Australian distance runner Rose Davies says she will focus on random thoughts rather than her goal of winning a third consecutive Zatopek:10.
Davies enters Thursday night's 10,000m showdown in Melbourne as favourite to claim a triple treat of Zatopek titles.
"Hopefully I can pull it off but I haven't really thought about what winning three in a row would mean to me yet," Davies said.
The 22-year-old adopts a simple premise during the early stages of the race: do not think too much.
"I don't look at the lap counter until it's in single digits, that's my number one rule," she said.
"I just switch off and look at people's bibs or other random things to get my mind through.
"I actually don't find it too bad, the race always goes pretty quickly."
Davies climbed to No.4 on Australia's all-time list over 10,000m when clocking a personal best of 31 minutes 18.54 seconds in the United States in May.
But after contracting COVID-19, she opted to contest only the 5000m at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in August, finishing 17th.
"It has been a massive year," she said.
"I had a bit of a mental break when I came home but training has been going well and hopefully that shows on Thursday."
In the men's 10,000m, Jack Rayner will seek to defend his title.
