Mitch Goose is clearly recognisable with red hair and matching compression socks and the 'CONAC' runner continues to improve each year and recently represented Great Britain at the European Cross Country u23's in Dublin. RunnersLife caught up with Mitch has he finishes a small break and gets ready for some tough winter training at his base in St Mary's University.

Personal best's

1500 - 3.44.44

5000 - 14.18

Questions

You're quite well known for having red hair and wearing different colour socks, any reasoning to it?

Haha! I don't really think that there is any reason other than the fact that I have never been one for blending in.  My Mum was a punk, my Dad a mod and I've always been drawn into eccentric people such as Adam Ant and Jeff Hardy so I guess that is where it stems from. I'm one of those delusional people that despite not having a single ounce of musical talent thinks that they should be a rock star so I've never really cared about people's opinion of me.  My friend Bathey is a trainee hairdresser and the shop has become a place where we all tend to hang out a fair amount of the time.  My hairdresser, Peter Tuttle, is a runner and enjoys the task of making my hair unique.  With regards to the colours I'm just a weird guy that likes to be colour coordinated.  I've got an extra element in red that I plan on introducing sometime in the future that is a nod to Jeff Hardy but I need to get hold of a yellow pair first.

What age did you start running?

I started running a bit when I was 11/12 to help me with football because I had previously been told that my speed was an area of weakness for me on the pitch.  I then decided on making running my number one sport when I was 15 and it was then that I started to programme my running rather than just running for fun when I felt like it.

Did the recent Liverpool XC go to plan?

I guess in some ways that Liverpool went to plan as it was a trial race and I made the team.  I did however have a pretty bad run for the shape that I knew I was in so it didn't go to plan on all aspects.  My plan was to go off slowly and then work my way through the field hoping for a top 10 finish.  The course was much muddier than I had anticipated when putting together my race tactics and with the course as mucky as it was I think I would have been better getting into my intended race pace earlier on as picking up the pace was significantly more  tiring in the mud.  I'm alright on soft courses but I like to feel as though I'm running fast and with the course as muddy as it was on the final lap it was just too much and got the better of me.

How did it feel to get the call up for GB in the Euros u23 off the back of Liverpool?

With the results mix up the call up was a relief.  It was my 6^th GB call up so it wasn't the same awesome feeling as the first but representing your country is always an honour and I was happy to have the opportunity to redeem myself following my poor run at Liverpool.

What was the trip to Dublin like?

Dublin was great as I was accompanied by some City of Norwich club mates for the first time as Ash Harrell and Hollie Rowland were also in the team.  Our under 23 team all got on really well and we had a great team manager in Bob Ashwood. It was a good experience to be in a team alongside World Triathlon Champion Alistair Brownlee

How did the race pan out how you expected?

I'd watched the Under 23 race the previous two years and saw how well Ben Lindsay and Andy Vernon had managed to move through the field as a combined result of many people going off too fast and them having great runs.  I therefore expected much of the same to happen again this year so went off way down the field and ran sensibly keeping an eye on the goings on ahead of me.  As I began moving through the field I felt good and was very happy to finally perform to my ability although it would have been great to grab a medal.

How did you end deciding on St Mary's to train?

I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the London Marathon Young Athlete's camp at St Mary's back in 2005.  I instantly realised that was a suitable place for me to base myself in the future.  My coaches Tim and Pauline Ash have known Mick Woods for a long time and have a similar coaching philosophy so were happy with my decision to go to St Marys.

How is it going there?

Things have gone great for me since going to St Mary's and it was definitely the right decision.  I've learned a lot since going to St Mary's through living with the likes of Andy Vernon and Keith Gerrard.  I'm in the last year of my degree now so the workload has picked up which has kept me busy away from running.  Dick Fisher has done a lot to make St Mary's the endurance hot spot that it is and despite the changes going on at St Mary's the support from the coaches hasn't changed which is truly a credit to the passion that Mick and Craig Winrow share for the sport.

What's the Training group like?

The training group is fantastic and I've really benefitted from it.  There is pretty much two different groups; the one's coached by Winrow are usually the 800metre guys, aptly named 'Team Winrow' and the guys coached by Mick.  The groups do often join forces though so it's not as if there is a competition between the groups and we try doing our runs as one big group. The best thing about the runner's at St Mary's is that we all live within a very close proximity of each other so you're never short of somebody to go for a run with and we've got a great team spirit.

Since going to St Mary's Ben Lindsay and I have developed a really good training partnership, we do pretty much every run together and it has worked for the pair of us.  The list of good guys at St Mary's is exhaustive and includes the likes of Andrew Osagie, Andy Vernon, Simon Horsefield and Ross Murray. Having James Brewer based at St Mary's for however long it was had a great impact on all of the runners regarding our approach and the obvious benefits he had for training. Beyond that we have an unreal depth of good runners and I honestly believe our training group is one of the best in the country.

I have seen you on videos involving the 'Chunder Mile', have you done one?

I've never actually done the 'Chunder Mile' myself as I don't drink but I'm usually seen on the sidelines hurling abuse at my brother for his embarrassing attempts. 

Training

 Easy runs

I do easy runs but I've never used a Garmin watch so wouldn't know really but based on what the other people I've ran with in the past I'd say it is probably around 7minute per mile. I wouldn't do them if I didn't consider them important and I use them as just an easy way of notching up a little bit of mileage whilst recovering from previous runs.

