10 questions with Irish Olympian Race Walker Rob Heffernan

Niall Breslin interviews Irish race walker Rob Heffernan who has qualified for a fifth consecutive Olympic Games to take place in Rio next year. A massive feat! His wife Marian Andrews is also a national women's 400 metres champion. Find out more about Rob and Marian on their website robandmarianheffernan.com or catch them on Twitter @RM_Heffernan

1. Do you actively work on relaxation techniques such as mindfulness or meditation to help remain focused during training or events?

I do try to plan out my day so I am in control and organised. When it comes to competition I will work on 5 different ques and use a different que at each km of the 50km. These ques will be very empowering to me and positive and help me focus on a positive outcome. I will also go through all the different scenarios mentally of the competition and have 3 separate plans to deal with each different eventuality.

2. Do you use visualisation techniques such as mental imagery practise to reduce pre-race anxiety and play out your race strategies pre event?

Yes, I feel if I work through all the different scenarios and control the controllable from the moment I get up, it keeps me more relaxed and happy. Looking back on my career all my best races where when I was happy and relaxed. I try and leave nothing to chance in both my build up and on the race day.

3. People often see elite athletes as tough resilient individuals but it’s clearly evident that with the pressures and demands placed on high performance athletes, like anyone, they can at times struggle with their mental health. How do you deal with your emotional and mental wellness?

Top athletes are top athletes not only because of talent but more often than not they have a massive willingness to achieve at a high standard and work really hard towards a goal. I don’t know any elite athlete who sits back on their arse and hopes to achieve success. There can always be the WHAT IF I do all this work and I don’t achieve? The mind can have a tendency to drift towards the dark side when you are really tired and the pressure is on. This can lead to anxiety and a fear of letting people down and failure. At this stage it’s important to trust yourself and your plan and realise that these feelings are normal and to take control of them. This is easier when you gain more experience but I have had some very lonely dark times in the past when things didn’t go right and you feel you have nowhere to turn. So to answer your question elite athletes are human who can appear to be tough and resilient because they don’t lie down. We keep trying to move forward.

4. What pressures affect you, both as an athlete and an individual?

The main pressure for any man with a family is to first and foremost look after them, that you can pay the bills and put food on the table before you think about training. After this it’s getting the support to be able to train at the required level to be the best in the world and having the required trust and support in your system that the right people will get behind it.

I have had 6 top 8 performances in Global competitions winning a world championships Olympic bronze medal in waiting and a European medal, but it is not always straight forward to get the backing once you have 1 bad result in a championship. Meaning you can quickly fall back down the ladder. It’s a results game so it’s very important for me or any athlete to perform in the major completions, year in year out. Saying that this is a pressure I relish and it keeps you on your toes.

5. You essentially compete as an individual athlete. Have you ever played a team sport and if so, what are the fundamental differences?

I played GAA with Nemo Rangers in Cork growing up. I find the bonds and friendships you build with your team mates is very important for your social development. Training for an individual event can be very lonely but ultimately the rewards far outweigh the isolation because you get the result, in most cases, that you have worked and sacrificed for. I spent most of my first years as a full time athlete training alone with no support, as we don’t have a professional structure in Ireland. There is no escaping the work load that you have to do to compete at an international level so I just got on with it and learned along the way. Working as an individual can teach you how to be resourceful and you need to network to get to the top. I was lucky enough to make connections with great athletes both from Ireland and abroad along the way. There is no hiding on the start line and nobody to hide behind.

6. How do you approach setbacks in your career? It is often said failure doesn’t define a person, it’s their ability to return from adversity that truly defines their character. You had a tough year just before you became a world champion. I think that says everything there is to say about your character.

I always take a bit of time to reflect regardless of the result. I try to look at all the positives and try to make them happen again. I also look at the negatives and try to work out how I can make these situations or incidents better in the future. The better your preparation, the less likely you are going to have a negative result.

7. Depression and other mental health illnesses are incredibly common in elite athletes yet so rarely spoken about or engaged with. What do you feel can be done to better support athletes both during and after their careers?

I feel having successful athletes, who are big role models, to speak with younger athletes who might be going through difficult times could give them the confidence and clarification that they are not alone and not different. I have been very lucky that I have been exposed to really great people in my life who I can speak to. I found when I was coaching athletes that if you are in touch with them daily or at least weekly you have a feel for how they are getting on emotionally as well as physically. There is a lot more to dealing with athletes than just paper work and stats, and everybody is different. Looking back if Robert Korzeniowski (4 times Olympic champion) didn’t take me under his wing when I was a young athlete I would never have been doing the sport after my 30s like most Irish Athletes.

8. You have spoken quite openly about your own personal struggles and panic attacks? Have you any advice for others who perhaps deal with the same issues?

Talk to somebody, you are not alone. I found when I was going through difficult times it was hard being a sports man to reach out to somebody as it is very difficult to explain. It’s reassuring to speak to others who have had the same feelings and emotions. I personally found with myself it came about because of my desire to do well and achieve, so to speak to somebody who has gone through the same thing helps you deal with issues a lot better.

9. You are a world champion in an incredibly competitive and difficult sport. Do you ever stop and show yourself some self-compassion for this incredible achievement?

I do try to remind myself of this when I have doubts. I think I am quietly confident that I was World Champion and I have overcome many obstacles to get to that point so whenever life throws difficult situations at me I feel I can overcome them as I have so in the past. I had to use all that experience and self-belief after not finishing in Zürich last year. I was astounded by some of the negative feedback. I always try to learn and take the positives out of bad experiences, so to come back and finish 5th in the world this year and just missing out on winning a medal after a turbulent 2 years gave me massive personal satisfaction. While I am still competing however I don’t want to be reflecting too much as you need to have massive hunger and desire to do well again and you have no divine right to do so just because you have in the past.

10. What does the future hold for you?

I am very passionate about sport and I would like to be involved in helping people of all levels as I feel being active has such a great impact on your mental health and for society in general. I also want to be involved in high performance sports and already many foreign countries have shown a huge interest in getting me on board when I retire. My other passion is coffee so maybe I can combine a high performance sports centre with a coffee shop in close proximity. I feel these 2 past times are great for relieving stress and keeping you happy and balanced.