Mental Health vs. Physical Health: Steps to Balance the Scale in Elite Sport

The Olympic Games have highlighted the need for an increase in sport psychology and mental health services for athletes. I’ve had the opportunity to speak about this with several news outlets, but I wanted to further outline my thinking on this topic with a blog post.

We know there is a problem. And we are starting to take steps to solve it, but there is a HUGE body of work that needs to be done. I say this from a professional perspective: I am a Sport Psychology Consultant and dedicate a lot of my time to helping Olympians, Olympic hopefuls, NCAA Division I athletes, and aspiring collegiate athletes reach their performance goals. I was an athlete and competed on the world stage for 9 years, made an Olympic Team, a World Championship Team, and three Commonwealth Games Teams in the 3000m Steeplechase. I have insight into how athletes think and know that the way we provide sport psychology services is not doing enough to create an even playing field for physical and mental health in elite, Olympic sports.  

When I was an athlete, I didn’t know how to take advantage of sport psychology services. I knew that the job existed—the job of helping athletes fine-tune their mental performance and manage their mental demons—but I didn’t really know who that person was, where they were, or if they would understand me and my crazy dream of running 7.5 times around the track, jumping into 7 pits of water and over an additional 28 barriers. It can be confusing and often just the energy required to go into detail about my training and my event was enough to deter me from trying to start that relationship (e.g., “oh, you’re like a horse?” or “wow, you run more each week than I drive.”).

Obviously, this is a problem and I have ideas on how to address it. Now I’m on the other side of my professional athletics career working with institutions on how to improve sport psychology and mental health services for athletes and I see barrier after barrier after barrier. Luckily, I was a steeplechaser, so I have experience in clearing barriers. I also made very little money steeplechasing and it was more of a passion career—all of this has served me well in training my ambitions to fix sport psychology and mental health services in Olympic sports   (FYI, a lot of the work of sport psychology professionals do with elite, Olympic athletes is unpaid—a true passion!). The biggest problem that was immediately apparent to me in working with Olympic athletes is that there aren’t enough resources (or a willingness to dedicate resources) for embedding sport psychology professionals in athletes’ buildup to major championships (e.g.,  Olympic and World Championship events). Most teams at the Olympic Games send a sport psychology professional to be there to support the team members. For many on the team, it will be their first time meeting this person. The resource is available, but it could be more impactful. Do you want to start a relationship with a sport psychology practitioner a few days before the biggest meet of your life? Probably not. I know I didn’t.

I started working with Olympic athletes a couple of years ago and I was determined to help make the resources more available, visible, and useful for athletes. A group of sport psychology consultants I collaborate with put forth a big effort to complete a needs analysis with athletes: we wanted to know what they thought about current services and what they wanted in the future. The number one thing we heard was that athletes did not know they had access to sport psychology services. In good cases, athletes said they had heard of the services, but had no idea how to access the services. Some athletes even talked about how they tried to find out how to work with someone but never got any answers. Athletes who had made a previous Olympic team knew that a sport psychologist showed up at major championships but didn’t have much interaction with that person outside of that championship.    

Overall, the take-home point from our 2019-2020 research project was that we needed to integrate more with the athletes earlier in the Olympic cycle. We need to go to meets in the years between the Olympics—domestic meets, international meets, ideally even training sessions to help get coach buy-in and gain trust. If the person who is going to help you strengthen your mental game to perform at an Olympic Games gets to see you in training and competition, this is massive in building the relationship and gives the athlete confidence that the sport psychology professional knows the nuances of their sport. People want a choice of who to work with: one person (no matter how amazing they are) does not fit the needs of 200+ athletes from a wide array of backgrounds. Diversity is huge in the sport of track and field, and we need to offer athletes the option to work with a diverse set of sport psychology practitioners.

The model in the above paragraph is the EXACT model that we use for PHYSICAL injury prevention in our Olympic athletes but deviates massively from what we offer for MENTAL injury prevention. If we could model our system to look like what we offer for athletes to ensure physical health, we could actually start closing the gap between physical and mental health support. Athletic trainers go to training sessions, domestic meets, have diversity, and the ability to integrate into the athlete’s journey in the years between Olympic Games. We know that injury prevention works, so why are we only using that model on the physical side and not the mental side?