Steady runs

Again, I don't really know as I don't use a Garmin and prefer to run based on how I feel.  From what people I run with say the first mile is usually very slow at easy run pace and towards the end it is getting on towards sub 6minute per mile.

Do you always run in company?

Yeah as mentioned previously I do nearly all my running with Ben Lindsay and more often than not Ash Harrell as well.  Sometimes our group runs can be getting on towards 30 people. This is awesome until you get the guys that when they first come to St Mary's think they have a point to prove and push on for the last 5minutes, myself, Vernon and Ben usually just look at each other and shake our heads when we see it happening.  People eventually learn the hard way when they struggle in their next session and by November they've usually twigged onto the fact that they shouldn't be kicking away from Andy Vernon!

Interval work

I usually have 3 sessions a week. Tuesday and Thursday sessions are just typical interval sessions and Saturdays will be either a hill session or tempo at Richmond Park.  I wouldn't really say that any of my sessions are of a higher importance than others; it's just a matter of consistently getting the work done.  My winter Tuesday sessions are usually 10k in volume broken up into 2k sets such as (2k, 4 x 1k, 600, 400)

What has been your shortest fastest session?

Last summer I did a session with 'Team Winrow' that was 2 sets of 600, 30secs recovery, 200.  It was really different for me, good fun and I surprised myself.

Do you change surface dependant on time of year?

I tend to stay off the track until about April.  At St Mary's we are fortunate to be based close to Richmond Park and Bushy Park so off-road running is always accessible so all my easy and steady runs are done at these parks.

What would you say has been the hardest session?

It's tough to pick out one because it all depends on how hard you personally push yourself.  I deal with the long tough sessions really well so I would say the hardest sessions are lactic sessions, it's quite dramatic when I hit lactic so something such as 5 x 400 with 3mins recovery aiming to run pretty fast is going to hurt.

Typical Full Training Week

Before and after sessions I do at least 2miles of running at an easy pace for warming up and down.

Monday - AM 50min Steady Run

                 PM  30min Steady Run

Tuesday - AM 30min Steady Run

                  PM Session - 2k, 6 x 1k, 5 x 400

Wednesday - AM 60min Steady Run

                      PM 30min Easy Run

Thursday - AM Session 10min, 10 x 30secs, 5min, 10 x 30secs, 5min.

                   PM Occasionally a 30min Steady Run

Friday - AM 30min Easy Run

Saturday - Richmond Park Hill Session

Sunday - 90min Run

My Training the week of National Cross Country Relays 2009

Monday - AM 50min Steady Run

                 PM 30min Steady Run

Tuesday - PM 10k interval session

Wednesday - AM 60min Steady Run

Thursday - AM Session 10min, 8 x 60secs, 6 x 45secs, 5 x 30secs.

Friday - AM 30min easy run

Saturday - PM National Cross Country Relays

Sunday - AM 80min run

Mileage

What is your mileage are you doing in training phases?

At the moment I'm on around 80miles a week and this is significantly reduced during track season.

What is your longest run of the week?

90minutes

Do you run big mileage when racing?

It depends on the importance of the race, before the Euro XC it was dropped a lot whereas before Mansfield and National 6 stage I tried to train through it.

What's your opinion on mileage in general?

I'm all for guys doing what they think works for them whether that is high mileage or less mileage with more time spent in the gym.  I personally started training properly and counting my mileage at 16.  I started at 60miles a week and my coach's plan is to increase it by 5miles each year which is what we have done so now I'm 20 I'm on 80miles a week.  I do eventually see myself moving onto the marathon when I reach my early 30's so by the time I'm in my mid 20's I'd like to be the kind of guy on a fairly high mileage, by sticking to my coach's plan this should work out to be the case.  The reason why I think I am going to be a high mileage guy is that I'm fairly robust and have never had a training induced injury, I really do just enjoy the routine of going for a run.

Strength work

I usually do circuit's at the beginning of term once a week but then assignments tend to take priority.

It's bad because I'm actually studying to be strength and conditioning coach but I don't follow a weights programme myself and never have done.

Massage

I consider it fairly important but not a necessity, I try to fit one in once every two weeks but am not too fussed if I don't have one for over a month, my brother is a sports masseur which is really helpful for all the guys at St Mary's.

Diet

I have an understanding of what is good and bad so try to eat the good and not the bad.  I usually eat at 'Nando's' at least once a week though.

Rest / Recovery

Would you take a break at all?

After the Euro XC I always take a week off and I used to take two weeks off following track season, however I have found that the only time I tend pick up niggles follows periods of no running so I now try to go for a couple of 30min jogs during my rest week.

 So what are the plans for the next few months?

The plans for the next few months are to stay on the cross with the aims of performing well at the BUCS and the World XC trials ahead of the track season.

Have you got any targets for the year?

I honestly think that with the way training and racing has gone pre-Christmas that if a few guys were to under perform on the day and I was to run well that I have an outside shot of making the team for the World XC. My main aim for the year is definitely to perform well on the track because 2009 was a disappointment.  I've always said that I don't want to step up to having 5k as my main distance until I've broken 3.40 over 1500.  Knowing that 5k is definitely my future I want to break 3.40 sooner rather than later, so I'm going to be focussing on getting my 1500 as close to that target as possible whilst trying to fit in a couple of 800s and maybe a 5k.

Mitch

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