Before every race of her historic 18-year career, Des Linden has followed the same ritual. She hand-grinds her favorite beans and makes herself a pour-over, enjoying a cup of coffee an hour before the gun goes off.

“There’s not much I’m particular about, other than the coffee,” said Linden, a two-time U.S. Olympian and 2018 Boston Marathon champion, who first tried the stimulating drink as a teenager and has grown into a bean aficionado, starting her own in 2020. “Traveling the world for running, I went to a lot of coffee shops, trying to stay off my feet before races. So, I read a lot of books and drank a lot of good coffee, and then got curious about the best beans.”

Linden is a firm believer in caffeine consumption mid- and late-race, too. “The mind will tell you that you’re out of fuel, but there’s still a ton left in your muscles. Caffeine helps you find it.”

What works for pros, however, doesn’t always translate to the rest of us. To find out if everyone should drink coffee before racing and if we all should be slurping down caffeinated gels during them, I asked an expert.

Magda Boulet has a master’s degree in exercise physiology, is an Olympic marathoner and ultra-trail running champion, and currently is the president of GU Energy Labs, one of the leading sports nutrition companies in the world. Before her current role, Boulet was the senior vice president of R&D at the lab, overseeing the development of new products for the better part of a decade. In short, she knows a thing or two about training, racing, and optimal nutrition.

“Yes, coffee is a big performance enhancer,” says Boulet, with a grin on her face and a coffee mug visible on our Zoom call. This is true across the board, she says. Caffeine can have a positive performance impact whether you’re male or female, young or old, and if you’re competing in activities ranging from a half hour to a half day or more. Specifically, research shows that caffeine from coffee, gels, and other forms provides an over placebo.

RELATED: Caffeine Can Kickstart Your Workout but Beware Its GI Impact

Numerous Possible Benefits

The benefits of caffeine while exercising include thinking clearly, a lower perceived effort, and less fatigue, thanks to its impact on our central nervous system. Continuing to take caffeine throughout a run—perhaps via caffeinated gels or a cup of flat soda at a trail running aid station—keeps you more alert, which can help you avoid tripping and falling, and to make better decisions, especially on long endurance efforts.

Boulet says that even a low dose (1 to 3 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, or .5 to 1.5 mg per pound) will have a positive effect. In layman’s terms, this means drinking 1-2 cups of coffee (which average 80 to 100 mg per cup) before a distance race. A higher dose of caffeine can help with a finishing kick or a short and intense workout, as long as you don’t overdo it. Excess caffeine—the tipping point differs for each individual—can cause headaches, anxiety, and elevated blood pressure, among other issues.

Besides the amount of caffeine, Boulet says, “The timing is critical, too.” Caffeine takes about an hour to absorb into our bloodstream and has its largest impact during the first four hours. Therefore, Boulet recommends a cup of coffee an hour before a race, followed by steady and smaller doses throughout longer efforts.

During the race is where caffeinated gels, chews, and drinks come in handy, fitting easily in your pocket and designed to be used repeatedly during exercise, with carbs, sodium, and electrolytes baked in. For new runners, Boulet suggests, after starting with 3 mg/kg (1.5 mg/lb) before a run, adding 1-3 mg/kg (.5–1.5 mg/lb) per hour on longer efforts, which translates to one or two typical gels per hour for most runners.

These suggestions, however, will vary for every individual and the length of a workout or race.

“Certain genetic makeups will change how fast you metabolize caffeine, so an hour is just a starting spot,” says Boulet. “You’ll need to test for yourself. Some people will metabolize caffeine faster than others.” That said, the form of caffeine you choose to ingest—coffee, other drinks, gels, or chews—will not have a significant difference on how long it takes to kick in, Boulet says.

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Choose What You Use Wisely

To make sure athletes are able to get enough caffeine for optimal performance, Boulet and her team developed the , which has 70 mg, or double what some other gels have but still less than the average cup of coffee. Made with green tea extract, it is less bitter than anhydrous caffeine, a synthetic version that most brands use for gels and chews. When Boulet won ultramarathons—including Western States 100 and Leadville 100— she would aim to take a couple Roctane caffeinated gels per hour, especially in the latter half of the race.

The amount of caffeine in gels and energy shots commonly used by runners varies significantly, from 30mg to 200mg. Knowing how much caffeine you’re ingesting before a run will help you optimize the positive impacts and reduce any drawbacks.

