Balance: Laura Muir

How to balance competing demands on your time with top British athlete and qualified vet Laura Muir.

Laura is Britain's top middle-distance runner and Scotland's top female athlete who was considered a great prospect for a medal at this year's Olympics before it was postponed. She is also a qualified veterinary surgeon. In this episode she explains how she managed to juggle two such demanding pursuits, and how each one helped her excel in the other.

Laura wasn't considered a great athletic prospect growing up. She was a solid if unspectacular runner who wasn't even the best in her school. But when Laura got to university and started working with a coach, her progress was meteoric and now she is among the very best middle-distance runners in the world. As Laura says, that shows how we all develop at our own pace and why loving what you do and sticking at it is often more important than early talent.

In this episode Laura explains how she balanced qualifying to be a vet with her running career in 2018, and why learning to prioritise is key. She also talks about the value of not overthinking and choosing to enjoy what you do rather than putting too much pressure on yourself to succeed, which paradoxically makes it more likely that you will succeed. She talks about being conscious of your priorities and sticking to them as well as keeping a level head, asking yourself questions to reduce how stressed you feel, running to clear the mind, routine and being the best version of yourself you can be and not worrying what others think.

This is the first of two episodes this week. As ever get in touch with suggestions and questions: @simonmundie.