by going to www.skyacademy.com/confidence-month/

WHAT'S COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS...

OCTOBER 11-20: Olivia Breen - Holding Camp for World Champs

OCTOBER 21-31: Olivia Breen - IPC World Championships, Doha

NOVEMBER 2: Elise Christie, World Cup, Toronto 

NOVEMBER 11-13: Siobhan-Marie O'Connor - BUCS Short Course, Sheffield