Of course, there are downsides to before or during a workout, too. Common side effects from large doses include dizziness, nausea, and stomach issues, especially on longer and harder efforts, where your body is already drained and trying to manage fatigue, heat, and stress.

Boulet says there is no silver bullet, because caffeine’s impact varies with each individual—some may feel jittery with the same dosage that has little effect on another person. So, just like figuring out how your body handles fueling during a race (either by solid foods or liquid fuels), it’s important to test for yourself by experimenting during training. Like training, shoes, fuel—everything—it takes trial and error to figure out what works best for you.

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The post Should You Drink Coffee Before Your Race? We Asked a Legend and an Expert About Caffeine’s Impact on Running. appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

For the past 10 years, Spring Energy has provided endurance athletes with , and more recently drink mixes, made from “real” foods. Athletes looking for wholesome alternatives to more traditional sugar-based gels made in a lab have flocked to Spring’s smoothie-like gels made with fruit and basmati rice.

While Spring products are more expensive than many gels, many athletes have found the tradeoff for high-quality, real food fuel that goes down easily on the run to be worth it. Until now.

After skepticism about the actual contents of Spring’s gels began brewing late last year, it turned into a full-blown controversy this week.

In January 2021, Spring Energy released a game-changing gel, Awesome Sauce. In collaboration with coaches and runners Megan and David Roche (who taste-tested and named the flavor), the applesauce, basmati rice, and sweet potato-based gel was designed to provide endurance athletes with a whopping 180 calories per 54 gram packet.

This high-carb alternative became especially enticing when was published in April 2022 reporting that ultrarunners should consume 240 to 360 calories (60-90 grams of carbohydrates) per hour. It’s no surprise that Awesome Sauce (sold at $5 a gel), with its small but surprisingly mighty nutritional content, initially flew off the shelves. It seemed too good to be true.

After several third-party lab tests, that appears to be the case.

Not-So Awesome Sauce? 

In late 2023, runners took to Reddit to discuss their doubts in Awesome Sauce’s nutritional facts, which were printed on the packaging and stated on Spring Energy’s website. Though it’s unclear who first performed a concrete test on the gel, two months ago, Liza Ershova, a Reddit user who uses the username “sriirachamayo”, posted in a thread called Ershova allegedly performed a test “in an environmental chemistry lab” and found that the dry weight of Awesome Sauce is 16g instead of the stated 45. She hypothesized that, “If all of those grams are carbs, that corresponds to about 60 calories, not 180.”

On May 17, German endurance sport speciality shop Sports Hunger stating that they, too, had Awesome Sauce gels tested by a third party, and allegedly found that each packet contains 16g of carbs instead of the 45g that Spring Energy claimed.

“The maker of Spring Energy assures us that they will rework their manufacturing process to ensure that they will again reliably achieve their high numbers that they declare to have,” a Sports Hunger representative says in the video. “We hope that this is really going to happen because we believe that natural food for many of our customers is a great alternative to the regular gels.”

On May 28, ultrarunning coach Jason Koop, who coaches elite athletes sponsored by Spring Energy, posted an Instagram Reel saying that he’d paid for Spring Energy Awesome Sauce to be tested by a third party, RL Food Laboratory Testing in Ferndale, Washington. The results showed that the gels tested contained 76 calories and 18g of carbs. The lab results can be found on . Koop declined to be interviewed for this article.

Other runners have also come forward after attempting to replicate the gels with varying degrees of Awesome Sauce’s ingredients: organic basmati rice, organic apple sauce, apple juice, yams, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, sea salt, and cinnamon—and could not achieve the gel’s original volume of 54g. Their experiments suggest that it’s impossible to fit all of those ingredients into the small Awesome Sauce package while achieving the stated nutritional content.

Claiming Responsibility 

On May 22, the Ershova shared Spring Energy’s response to their experiment on Reddit: “Our analysis supports the accuracy of our product labeling. However, we will reevaluate to make sure our data is accurate. Although we hoped your experience with our products would have been wholly satisfactory, we recognize that individual needs can vary. Given the wide variety of options available across different brands, we are confident you will find the right product that suits your specific requirements.”