I challenge you to take a look at the support staff in your sport: how many people are dedicated to helping the physicality of the athletes and how many people are dedicated to supporting the mentality of the athletes? We need to close the gap, even if it’s only slightly, in these number discrepancies. I’ll be advocating for this in the buildup to Paris 2024 and flexing my passion to make progress.

Lennie Waite, PhD, CMPC, OLY

It's Feeling HOT HOT HOT

Summer has arrived in Texas and it is getting sweaty out there. If you live in the kind of stifling heat and humidity like Houston or Austin has to offer, you know what I’m talking about when I say running can get pretty miserable in this weather. Most days, I feel like someone has wrapped me in Saran Wrap and I’m begging for a breeze, some dry air, and for the houses on my run route to have their sprinklers on full blast.

We all know hot and humid weather impacts how we feel, and you can probably guess that it impacts your pace. It’s not just you feeling tired, out of shape, dehydrated and worn down. It’s the heat and humidity. But what is the real physical impact? Runners like numbers. We like to know our pace, our weekly mileage, and our splits. Luckily, there are a few experts out there with some valuable tools to help you calculate your adjusted pace in hot and humid conditions so you can manage your effort (*it’s important to manage your effort! Don’t put yourself in a hole training in horrible conditions).

So, if you are starting to feel worn out by the repeated effects of working hard in warm conditions, this post is to remind you to be kind to yourself.

 Coach Mark Hadley has some great information on his website here: www.maximumperformancerunning.com. If you add temperature and dew point at the time of your run, you can use the chart below to adjust your pace accordingly. Dew point is a better data point than relative humidity in determining warm weather pace adjustments and most weather apps have air temperature and dew point listed. The range exists due to lots of individual factors including stature, fitness and body composition of the runner. (* The AccuWeather and the Weather Channel app both list dew point or you can search for a dew point calculator.)

At 7am in Houston this morning, it was 81 degrees with a dew point of 77. If you went for a 6-mile easy run at 8-minute miles in this weather, the adjusted pace would be 4.5-6% faster (81+77 = 158; then use the chart above). At the lower end of the conversion, that gives an adjustment of about 22 seconds per mile, making the run equivalent to 7:38 pace in “normal” conditions. 

These pace adjustments are recommended for continuous runs, for repeat track workouts of a mile or below, you can half the adjustment time because the body has a chance to cool between repeats.

Some other fun things about the heat and humidity:

●      Runners are more likely to suffer from heat related issues in a 5km than they are when running a marathon. Tim Noakes, a medical doctor and physiology researcher in South Africa, has spent a lot of time researching heat training and found that heat stroke is actually more common in shorter races (e.g., 5-10km) than during longer efforts. In longer efforts the pace is naturally slower, allowing your body temperature to increase more gradually. This gradual increase gives your brain more time to recognize the danger and adjust effort accordingly.

●      There is a mental component to training in the heat and humidity. For example, tricking yourself into thinking it is cooler can have real performance effects. Castle et al. (2012) showed that when they told participants the temperature was cooler than it actually was, athletes rated their perceived effort as lower and pushed harder. The deception made them cave less to the pain of the heat.

●      It might provide beneficial physiological changes for endurance runners. This study showed that long term heat training (i.e., > 4 weeks) had a positive impact on hematological adaptations, showing that heat and humidity really might be the poor man’s altitude.  

It’s not all bad! Train carefully, train slower, and stay positive. You got this.

Podium Mindset Camp: Answering Athletes' Questions on Race Day Mental Prep

I had a blast at the first Podium Mindset Camp of the summer. If you missed it, sign-up for Camp 2: July 28-29th. My favorite part about camp is reading and answering all of the athletes’ questions at the conclusion of Day 1.  I have athletes write out any questions they have and hand them in at the end of the first day.  It presents not only an opportunity for me and my team to share knowledge with young athletes, but also a chance for me to stay up to date with the questions and concerns of young runners.

