George Russell on finding peace amid the pressure
The British F1 ace sat down with Men’s Health to chat about his love of Aussie crowds and why his vision for success is as clear as ever.
We are hunkered down at home in Cookeville, Tennessee. Mentally, I think the hardest part is watching all our friends and family that are call out of work or in isolation alone. I’m grateful to be isolated with Sammy and my training partners Tia and Shane. Our day-to-day has not changed much as we are able to continue our training in my home garage gym.
Day-to-day has remained the same. I wake up at 8am, Sammy has breakfast ready and Tia and I start training around 9:30/10. Our training has backed off a little simply because all major competitions have been cancelled or postponed. Training wraps up around 5pm, we have dinner and spend the evening stretching, rolling out or reading, playing a game and relaxing.
I’ve worked hard to set up my house to be full-serve to ensure I only have to rely on myself if ever the local gym is closed. That preparation has set me up to keep things running in these uncertain times. I’m grateful to have a great home life and a wife I truly enjoy the company of. We are enjoying the extra downtime at home together and everything else is business as usual.
Obviously there’s pride in each of my accomplishments but I view it as a pat on the back, reassurance I’m doing right things in training. Every competition I do goes by in a blur. I’m living those 4-5 days only looking event to event, a few hours at a time. It’s the process I’ve fallen in love with, the long days of training in the garage with my team that I’ll remember the most. Reflecting on this past season, from the start of my career, all I heard was winning the CrossFit Games four times in a row in this modern era of the sport would never be possible. To be able to accomplish it, to stand atop the podium more times than any other individual athlete, is a great sense of pride.
I loved it. I was there, going through each event but to say I remember it would be a stretch. Watching it on the big screen and seeing all that’s happening around the event helps me relive those blurry memories. Marston and Heber did an incredible job capturing the atmosphere so even when I watch it in my living room I get amped up and goosebumps. This film is something I’ll be able to share with kids and grandkids some day, it’s very special.
We are trying to keep our mental space clear, there’s no point in spending energy on speculation. There’s a lot going on and we are doing what we can to keep focus on the things we can control. Right now, we can control how we choose to spend our time. We are choosing to map out shorter term goals to help us stay focused on training while also focusing on not burning out.
Mat Fraser stars in the new documentary The Fittest by The Buttery Bros, available to download globally on iTunes.
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