Four days later, on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, Spring Energy sent out an email to newsletter subscribers stating:

“In early May we submitted Awesome Sauce for third-party caloric and biomolecular analysis. Although the results indicated that on average our products deliver the designed nutrition value, we have recognized weaknesses in our processes and ingredients which can introduce unwanted variations in some batches.To mitigate those variations in our small batch production, we decided to modify some of the formulations, revise and innovate processes, and re-evaluate ingredient sources. These changes will bring higher quality and more consistency to our products. Enhancements of our products aimed to stabilize their nutrition values are on the horizon, and within the next few weeks, you’ll see the results of our efforts. A new and improved version of Awesome Sauce will soon be available.”

The internet outrage ballooned swiftly.

“‘On average’ – if someone has a beat on where I can grab packets of Awesome Sauce at 75g of carb per pack to allow for the average of their product to be 45g overall, hit my inbox,” @aidstationfireball . “Excited to taste the new, re-formulated, $7 gels they’ll replace these with.”

David and Megan Roche, the Boulder, Colorado-based running coach couple who collaborated with Spring Energy on Awesome Sauce, discussed the backlash on their podcast. They weren’t involved in the chemical composition and makeup of the gel, they claimed. Rather, they simply proposed the concept of a high-carb gel to their friend Rafal Nazarewicz, the founder and CEO of Spring Energy. They stated they understand the public’s outrage, and Megan added that they “didn’t really use it” during their runs because she didn’t feel that her body was responding to the energy it was supposed to provide.

In addition, the Roches stated on their podcast that they have quietly harbored concerns about Awesome Sauce for years, and while they did not explicitly tell their athletes not to use it, they made a point of promoting other gels instead. (The Roches currently have a financial partnership with The Feed, the online warehouse that sells a wide variety of sports fuel, including Spring Energy.)

David elaborated in a lengthy on May 29: “It’s sad and infuriating that the nutrition was wrong, and we are thankful to the really smart people who figured it out on Reddit (including an athlete we coach who started the initial thread). When we described concerns to Spring, we were assured that the nutrition was correct and they followed all FDA regulations. We left the Spring sponsorship years ago, and we never received compensation for proposing the name/doing taste testing (outside of the $200 per month that we both received during the sponsorship). Since then, we have publicly directed athletes to other options for high-carb fueling, while hoping to be a source of love and support in the community. Our podcast covered our concerns as soon as the German lab testing indicated that we wouldn’t be risking making defamatory statements about a business without substantial evidence.”

Who Can We Trust?

While concerns around Awesome Sauce instigated this investigation, it’s not the only flavor under scrutiny. Koop sent additional Spring Energy gels, Canaberry (named after professional ultrarunner Sage Canaday) and Hill Aid, to the lab for testing. The results indicated that both of these flavors also contain fewer calories than stated on their nutrition labels.

The lab results showed that the batch of Canaberry that was tested contains 10g of carbs (versus the stated 17g), and the Hill Aid sample contains 10g of carbs (versus the stated 20g).

Koop also paid for Gu Chocolate Outrage to be tested. The results were consistent with the nutrition facts. All three of these reports can also be found on .

These vast discrepancies between Spring Energy’s reported nutrition facts and the lab results raise the question: which gels can be trusted?

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Association (FDA), most running gels fall under the category of “dietary supplements”, which don’t have to be approved before being sold. However, the FDA requires that all dietary supplements have nutrition information clearly marked on a product’s packaging (including serving size, number of servings, and ingredients) and periodically inspects manufacturing facilities to confirm that products meet the labeling requirements. The FDA also reviews product labels for accuracy.

“Dietary supplements are regulated by the FDA, but much of our role begins after products enter the marketplace. In fact, in many cases, companies can produce and sell dietary supplements without even notifying the FDA,” the FDA states on their website.

The FDA allows nutrition labels to have an inaccuracy margin of up to 20 percent—for reference, based on multiple lab results, Awesome Sauce’s caloric content is about 57 percent less than what the label says.

Sports psychologist and ultrarunning coach works with some of the top endurance athletes in the world, and is best known for training Meb Keflezighi to  his 2009 New York City Marathon win. She recommends several products out on the market to her ultrarunner athletes, as well as suggestions that might work with a person’s individual plan. Typically, she suggests that athletes rotate gel flavors to avoid flavor fatigue, which can impact an athlete mentally and derail performance. So if a certain brand is proven to work well for an athlete, she says, use a variety of flavors.

“I usually use high molecular weight carbohydrates, but the thing is, they’re not as sweet as other sports nutrition products out there,” says Austin, who owns a consulting business providing sport performance services to Olympic and professional athletes as well as military and industry personnel. “So what we’ll do is we might throw in another gel like the Awesome Sauce to help give them that sweet component. It’s just in their arsenal.”

She says, in general, her athletes who have consumed Awesome Sauce have had positive experiences, but that because these gels were just one part of the fuel plan, that muddies the waters a bit. In addition, the potential lower calorie count of this gel may make it easier to digest. However, Austin recalls that one of her clients was taking in one Spring Energy gel (multiple flavors) every hour in her ultra, but found herself so hungry that she needed to eat a lot of the food provided at aid stations on the course, too.

“She was a smaller ultrarunner, and I thought it was interesting that she was taking in all these calories,” Austin says. “She was using Spring Energy gels, and I now I’m thinking, ‘Maybe this is why she needed all the additional food on the course, too, because she wasn’t getting what we thought she was.’”

Ultramarathon dietician is surprised and disappointed in the news about Awesome Sauce. “My clients and myself bank on the efficiency of the gel being easy and light to carry,” she says. “Underfueling within a long run can create acute symptoms like low energy, nausea, or brain fog. Ultrarunners find themselves in dangerous situations on long runs and races, and are often in remote areas, so unintentionally underfueling could have negative consequences.”

Austin says runners can still rely on information they’re receiving about endurance fuel, but that it’s always possible there are, as Spring Energy suggests, bad batches. She’s leaning toward this being the reason for the nutritional inaccuracies (keeping an open mind that more information can come out) because she’s had experiences with bad batches of gels in the past, where the product tasted off and she brought it to the attention of the brand, who confirmed it was an error on their part.

By May 30, Spring Energy had removed Awesome Sauce from its website, although it can still be purchased in the All Inclusive and Vegan Spring sampler packs. There, Awesome Sauce is described as, “our best-seller, has been created for all carb lovers who want to fuel in a healthy way, with wholesome products free of added sugars!”

owner Lee Wilson has made the decision to take Awesome Sauce,  Canaberry, and Hill Aid off store shelves. “It came down to the integrity of it,” Wilson says. “After the other flavors came out with the test results, we decided we can’t sell it.”

Nashville Running Company crew member Eric May added that this whole ordeal is disappointing, especially because the gel was so popular in the community.

“We used to have people come in when we got shipments and walk out with boxes of them,” May says. “It’s a bummer.”

He adds that a few customers have remarked that they still really enjoy Awesome Sauce and will keep using it.

“How a company reacts to the issue tells you a lot about them, and the fact that they’ve taken down their product, it means they’re probably doing their homework to see what’s going on,” Austin says. “I would say, give them a chance to rectify the situation.”

Sabrina Stanley, a pro ultrarunner from Silverton, Colorado, has used Awesome Sauce frequently in the past, but says she stopped eating it when she felt she was taking in three times what she should be consuming to keep hunger at bay. She adds that though it’s a huge disappointment that athletes thought they were buying a gel under the impression it was a different product, the company is the only party at fault.

“Professional athletes aren’t responsible for making sure the nutrition label is correct,” Stanley says. “They are often sub-contracted to give opinions and help promote a product in hopes of making a few extra dollar to continue doing what they love. They aren’t in the lab developing the product and writing the nutrition label, like the consumers, they are trusting the hired them to do their due diligence.”

On May 29, Spring Energy , with Nazarewicz saying they’ve identified weaknesses in the manufacturing process, and that only some batches were accidentally made with varying nutritional values. Nazarewicz apologized and stated Spring Energy is introducing changes to its process and hopes to continue its mission toward making real food performance products.

“Spring Energy has admitted to inconsistencies in their product and also said in a recent IG post this was not intentional or malicious,” Shobe says. “However, to be this far off from your stated nutrition label deserves some major inspection. The whole thing made me question not only the integrity of their products but the nutritional labels of other products. Why, as a dietician, didn’t I become more suspicious of Awesome Sauce in the first place?”

The post How Many Carbs Are in Spring Energy, Really? appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

If you follow master’s track and field, it’s hard to miss ’s astonishing accomplishments this season, including eight world records in the 60-64 women’s age group—seven ratified, one pending.

Having recently snatched world records in the indoor 800 meters (2:25.72) and indoor 1,500 meters (5:08.88), McDonald was unstoppable chasing outdoors records, too: 400 meter (62.34), 800 meter (2:22.52), 1,500 meter (5:04.27), mile (5:28.02), and 300 meter (48.89) at several Southern California track meets and the  in July.

