Podcast: Episode 216 with Jake Wightman

Mario Fraioli | November 7, 2022

“Even though you’ve gone and done something, there’s always stuff that puts you back in your place—that’s the thing I love is that with the guys I train with who put me away in sessions, there’s no reason why they can’t step up and progress to the same level. Athletics is great because everyone’s got the same access to the same opportunities, I feel. It’s not like football or basketball, NBA and stuff, where you have to be picked up by a team, you have to go through certain processes. If you train hard, you run quick enough, you can make a team, you can go to trials with a standard and you can make a team and no one will stop you. So the doors are so open which is why I admire so many people who haven’t potentially made the progress they wanted to a point but are still giving it a go because it can take one year to have that breakthrough. The same with if you’ve got a goal where you really want to run under a certain time in a 10K or a marathon, but you have a few years where you can’t quite—there’s nothing stopping you the next year from having these big jumps. You just have to change tiny little bits and a lot of it is the mindset and confidence you keep. It’s so mental, a lot of it, where if you believe you can do something it’s the greatest thing you can have because you’re on your way to being able to do that, I feel.”

I’m excited to share the recording from my live show in New York City this past Saturday with reigning world 1500m champion Jake Wightman of Great Britain. This past summer Jake pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the year, taking down Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen to capture his first world title. Jake, who is 28 years old and a native of Scotland, is also a Commonwealth Games and European Championships medalist, as well as a three-time champion at the 5th Avenue Mile in New York.

In this conversation, we talked about the world 1500m final and the tactics he used to take the win. Jake told me about what it was like to come off the high of that world title and still having to race in the Commonwealth Games and European Championships in the weeks that came after it. We discussed pressure as a privilege, what it’s like going into races now as a favorite rather than an underdog, and how he’s learned to appreciate his accomplishments over the years. Jake also talked about growing up as the son of two accomplished runners, being coached by his dad and the dynamics of their relationship, and a lot more.

Jake Wightman: Instagram | Twitter

the morning shakeout: Instagram | Twitter

Mario Fraioli: Website | Strava

This episode is brought to you by:

— New Balance. The new FuelCell SC Elite v3 is going to be the shoe that I race the Boston Marathon in next April. It’s a next-level racing shoe with a carbon fiber plate and plenty of lightweight foam underfoot for a cushioned yet responsive ride. Right now there are select sizes remaining in an exclusive New York City Marathon colorway available on newbalance.com, so try and snatch them up before the holidays if you can, and they’ll be more widely available in early 2023.

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Music and editing for this episode of the morning shakeout podcast by John Summerford.