Podcast Guest “It's a long road” is the runner and coach Yiannis Dimopoulos.
Giannis has been involved in sports since 1976 in different sports such as ice hockey, football, taekwondo, but also kick boxing where in 1998 he was distinguished as the 1st Mediterranean Champion in his category.
Giannis, in addition to being a professional running coach, is also an active runner himself and still has several awards to his credit.
He has been running since 1999, where he ran his first marathon, the Athens Authentic Marathon, followed by many races culminating in the two Spartathlons in 2012 and 2015, where he set a personal record of 28:45:33, a performance that placed him in the 6th best position among Greek athletes of all times at that time.
In 2016 he founded the Dimopoulos Coaching with the aim of sharing his knowledge and experience, coaching each athlete individually with different techniques and training programs in order to be able to respond as best as possible. He always motivates his athletes and not only to work hard, to follow the programs and to be consistent, because this is the only way they will be able to complete their goals. As he himself says, his goal is always for his athletes to give their best and do as well as possible without injuries and only with personal successes.
We will have an interesting discussion with Giannis after we will refer to moments of his sports career, to endurance and long distances, to the reasons and motivation that some runners have to run such races, but also to the type of training they should do.
Podcast Interview Highlights “It's a long road” with runner and coach Yiannis Dimopoulos.
07:00 So to start, would you like to tell us a few words about yourself and your involvement in sports and run;
10:25 I'll start by saying that you're also the author of a book called "The Power of I Can", which was released on April 14, 2021. Do you want to tell us a little bit about that?
14:50 Do you think that someone who starts running is a factor that can change their life? I mean from matters of habits but also mentally.
17:10 Has sports hardened you in such a way that you overcome any difficulties from a different perspective?
19:20 John, your name is more intertwined with the big distances, so I would like to ask you to focus there. Let's talk about Marathon distances and above. However, you, Giannis, in addition to being a remarkable coach, continue and you are also a runner with remarkable performances. In fact, recently in a race of 62 kilometers you took 4th place with an amazing time of 5 hours and 40 minutes. How do you manage and maintain a high level of competition?
23:05 Why did you "stuck" more on long distances; What kept you there?
24:53 Do you also run shorter distances?
26:10 Mountain running or on the road?
28:19 John the running of long distances it is something beyond normal I would say, if we could define as normal, let's say races up to Marathon. What do you think motivates someone to go longer distances?
29:20 How can a runner overcome his negative thoughts in a big race?
32:54 What level of fitness should someone be in when they decide to run in such races?
35:10 Could a good Marathon runner with a time close to 3 hours run without much preparation a 100 km race; What kind of fitness is needed and is fitness the only criterion? For example, I have read about cases of runners who, while in shorter distances, are at a very high level when they enter races long distances they don't perform as well or even drop out.
38:04 What I have noticed myself is that in long distances the older ages also dominate. And I don't mean so much in terms of a podium, but in terms of the number of entries. Why do you think this happens?
40:55 How different is the training someone who only aims to run marathon roads to someone who wants to focus more on the longer distances of 100km and up?
42:00 To long distance races we have the term fatigue strength. How important is this?
45:20 How important are Long Runs and how long should they be? Do these vary depending on the target distance one wants to run?
49:40 I would say the dream of every runner both in Greece and abroad is to run the Authentic Marathon of Athens, but that of Ultramarathoners is to run the Spartanathlon. What magic do you think these two matches have?
50:20 How does it feel to finish in a Spartathlon race? How did you experience the participations you had in this event?
53:35 In your training course for the Spartathlon, on a weekly basis how many kilometers did you cover and how far before the race did you start your preparation?
56:00 How long can the recovery from such a struggle?
57:30 How important is it to have support in long distance races? What does it help you with?
59:25 Nutrition and running. How intertwined are these two concepts? Does nutrition play a role in long-distance runners?
01:01:00 Can you tell us a little about Dimopoulos Coaching? However, as I see on your site https://dimopouloscoaching.gr/ your motto is "Consistency is everything..." Do you want to say a few words about this?
01:02:27 What's more stressful? Race or train?
01:04:20 If someone asked you, How can I improve? what would you advise him?
01:05:15 How do you see the rise of running in our country and the steep increase in the organization of such races?
01:06:50 In closing, I would like to ask you where and how can someone find you?
01:07:10 Also, how can someone get your book and if you are planning something new for the future?
Dimopoulos Coaching
https://dimopouloscoaching.gr/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dimopouloscoaching
John Dimopoulos
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ioannis.t.dimopoulos
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dimopoulosioannis/
Sparta of Laconia
+306942518048
email: info@dimopouloscoaching.com
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