To add to her dazzling record collection, on August 13th at Mount SAC College in Walnut, California, McDonald finished the heptathlon with a world record point total of 6,269, improving on the previous world record of 5,815. (If you’re dying to know, here is how you .)

“I’m Not Surprised I’m Getting Faster in My 60s”

 is a masters runner, mom, and coach. “Before the event this past weekend, I had not competed in the heptathlon for 27 years!” McDonald laughed. “I was able to get in one javelin and shot practice session before the competition with Dan Lange, former USC throws coach for 32 years and my college teammate. I also went into the long jump cold, which I don’t recommend.”

Terry Howell of  is McDonald’s coach, and he’s inspired by her ambition. “Sue has a lot of fun competing, which is why she has such incredible longevity in track and field. She has this kid-like joy for as long as I’ve known her.”

You can clearly see this joy in her fierce, smooth strides going over hurdles at the 300-meter hurdles event at the masters outdoor nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina. After crossing the finish line in 48.89 seconds, McDonald smiled in her calm manner. “I watched her every race on the livestream and thought, we’re just getting started!” said Coach Howell.

With eight world records in one season, Sue McDonald felt she could do more.

“It does seem like the opposite of normal, but I’m not surprised I’m getting faster in my 60s,” said McDonald. “I spent a few years running marathons and triathlons. I was a high jumper in college. I did a lot of things, and I’m just doing different events than what I did in the past.”

McDonald and Coach Howell recently appeared on Ìę·ÉŸ±łÙłóÌę. “Someone recently asked me: ‘when do people slow down.’ My answer was: I don’t know. I guess it happens when it happens,” said coach Howell.

Be Multidimensional

What is the secret to Sue McDonald’s illustrious track and field career that spans over 40 years?

Sue McDonald first started running in the Parks and Rec league during elementary school. Since her high school didn’t have a track, she practiced at Los Angeles Junior College, which led her to be recruited to run there. She placed second in the high jump at the Junior College State Championships two years in a row.

By the time she graduated from California State University, Northridge, McDonald nearly qualified for the Olympic trials in high jump. She also competed in the heptathlon, with her strengths in sprints and jumps. After chasing the Olympic Trial qualifier in the high jump in 1988, McDonald retired—for the first time—and eventually moved onto triathlons and road races. She joined a local cycling team in Santa Barbara to challenge herself in a different way and made great friends.

“After three pregnancies, I didn’t have any plans to go back to track and field, until one day, after I turned 50, I looked up to see what the American and World Records were in the high jump for my age group. It was over five feet. And I thought, I used to warm up at 5’ 6”! Seeing that record was what pulled me back into track and field. I started training for high jump again. Eventually, I did get the American record [for Women’s 50], but missed the world record.” said McDonald.

“Sue is not a one-dimensional athlete,” said Howell. “She has been extremely dedicated, but also having so much fun with these different events—the high jump, pole vault, shot put, and javelin forces her to move her body in a multitude of ways, making her strong.”

Strength has been a key component of Sue McDonald’s training consistently. “I don’t lift heavy weights, but I do physical therapy types of exercises every day, and I lift two to three times a week for 30 minutes each time.”

McDonald acknowledged that she had never been a high mileage person, only averaging under 30 miles a week. “My definition of an endurance run for an athlete like me is three to four miles with strides at the end. I also do some longer intervals on Wednesdays, and shorter workouts on Saturdays. I also ride my NordicTrack bike at home and aqua-jog at a public swimming pool. When people age, they tend to lose their balance and stability, so I do a lot of single-legged exercises like single-leg Romanian deadlift and single-leg squats.”

“Sue looks for new challenges and never backs away from them. She simply loves what she does,” said Mark Covert, McDonald’s junior college coach, who was the first athlete to ever cross a finish line wearing the famous Nike Waffles at the 1972 Olympic Trials marathon and has run at least one mile a day for 45 years.

New challenges and a variety of events are what make McDonald’s athletic career fun. “I’m looking forward to having fun with these combined events. That’s why I do it,” said McDonald. Even after such breakthrough performances, McDonald still does everything for fun.

Up Your Mental Game

David Epstein writes in his book, The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance, “It was a strong clue that one key difference between expert and novice athletes was in the way they had learned to perceive the game, rather than the raw ability to react quickly.”

Sue proves to be a great example of perceiving a game before it happens. Since 2015, she has been revisiting a program called  by Dr. Patrick Cohn. Before major competitions, McDonald would review her sports psychology program and also visualize how the competition might shake out, how she might respond to a tactical race at the championships, and how she might hang on if it’s a fast or slow tactical race with mixed age groups.

“I’m a lot less nervous on the start line than five years ago,” said McDonald. “This is because of my mental training. I take a few deep breaths to try to calm myself down when I feel anxiety coming on. Fifty percent of my preparation is my mental game. It is easy to brush off because it is time-consuming. I definitely think more people should up their mental game if they have big goals.”

As a fitness coach herself, McDonald also helps other athletes with their mental games.Ìę, Professor of Mathematics at Western Washington University, mom of three and current Women’s 60 (W60) American record holder in the decathlon, credits McDonald for helping her with her strong psychological state during her decathlon competition.

“At the most recent meet at Mt. Sac, the pole vault I ordered did not arrive on time. I was then handed an incorrect substitute pole. It was all very stressful, but Sue was there and she helped me reframe my situation. Eventually, I was able to achieve a personal record because of her help,” she said.

“What makes multiple events like decathlon very challenging is all the changes. Between events, you have 30 minutes to change clothes and shoes, hydrate, and get ready for the next one. Your adrenaline goes up, and it goes down. Your body’s chemistry shifts very quickly. You also put your body through different motions. That’s a lot of transition in a very short time. As a heptathlete, Sue understands all the challenges herself and is capable of helping other combined event athletes like me very well.”

Optimize Recovery and Nutrition

To prepare for the , Sue McDonald dialed up her nutrition by doing two seemingly contradictory things: she gave up alcohol, and she went back to eating meat.

“I really like wine but gave it up because it interferes with my sleep. Now I only allow myself to have two to three of what I call Sue Sips from my husband’s glass,” McDonald said. “I wanted to go into Worlds with no regrets and do everything I possibly could, legally, to boost my performance.” Without wine, McDonald is getting seven to eight hours of sleep each night, which has significantly improved her recovery, especially during multi-day events.

Nutrition has been a big part of her performance improvement. “In January, I started to work with a metabolic practitioner, , who is the world champion in the 400 meter, a mom, and author. “I was largely plant-based before with some seafood for a long time, until I decided to work with Cynthia. Reintroducing meat and poultry into my diet was one of the conditions Cynthia had proposed to me for our partnership.” said McDonald. “I felt I wasn’t getting enough protein in the past anyway. After reincorporating meat and poultry, my recovery has improved.”

McDonald’s strategy is in line with ’s recommendation in her book, Roar: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life: peri- and post-menopausal women should aim to stay at the higher end of the recommended range of protein intake (2.2 – 2.4g per kg of bodyweight).

Be in Community

Besides coaching her own athletes and training with younger athletes from Blue Collar Running, Sue McDonald started a USATF track club named the Pursuit of Excellence Track Club (POETs), under the urge of Melissa Chiti, the 2022 W55 National Steeplechase Champion, a mom and librarian.

“When we started POETs, we just wanted to have a group of masters athletes to support each other. We all compete in different events, from pentathlon to middle-distance and long-distance. We all strive to set a good example of how you can age with great health and enjoyment,” said Chiti.

Since the founding of POETs, the club placed 11th out of 67 women’s teams and 15th out of 135 combined teams with only six athletes, at the USATF Masters Outdoor Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, this past July. “Sue is always supportive of all the athletes in our club, and ready to share any and all expertise,” said Chiti.

“I hope Sue sends this message to the track and field world: there is an event for everybody; whether you love to run, jump, throw, there is something for you. For elite runners, she inspires them to stay in the sport for a long time. For adult athletes and everyone else, she proves that age is just a number,” said Coach Howell with conviction.

Looking toward 2024, Sue McDonald is excited to start training for the  in Gothenburg, Sweden. “Maybe I can lower my own 400-meter world record, possibly break 62 seconds,” McDonald said. With the support of her coach and her teammates, she feels nothing but confident.

This article was originally published on .

The post The Fastest 60-Year-Old Woman on Earth Is Only Getting Faster appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

American athletes have long dominated the 100-meter dash ever since the inaugural World Championships in 1983, amassing , the most of any nation. But for this year’s World Championships that kick off this Saturday—the most prestigious senior track competition outside of the Olympic Games—British record holder Zharnel Hughes wants to change the tally.Ìę

He enters the field with the fastest 100-meter time in 2023 (9.83 seconds), which he achieved in June at the USATF New York Grand Prix. The mark ranks Hughes as the 15th fastest of all time in the event, 0.25 seconds behind the world record held by eight-time Olympic gold medalist Usain Bolt.Ìę

Hughes, who has competed at three World Championships throughout his career, has twice-earned a silver medal in the 4 x 100-meter relay. And though he has come close—he was second in the 100-meter dash at the previous world champs—Hughes has never won an individual gold medal. If he is successful at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, August 19-27, Hughes will become the second man ever representing Great Britain to win the men’s 100-meter title, the marquee event of track and field.Ìę

Here are 10 things to know about the fastest man in the world in 2023:

1. He Has Multiple Passports

Zharnel Hughes, 28, was born and raised on the island of Anguilla, a British territory in the Eastern Caribbean that is a mere 16 miles long and three-and-a-half miles wide. He holds dual citizenship for Great Britain and Jamaica. During his youth, Hughes competed for Anguilla, which is not recognized by the International Olympic Committee. In 2015, he opted to transfer his allegiance to represent Great Britain at international competitions.

2. He Was a Multi-Event Athlete by Age 10 

Hughes hails from a family of runners on his father’s side, and his two younger brothers ran until high school. He got into the sport at age ten, often running against (and beating) peers. He competed in various track events, including the high jump, long jump, 400 meters, and 1500 meters.Ìę

“There was an annual sports day [at school], my first competition. At the end of it, I got seven medals—five gold, two silver. I got a trophy for being the most outstanding athlete of the day,” Hughes said. It gave him an early and strong impression of what else he might be capable of on the track.

3. He Trained with Usain Bolt

Growing up, Hughes often watched YouTube videos of elite Jamaican sprinters, like world record holder Usain Bolt, as well as Yohan Blake, the third-fastest man in history. As fate would have it, Hughes would train alongside both of them when he moved to Jamaica as a teen to join the Racers Track Club, led by legendary coach Glen Mills.Ìę

Hughes describes his first in-person encounter with Bolt in 2012 as surreal. “I was striding on the grass field. I saw Usain on my left. He looked like a giant. He was striding as well. I just started mimicking everything he was doing. I don’t know why. I was young, 16. I was looking at Usain all in shock,” Hughes recalled. “Here’s the world’s fastest man. I’m right next to him!”

4. He Trains with Younger Sprinters

Hughes modified his training schedule to gym work in the morning and a two-hour sprint session in the afternoon and can be seen sprinting alongside “the youths” on the Racers Track Club, he says, adding, “they’re fast, they push me, and I like a challenge.”

5. He Almost Beat the Olympic Champion 

Hughes points to nearly outrunning Usain Bolt in the 200-meter race in 2015 at his debut Diamond League meet—the Adidas Grand Prix in New York City—as one of his most memorable races. “Just before coming off the turn, I realized I was right there with Usain. I started running for my life,” Hughes said. “I was getting close to the line, and I was still there with him. I tried to lean forward, but his stride was longer than mine. The entire stadium thought that I won. Everybody was like, ‘Noooo!’” The race made headlines in Anguilla, and Hughes remembers motorcades and banners went up with his name on them.

6. He Is the Current British Record Holder

The morning of June 24, 2023, prior to heading to the starting line of the New York City Grand Prix, Hughes the time he predicted he’d run: 9.83 seconds. He achieved exactly that, and it was a victory that shaved 0.04 seconds off the British record, previously set by Jamaican-born British Olympic champion at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

7. He Missed His Chance at Earning an Olympic Medal. Twice.

Hughes tore a ligament in his right knee after and consequently was absent from the Rio Summer Olympics. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he qualified for the 100-meter final, but he couldn’t contend for a medal after a false start. Hughes later said while in his set position in the starting blocks.

8. He Is (Mostly) Food Conscious 

Hughes started investing in his nutrition at age 18. To this day, his diet is very conservative, partly the influence of a close friend, who is a bodybuilder. His morning routine includes a fruit smoothie, preferring bananas, pineapples, watermelon, and cantaloupe. He’ll sometimes blend spinach and oats. Boiled eggs, omelets, fish, and chicken are his protein staples. He likes to hydrate with coconut water every day, and he never leaves home without a snack, typically a Nature Valley granola bar. “Nutrition helps a lot, trust me,” Hughes said. “It helps keep injury away. Because your body is always being fed, it doesn’t feed on itself.” 