A lot of the questions that campers asked were related to race strategy and dealing with pain. I shared one strategy with them that I learned over the course of my career. I put it to good use the day that I ran 9:35 in the steeplechase and hit the qualifying mark for the Olympic games. Prior to the race, I had a handful of very disappointing performances. I needed to tweak my mental preparation: what I was doing the previous season wasn’t working this season (probably because everything is amped up in an Olympic year!). I remember three specific things I focused on this day:

1.     I have the tendency to mistake fitness for guaranteed results. Even though I was fit and capable or running my goal time, I needed to remind myself that it was still going to be very, very hard. Fitness does not make races easy, it helps you prepare for when races get hard. A good training block allows you to face the pain and continue to push. For this particular race, I prepared to embrace the pain. It was around the time that the song, “Baby, this is what you came for” was hitting the top of the charts. To the same tune, I would repeat, “This is what I trained for”—accepting and embracing the pain when it hit.

2.     It was obvious that the pressure to make the Olympics was getting to me mid race. Everyone was asking, “Oh, so like, you’re going to the Olympics this year, right?” I would try and keep my response light hearted and say, “Yea, I put my name on the sign-up sheet, so I should be going.” Explaining the ins-and-outs of an Olympic qualifying procedure for athletics is hard for many non-athletes to understand. Continually getting asked this question was making me tense. I could feel my brain pounding inside my skull during warmups earlier in the season. I started telling myself, “Relax your brain” and that helped me a lot. I envisioned the worries floating away as I let me brain relax.

3.     The last thing I did, and I still do this today, is repeat “Right here, right now” (also to the beat of the song!). I catch my thoughts drifting ahead to what might happen next in the race and this phrase helps me focus on staying strong in the present moment. Focusing on the present helps me get through the race one lap at a time, and I know that if I can make it close to the end, I can unleash a powerful last lap.

Whenever I was diligent about remembering the mindset that helped me approach a race, I performed better. However, there are so many temptations to get away from this and focus on hitting big PBs or beating certain people. Getting sucked into that trap wasn’t good for me. It takes discipline to create a routine and stick with it. It also takes self-awareness to understand when you may have outgrown your approach to competition: as we grow as athletes, our pre-performance routine may need to grow, too.

Delhi 2010 to Gold Coast 2018!

MY THIRD COMMONWEALTH GAMES! I loved it so much the first two times, I’m going back for thirds! Delhi 2010 to Glasgow 2014 to Gold Coast 2018!

First of all, special thanks to Coach Jim, Matt and my parents who have endured this journey with me and who will also be celebrating their third commonwealth games as my best support crew.

If anybody would have told me when I was on my way to compete for Scotland in Delhi that it would be my first of THREE commonwealth games teams, I would have laughed and said, “NO WAY.” Partly because at 24 (oh, the youthfulness ), I definitely didn’t envision myself still charging barriers at 32. And I definitely didn’t think I’d steeplechase faster in my 30s than I did in my 20s. But, as I’ve progressed, I’ve realized age is a tiny factor in a complex system (i.e., staying injury free, continuing to improve, enjoying the process, balancing life on and off the track) of improving and continuing to compete on a world stage.

The key to my journey was finding stability and a sustainable way to run 80-miles a week, compete in Europe in the summer, and live a (somewhat) normal life. Sustainability around track has allowed me to continue to get a little bit better each year and reach new targets that seemed light years away for me in my 20s. I definitely have Coach Jim, my parents, and my husband for helping me gain confidence in MY journey and keep belief in myself.

My journey looks different to many runners. I don’t go to altitude training, I don’t have a big team of elite runners to train with every day, and my days are not always built around my training. However, I have reached an age where I realize that all of that doesn’t determine my performances on the track. I run best when I’m happy and productive off of the track, which means finding time for my family and my work. I used to get anxious when I saw my competitors at altitude training for large blocks of time, or training with other elite people to constantly test their limits. Then I realized I would have quit the sport a long time ago if I did that because I would have been unhappy and unfulfilled.

My journey is not my competitors journey. I am an individual and I love the road that I have paved in running. I think too many people think there is “one way” to be a professional runner. But really, if you look around, there are many people, like me, training alone or with whoever will join them, chipping away at big dreams, making strides off of the track, and smiling on the way.

