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Eurosport-Yahoo met with British distance runner Mo Farah before his departure for the Beijing Olympics to explore the mind of a world class athlete on the eve of his biggest test.

Farah, 25, is already waiting outside the designated spot for our rendezvous, a petite French café near his training base in Teddington. To hardcore athletics fans he is instantly recognisable; yet his casual look round as I approach is the manner of a man afforded relative anonymity in this sleepy west London alcove.

His smile is quick and I am put at ease. Two lattés between us, I open our conversation with small talk about a local abandoned athletics track of which I occasionally make use; coincidentally - well almost, since the Eurosport office is based down the road from his old school in Feltham - it is the same one where he was introduced into athletics by teacher Alan Watkinson.

"I still talk with Alan regularly," he tells me, settling into his seat. "He was head of my year at Feltham school for five years. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be involved in sports: he was the one who dragged me into running, telling me to go to sessions half an hour before so I could play football in the gym first. That convinced me to go."

He will run the 5000 metres in Beijing: how does he feel about going to China, I wonder.

"I'm going to the Olympics," he says, that smile refusing to budge. "It's every athlete's dream to go to the Olympics. But at the same time you've got a job to do.

"You've been training for four years but it all comes down to just 14 minutes; 14 minutes, that's all. You've had support and worked with the coaches and they've brought you that far; but on the start line it's all down to you.

"But I don't see it as that much pressure. I've worked hard for it and I deserve to be there so I haven't got anything to lose really."

I ask tentatively about his recent preparation, sixth and eighth in 3000m events in London and Monaco as he works on his speed.

"I know I could have run a lot faster in Monaco, but I know there's a lot more to come," he says openly. "I'm happier than I was after Crystal Palace.

"When I run these races I'm not thinking about the Olympics; you're just trying to run the race as hard as you can and win it. That's all that going through my mind. But at the same time you know that the Olympics are coming.

"Every time you run you are collecting another piece of a jigsaw - thinking about how you feel in different parts of your body, whether your speed is up to scratch and other things - and at the centre [of the jigsaw] is the Olympics."

This analogy piques my interest: planned questions are forgotten. So how else do you build the picture, I ask, when you train?

"I've been taking my body to the max," he nods. "It depends on how the body feels when you are training - you have to change things around.

"I'm almost at my physical peak now. This time last year I was way back: in the World Championships I was sixth, but I was coming back from an injury.

"As an athlete you want to be at the top all the time, which is basically the Olympics - but you have to work it through every day, sharpening up a bit more, a bit more, a little bit more. I believe I've got the right coaches behind me for that."

But what about the mental side of preparation for an Olympic Games? Does he use a psychologist, or make use of any mental techniques on his own or with his coaches?

"There is a psychologist [with Team GB] and a nutritionist who tells you what to eat, but mostly I just work with my coaches," he replies, almost apologetic. "They know what I'm capable of."

The men in question are UK Athletics performance manager Alan Storey and Seoul 88 medallist Mark Rowland.

This will be Farah's first Olympics, although he medalled in the 5000 at the 2006 European Championships and won gold at the European Cross Country Championships in the same year. How will these experiences and those he has enjoyed at the Worlds and Commonwealth Games help him prepare for the big one?

"When you've been in a place before then you know it, and how to deal with it," he shrugs, motioning with his hands. "For example there's something stuck there [in front of you] and you have to twist it. If you've done it before you know [to twist it and] how easy it is to twist it.

"Rather [if you haven't] than thinking: it's stuck, I can't lift it out, what am I going to do?"

I request a description of race day, from the moment he awakes in the Olympic Village to standing on the start line. How does he get to the place where he needs to be?

"Normally race day would be in the evening," he begins. "I'd wake up in the morning, go for a 20 or 25 minute jog, shower and go for breakfast: a few pieces of bread and a coffee. Then I'd go back and shave my hair or just have a shave.

"About seven hours before the race I'd have a good lunch: rice, chicken, something plain with plenty of protein and without sauce. Then I'd try and get some sleep.

"About four hours before my race I need to be at the stadium so I'd get the bus there, have a look around; two hours before I'd start warming up with my ipod and talk with my coach. At this point I'd be getting really nervous.

"Once you get on the line, if it's the heats you can't think: 'oh, this is just the heats' - you have to treat it like the final. And you have to remember what your coach told you. It's all about being in the right place at the right time.

"The Olympics is different: it's where it's at; everyone trains for the Olympics. You can't put pressure on yourself: you've got to stay as relaxed as possible. The way I look at it though is that the Olympics is just a name - it's just another race. You can't approach it differently to any other race."

What about life in the village? Has he talked with anyone about it; does he know what to expect?

"I was speaking to Steve Redgrave, who's won five Olympic medals," he says casually. "He said every single one of them was different: there might be problems with the accommodation, with the food, with being woken up in the middle of the night...

"You just have to deal with it."

And entertainment, I enquire, reminding him that there will be a lot of time to kill.

"I'll have a look around and chill out with my friends," he says. "In the morning I'll do some work and in the afternoon I'll just relax.

"I'm quite good friends with [800m runner] Michael Rimmer and he'll bring his Nintendo Wii; that Olympics game looks quite good but I haven't played it yet... I hope he's got it!"

I leave with the image of Olympic athletes in every room furiously waving their arms at the TV, looking for a digital world record in the hours before their races begin.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport