Ciaran Carty – the Virtual Interview

<img src="http://goodcowebprojects.com/aspire/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/93382634_10157417915665292_5589399524809375744_o.jpg" alt="93382634_10157417915665292_5589399524809375744_o.jpg" /> The Interview today was with our Junior 400m star Ciaran Carty. When and why did you join DSD AC? When I was around 10 years old I did the Great Ireland Run in the Phoenix Park and I loved it. For two or three years after that my dad was telling me to join a club and I eventually decided to give it a go. What was your best event and what event did you like best? My best and favourite event is the 400m. When I was younger I was too slow to keep up with the fast 100m lads and wasn’t strong enough to race over 800m so the 400m was a nice middle ground. There are loads of opportunities with the 400m as well through relays. What is your favourite training workout? Anything short and fast, like 6×150 at 95% off 5 mins rest. Sounds easy but after the 3rd/4th you start to feel it and from then onwards it’s just a mental battle to get across the finish line. And your least favourite? 3x(3×300), off of 45 secs rest between reps and 10mins between sets. This is NOT fun but really gives you the ability to hang on in the last 100m of a 400m. Extra points if you throw up. What is your most cherished or proudest moment in your athletics career? Medalling on my first international. It was a schools international and I was competing in the 400m hurdles, I hit hurdle two hard and almost fell over. I had to work my way back from there and in the end I just beat a Scottish lad for bronze. I’ll never forget it. What is your most loved athletics sporting moment of all time? Watching club hero David Gillick claw back to win the European Indoors in Birmingham. What is your favourite race / athletics meet to take part in? Last year I raced in the Mannheim Junior Gala in Germany as part of the Irish u20 squad. The weather was really nice, over 40 degrees I think and the Germans are a talented group of athletes so we had to bring our ‘A game’. Other countries like Great Britain, Finland, Lithuania, Qatar and Latvia also competed there too so it had a great competitive atmosphere. What was your worst injury – and how did you get over it? In 2017 a muscle in my quad that connects to my hip almost came off the bone. I was out of action for about 4 months and couldn’t do any exercises or running at all. I spent a lot of time with a physio working to get back fit, thankfully I did and I haven’t had any problems with it since. What do you eat before a race and how long before do you eat? I’d always have something small like a toasted wholegrain bagel with peanut butter and a banana for breakfast and then keep topping up throughout the day with small snacks like cereal bars or a fruit smoothie. If you could have dinner with 3 sporting personalities past or present who would you pick ? Karsten Warholm, Justin Gatlin and David Gillick What is your next running / athletics goal? This year I was hoping to qualify for the World u20s but due to Covid-19 it was postponed. So hopefully they’ll set a new date and I can begin to focus on working towards that dream. How are you motivating yourself to continue training at these difficult times? Seeing competitors Instagram and snapchat stories of them training. As an athlete I hate being out worked so this really pushes me to get up off the couch and get the work in. What piece of advice would you give an aspiring athlete? To just enjoy it and not worry about winning or losing. I’ve lost my fair share of races growing up and got really upset at the time. It’s not till a couple of years later that I realised it doesn’t really matter until you’re about 16/17 when opportunities for Irish teams start to come about. So just enjoy it and take it race by race. Do you have any memorable or funny story from DSD that you could share? We were racing in Belgium last year and I was given the job of waiting up to let James Holden into the apartment as his flight came in late at night. I fell asleep and woke up to about 7/8 missed calls from him. I left him outside for a while… Sorry James. Can you share an old picture from your running days. The podium of my first international.