So, with all of that, CAN YOU BELIEVE I MADE MY THIRD TEAM!

Mental Health and NCAA Student-Athletes: A Review of "What Made Maddy Run"

I’ve been in the running world for a long time. I ran my first race when I was about 5 years old, competed in AAU and USA summer track throughout middle school, ran track and cross country all through high school, and then dove into the Division I running world my sophomore year of college. I have met some of the toughest, most courageous women I know in this sport and have made more friends through running than any other activity in my life.

I have come across many types of runners at different stages of my career. I’ve seen issues like eating disorders, obsessive tendencies, perfectionism, high anxiety, and other mental demons derail successful careers of athletes that I have trained with, looked up to, and competed against. A lot of the struggles that athletes face hit them during their first year at college. Life changes, the sport changes, the pressure changes, but most of the time, the athlete’s expectations increase.

I recently read Kate Fagan’s book, What Made Maddy Run, (I LOVED it) and she summed up one of the biggest struggles that NCAA freshman student-athletes face in the quote below.

“Freshman year of college, especially for those playing a sport, is like walking through an obstacle course wearing a blindfold. No context exists for how hard the workouts will be, how long they will last, what each class will be like, what events are fun, what should be avoided. There is no yin-yang, either; no understanding that one week might feel grueling, unmanageable but just hang on, because the following week will be light and easy. For someone who struggles with the unknown, freshman year of college can feel like walking a path lined with land mines---heart racing, disaster around every corner.

Now add another variable: mental health.”

Overall, Fagan’s story on Maddy felt very familiar to me. I have witnessed many of the tales that Kate retold of Maddy’s first few months as a Division I runner at an intense academic university. When I was reading the book, I felt like I knew Maddy, like I’d met her before, or at least parts of her in other athletes that I have known. I have participated in similar conversations with teammates and seen elements of this behavior play out before. Luckily, each person I knew that shared an element of Maddy’s tale was mentally healthier than Maddy. Yes, they were suffering, but not to the same extent of mental illness as Maddy. This difference in mental health is the differentiator between Maddy’s story and the story of friends that I can recall.

Oftentimes, cases that resemble Maddy’s do get better overtime through perseverance, resilience, or just toughing it out - a concept that is stressed to student-athletes. But in the rarer cases when it is mental health, are we equipped to deal with the problem?

To get on the roster of a Division I program at a top 15 academic school requires a strong, driven personality. Many of these student-athletes are addicted to progress, and when they felt like they start going the wrong direction, their world crumbles. For a lot of student-athletes, their identity is closely tied to their performance in sports, but the competition is much harder at the Division I level. Failing is hard. Additionally, in sports, “sucking it up” and “toughing it out” are part of getting to the top. Asking for help, especially mental help, is not a concept repeated to athletes as they are climbing the ranks in high school. In most cases, the reason athletes make it to Division I is because they have experienced a lot of success, something that many assume will automatically continue throughout their college careers.

In many NCAA Division I programs, there is no open door in the athletic department to talk with a professional who is trained in the mental health of student-athletes. Yes, there are coaches, but their job is to coach you, and as an athlete, I know that bringing what feels like ‘personal’ issues to coaches makes you feel like a nuisance. There are academic advisors, trainers, and administrators. All of these people can offer some form of help, but it is not their primary job or their area of expertise. There are professionals that collaborate with the athletic department, but they are not in the athletic department. A subtle, yet important difference in my opinion.

On the whole, the NCAA is doing a better job of raising awareness of mental health. Schools are trying harder to develop resilience in their athletes and are focusing on programs that offer student-athletes skills that will help them deal with the turbulent 4 or 5-year journey. However, there is still plenty of room for progress. If you have story or an idea or an experience to share, I’d love to hear it! Spreading the word, speaking out, and sharing experiences helps create positive change in this area. 

What I've Been Reading: Research

1.     A Diversified Portfolio Model of Adaptability

This article speaks my language. For me, it highlights the importance of social networks, experiences, travel, culture, sports, school, and work all in one piece. It basically applies portfolio theory to people and discusses the benefits of having multiple roles and how this can act as a buffer to stress and “risk.” In short, it argues that diversification in roles may increase adaptability, resilience, and well-being. Now, this may sound backwards to some people. One line of thought promotes the idea that if you really want to succeed, you have to be all in, with a narrow focus. Maybe this is true. But, this article proposes that having a rich diversification of roles helps you adapt to life’s challenges, which can ultimately increase success. In my life, I have found that I am more successful when I have multiple roles that I am invested in. The year I tried to fully commit to professional running (i.e., not working, not going to school, JUST running), was my worst year ever. This was probably because I was unhappy and confused and struggling with my identity. I was supposed to be a runner, and when that didn't go well, I felt totally unsuccessful. I learned that I thrive when I can draw on other roles, and this article provides a good theory on why this may be the case.  Not everyone is like this, but if you are, and you sometimes worry that you aren’t committed enough to one pursuit, read this article, it may explain why you need other important identities in your life.

2.     Manage Your Energy, Not Your Time

This article appeared in HBR in 2007. It is still extremely relevant and perhaps even more important to implement today that it was 10 years ago. On one hand, I worry that this research is 10 years old and we are still seeing these problems.  On the other hand, the conversation around creating a more fulfilling and satisfying work environment is happening more frequently now. Also, this article may feel particularly important to me as I am finding myself busier balancing working, running, and my social roles. This article highlights how the individual is at the center of structuring their environment and it suggests ways to take control of our work life so we can have the energy to perform our best and enjoy life more. A couple of my favorite quotes from the article are below.

“To recharge themselves, individuals need to recognize the costs of energy-depleting behaviors and then take responsibility for changing them, regardless of the circumstances they’re facing.”

“It’s been a revelation for many of the people we work with to discover they have a choice about how to view a given event and to recognize how powerfully the story they tell influences the emotions they feel.”

3.     Music of the Night: Performance Practitioner Considerations for Enhancement Work in Music

I am not musically talented. Some may even go as far to say that I’m tone deaf. Nevertheless, I have learned that the musical world and the athletics world have a lot of performance elements in common, and I have enjoyed exploring this topic. Dealing with anxiety, comparing yourself to others, dissecting the Instagram posts of fellow athletes / musicians, coping with the bumps in the road to the ultimate goal, navigating setbacks and failures, and training with the hope that your breakthrough performance will come soon—these are topics experienced by musicians and athletes.  I got excited when I saw this article because it puts a research spin on a lot of topics I have discussed for fun over dinner with friends.

Sport Psychology is the oldest and perhaps most established field in the performance enhancement. More and more people are taking skills from sports and applying them to other domains, like business or music. Also, more domains are actively seeking out the use of performance specialists (yay for me!).  This article highlights the overlap between the music and sports. It also does a great job of bringing to light the differences and areas of caution. Although there is a lot of overlap in the performance domain, there are cultural differences that must be taken into consideration. You can’t take a sport performance program and plop it down in a music program. That definitely won’t work. I am always an advocate of learning more about the environment of the client before developing a performance plan.  If you are thinking about working in the music industry, I suggest this a starting point to get to “know your audience.”

References:

Chandra, S. & Leong, T.L.F. (2016). A diversified portfolio model of adaptability. American Psychologist, 71, 847-862. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0040367

Pecen, E., Collins, D., & MacNamara, A. (2016). Music of the night: performance practitioner considerations for enhancement work in music. Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology, 5, 377-395. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/spy0000067

Schwartz, T. & McCarthy, C. (2007, October). Manage your energy, not your time. Harvard Business Review. 

Olympic Games Re-Cap

Where am I supposed to start?! I have a million stories, thoughts, and reactions to share with you from my Olympic journey. Reflecting on this epic journey is hard, especially for me, as I am the type of person who focuses on moving forward. When I start reflecting, my mind wanders to what could have been. What if I didn’t get hurt? What would the Olympics have been like if I was able to compete instead of hobble for survival to the finish line? I’d be lying if I said that each day I didn’t wonder why I tore my plantar fascia at the Olympic Games. However, I am a firm believer in the phrase, “I don’t bounce back, I bounce forward.” And I bounced forward from my race as soon as possible and focused on the positives that achieving my Olympic dream presented to me. I can honestly say I have walked away from Rio with an armor of happy memories.

Thought # 1 from the Olympics: The People and the Conversations

My favorite part of the Olympics was the people that I got to meet and the conversations I was lucky enough to have with other Olympians. I think a lot of people that interact with me may notice that I ask a lot of questions when I get talking to someone new. The researcher in me is fascinated by the different pathways that people take to become an Olympian, the support system that they have, and what their life looks like outside of the village.

I took advantage of running along the likes of Jo Pavey, and asked her to describe all four of her previous Olympic experiences and what it was like to get to her 5th Olympics. Jo confirmed my belief that finding a way to make running part of a sustainable lifestyle is the key to a long, successful career. She has inspired me to avoid limiting my career by my age and instead focus on the enjoyment and improvement I have seen in my running over the past couple of years.

There were several young stars on the GB team who I loved hanging out with because of their high energy, no fear, and invigorating approach to the games. There were other ladies who I had competed alongside over the past 6-8 years and we all finally achieved our Olympic dream after each of us had to overcome several obstacles on the journey to Rio. It was great to make it to the Olympic games alongside so many friends.

I spent time speaking to athletes from other countries on the long bus rides to and from the Olympic village. I loved coincidentally sitting next to Canadian runner Micha Powell, who happened to be the daughter of Rosey Edeh, a hall of famer and 400m hurdler from Rice University. It was also great to catch up with Marielle Hall, who I competed against back in college, and was also once coached by Steve Sisson. The conversations I had were fascinating and proved to me how small the Olympic community really is. I felt connected in someway to everyone I spoke to in the village.

Thought #2 from the Olympics: Team GB knows how to do the Olympics.

I feel lucky to run for Great Britain. The British Olympic Association (BOA) knows how to make the Olympic experience unforgettable for the athletes. It started with the kitting out process: picking out the sizes for our village wear and competition kit and being presented with a lot of freebees was the first way I was spoiled by TeamGB. I was quick to take advantage of several of the perks that go along with making a British Olympic team, like my free Oyster travel card and the £25 monthly vouchers from Aldi. The perks didn’t stop there. When we travelled out to Rio, we had a lovely free breakfast at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant in Terminal 5 and we picked up a lunch box for the journey. Our facilities at training camp in Belo Horizonte were top class, and the BOA did a great job of making sure everything was in place for the athletes when they arrived.

Before arriving in the village, the news had spread stories about how poor the living conditions were in the Olympic village. The British block was great—the BOA had solved all of the problems before the athletes arrived. Plus, our apartments were fully outfitted with TVs, wireless Internet, tea and coffee supplies, including a kettle and refrigerator, decorations on the walls, and lamps and cute pillows to lighten up the ambiance of the living rooms. I know that several other countries only had the bare bones in their rooms—no TV, no excess furniture, nothing in the kitchens. I am interested in the differences between countries and what each provides for Olympic athletes—I guess I still have more questions to ask J.  We were greeted with special gifts at our welcome meeting to the British block and constantly reminded of the caliber of our achievements to get to the Olympics. The star treatment continued on the journey home with a private, gold nosed, British Airways 747 plane. On the plane, we did a champagne toast, sang our national anthem, and were treated like heroes. We were welcomed home by loud cheers and congratulations at Heathrow.

Thought # 3 from the Olympics: It’s expensive, but totally worth it.

This year, I made no money from running. I do not have a salaried contract. Adidas provides me with shoes, racing kit, and training gear, but I am not a contracted athlete and I have no bonus structure. The majority of my travel and expenses are covered by Scottish Athletics (who are unbelievably supportive, positive, and by my side through thick and thin). Through British Athletics, I receive the Virgin London Marathon Silver funding, which covered an additional £1000 of my travel for races that wasn’t covered through Scottish Athletics. Luckily, my sister Katie is an incredible physical therapist, and when I’m in Texas she takes care of me, which saves me a huge expense. When I was in Teddington this summer, I paid for massage and visits to the chiropractor to help keep my body in once piece in the build up to Rio. I know I did not get nearly enough treatment to maintain my body because of the expenses and my lack of access to British Athletics physical therapists outside of competition. I used airline miles for travel to and from London for the summer, I paid out of pocket for some accommodation in the build up to Rio, and I was lucky enough to have great friends put me up for the remainder of my time in Teddington so that my Olympic dream didn’t burn a hole in my pocket.

I like to keep my running a sustainable part of my life, and sometimes that means I miss out on some of the extra things that could really benefit me. My running situation is similar to a handful of other athletes (perhaps more, but people aren’t very open about this stuff), but drastically different to many people at the Olympics. I know I am not on track to win a medal, and making the final this year was going to require me to run the best race of my life with a healthy left plantar fascia.

When I reflect on all of the sacrifices I made to line up for one race, momentarily it can seem crazy. However, Making the Olympics was worth every penny that I have put towards running, every penny I have missed earning by delaying putting my PhD to full time use, and every missed party / wedding / bottle of wine. Becoming an Olympian is PRICELESS, and I am so excited to be able use my experiences on the journey to the Olympics and through the Olympics in my role as a sport performance consultant in the future.

Other interesting things from the Olympics

·      I’ve never eaten in such a diverse space. Think about taking people from every country in the world and putting them in a single dining hall. It is chaotic. There are so many different cultural intricacies that surround food and I loved watching them unfold in the food hall.

·      Some athletes stay in the village in the build up to competition and some do not. A lot of athletes miss out on the spirit of the games because they want to stay in a quieter, more controlled environment. Others want to make sure they have their altitude tents, which aren’t allowed in the village apartments. Some people want to stay with their families. A handful of athletes are great at balancing both: staying focused and participating in the Olympic spirit. From my perspective, the Olympics are a lot about savoring the experience and participating in the Olympic spirit. I know I am swayed by the fact that I don’t have a medal, massive bonus, or pay check waiting for me at the finish line. But I also know that my Olympic memories would not be nearly as great without the fun times I had in the team apartments, participating in activities in the village, meeting new people, and navigating the insanely unique village environment.

·      Transportation was the one downside of the Olympics. It was very hard and time consuming to get to competition venues, even when using the Olympic lanes. Luckily, I was tired from the excitement of watching so many thrilling races at the Olympic stadium that I fell fast asleep on many of these bus rides.

What’s next for me?

I am settling into the next stage of my life in Houston, Texas. I am currently taking my annual break from running and giving my left plantar some time to recover. I am using my free time to focus on my business and I am excited to work with Houston based athletes regarding mental performance in sports. I will start training in a couple of weeks with Rice coach Jim Bevan, and I am so excited to be back on the track where it all began. My main aim for next year are the 2017 World Championships in London. Yep, you guessed it, I can’t hang up my spikes just yet!

What Is It Like to Become An Olympian?

I still can’t quite wrap my head around the fact that I am heading to RIO for the 2016 Olympic Games! As I mentioned in my last blog, things have seemed far from picture perfect this season. Since I last wrote, I have had a couple of great races and a couple of OK races. Most importantly, I achieved my ultimate goal: I made the OLYMPICS! The races that got me there are all part of the story, the good ones, the bad ones, and even the DNF one.

I want to write about my journey because I think it is important to highlight that the buildup to becoming an Olympian is not always smooth and ideal. In most cases, it is the opposite. But in the end, it is that one race on the right day that makes everything possible and erases all of pain and feelings of defeat of all of the other races. When I think about running a big PB in June of the Olympic year, I catch myself saying, “I’m SO lucky.” But when I think longer about it, I realize it is not luck. There was a ton of hard work, a lot of sweat, some tears, huge sacrifices, and an endless amount of support from people helping me on this journey. We all worked our butt off for this day, and I am so happy we were rewarded.

Below is a little recap of the series of races in the buildup to my selection for the Olympics.

May 20th: Hoka One One Middle Distance Classic, Occidental College, LA

This race was the first time I lined up for a steeplechase since I walked off the track 3 laps into the race at Payton Jordan. The weeks following my DNF were hard, but good. I was nervous before every challenging training session and I was questioning whether I would be able to tough it out or not. Did I want it badly enough? Each day I proved to myself that I DID want it—I relit the fire in my belly and I was genuinely excited to line up at Oxy.

I raced aggressively and ran my third fastest time ever--less than 2 seconds outside of the Olympic Qualifying mark. I felt like I had brought my Olympic dream back to life and was relieved, proud, and excited.

June 4th: American Track League, Atlanta

I was overly eager to get back out and race after the Hoka meet. I wanted to secure my second Olympic qualifying time, and I wanted to do it sooner rather than later! As the race day approached, I had a lot of doubts. Was the weather going to be too hot? Was I recovered enough to race again? Was I forcing an unplanned race onto my schedule? In my heart, I knew I wasn’t ready to put everything on the line again. The race didn’t go nearly as well as I wanted. My doubts, the weather conditions, where I was in my training cycle, and the environment of the meet (including an extra barrier) all played a part in me not racing as well as I hoped for. Time to move on to the next one.

June 12th: Portland Track Festival

This had been a tentative race on my schedule. I was hoping to leave for the UK and start prepping for the trial race around the time of this meet. However, I was extremely uncomfortable making the trip over to the trials without securing my second Olympic standard. Training after the last race had gone really well, and I knew that if I raced to my potential, I could run under the Olympic Qualifying mark of 9:45. And then, BOOM, I ran 9:35. I had teammates from Rogue and from Rice cheering me on massively, and I could feel their energy pushing me the last two laps. I couldn’t contain my excitement when I crossed the finish line. I had essentially booked my ticket to RIO!

June 26th: British Trial, Birmingham

This meet was where I could secure automatic selection for the Olympics. For those who followed my story last year, you will remember that I was denied selection for the World Champs team even though I had the qualifying time and I won the British Championships. Things in Britain are done differently than in the US—to gain automatic selection you need 1) a top 2 finish at the British Champs and 2) two qualifying marks. If you don’t attain the automatic criteria, then your place on the team is left up to a committee to decide. In my case, the committee determined to bring 0 people to World Champs in the steeplechase instead of bringing their best steeplechaser who had achieved the qualifying standard. After last year, I made sure to read and re-read and re-read the selection policy.  I knew I had to hit the automatic criteria to guarantee selection.

Unlike last year, I entered the trial with my 2 qualifying marks, so a top two finish would secure my ticket to Rio. Going into the trial, I was the favorite by far. I also was the only person with an Olympic spot on the line. I was very nervous—the barriers always add an uncertain element and my Olympic selection depended on this race. I felt that I had the emotions of my non-selection last year creeping in and making things even more difficult for me. I DID NOT WANT TO MESS THIS UP!

I lead the race from the gun at a pace that I thought would thin out the field and keep me out of trouble. For the most part, I was right. Two girls followed my lead, but that was one too many! I was hyper aware of everything happening during this race. I was looking up at the jumbo screen and could see two girls on my heels. I wanted to win so badly, but more importantly, I needed to finish top 2 to gain automatic selection to Rio. I put in an injection of pace with 1k to go, and managed to lose one of the competitors. With 400 to go, there was still one other competitor by my side. All of the worrying, angst, and concentrating on not messing up had drained me throughout the race. I didn’t have the final kick I needed and I ended up finishing second.

Initially, when I crossed the finish line, I was disappointed. I was the favorite to win and I didn’t. However, the disappointment fleeted pretty quickly as interviewers started asking me how it felt to be going to Rio. I had checked all of the boxes for automatic selection for the OLYMPIC TEAM! Mission accomplished.

This trial race was emotionally taxing for me, but I still achieved what I needed to. I have been reminding myself of that. The journey is not picture perfect, and overcoming so many doubts, fears, and barriers is what makes the journey so great!

What’s Next? 

I am currently in Amsterdam with the Great Britain team preparing for the European Athletics Championships. I am excited to get some practice at a major championship event and have the opportunity to run rounds in the steeplechase. My prelim is on Friday, July 8th and the final is on Sunday, July 10th. You can read about the meet entries, time schedule, and streaming information here: http://www.european-athletics.org/

After Amsterdam, I’ll be heading back to London to continue preparing for Rio. I’ll also be lining up at the London Diamond League on July 23rd. Thank you all for the support, likes, and words of encouragement to help me get here!