While he had to wean himself away from his vice, chocolate cake, he maintains a nightly ritual of a bowl of corn flakes, which he says helps him sleep. On a rare occasion he splurges on a Burger King cheeseburger.

9. He Likes to Stretch Mid-Flight

During a flight, Hughes will go to the back of the aircraft to stretch. “I don’t care if anyone is looking at me,” he said. As soon as he lands, he tries to do a shakeout run, sprinting 50 meters on a hotel walkway for up to 15 minutes, or else he’ll put on compression boots and later have his physio flush out his legs.

10. He Can Fly a Plane

When he was 11, Hughes flew with a pilot from Anguilla to the British Virgin Islands. He remembers sitting in the cockpit, tempted to play with the instruments inside the aircraft. Only after the plane landed and was switched off did he have the opportunity to grab the control wheel. The experience encouraged his dream of becoming a pilot. He fulfilled his childhood goal of earning a pilot’s license in 2018, seven months after studying at the Caribbean Aviation Training Center in Jamaica.

So as not to interfere with track, he’d often arrive at the aviation center as early as 5 A.M.Ìę “I had to make a lot of sacrifices to make it happen,” he said, noting that on a couple of occasions he reconsidered pursuing the license. Flying is now one way he spends time before mid-afternoon track sessions. At times he has flown a Cessna 172, a single-engine prop plane, up to four days a week for an hour and as far away as Montego Bay in Jamaica.Ìę

Catch Hughes in action when he takes the starting line on August 19, day one of competition, for the first round of heats for the men’s 100-meter dash.

The post 10 Things to Know About the World’s Fastest Man appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

It’s Saturday evening, July 29, and 25-year-old Alicia Monson is getting ready for her second run of the day in the cold rain.

Life doesn’t slow down on weekends when you’re one of the most promising distance runners in America. In fact, it only gets faster.

She is layered in a long-sleeved black jacket and matching pants, white crew socks, and her size-nine feet are tucked into an unreleased pair of purple On running shoes. Her curly blonde hair is braided and mostly hidden behind a black cap. This is not her usual summer look, but it’s 54 degrees Fahrenheit here in St. Moritz, in southeastern Switzerland, and she prefers to keep her sweat rate up.

This is the second consecutive year that Monson has come to the Engadin Valley. St. Moritz—the world’s oldest ski station and also the official Swiss Olympic High Altitude Training Base—has twice hosted the Winter Games (1928 and 1948). Monson uses the town as a high-altitude base in Europe during the summer, as she competes in Diamond League races around the continent.

Monson arrived a week ago with her On Athletics Club (OAC) after racing the 5,000 meters at the on July 23. Much to her surprise, she broke her third American record this year. She clocked 14:19.45 to finish fifth against a stacked field of women that have run among the in history: Ethiopian-born Dutch Olympic champion Sifan Hassan, Olympic bronze medalist Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, and Beatrice Chebet of Kenya.

After her race, Monson contemplated for several days whether she should run both the 5,000-meters and 10,000-meters at the World Athletics Championships, taking place August 19 to 27 in Budapest, Hungary. Initially, she had planned to compete in just the 10,000 meters, scheduled on the opening day of competition, but she couldn’t resist the challenge. “Even if it is a little intimidating,” Monson says, “I want to put the U.S. at the top of the world list. The distance events tend to struggle compared to shorter running events and jump and field events. It’s a goal to help my U.S. teammates.”

Gunning for the Podium

Monson needs no motivation as she clicks a watch on her right wrist and takes off running three miles alone around Lake St. Moritz at 7:12-minute pace, part of the 80 miles she’ll tally this week. Next week, she’ll bump up to 85. In the thick of her training, Monson tops out at 95 miles.

The route is distractingly beautiful—still waters illuminate a panoramic reflection of the Swiss Alps. Though the path is flat, training at nearly 6,000 feet doesn’t make it feel simple, especially when Monson’s body needs a break.

“Sometimes easy days are the most difficult because I’m so tired,” she says while eating a margherita pizza. Monson notices the difference of being 800 vertical feet higher than her training base in Niwot, Colorado, on the outskirts of Boulder.

It toughens her mentally and physically as she counts down to August 19, when she’ll toe the starting line for the 10K at the World Championships. As she aims to prove that the U.S. can keep up, she isn’t afraid of what it will take to get there. Monson, from Amery, Wisconsin, has been running since age 12, and she will run herself into the ground, even at risk of becoming unconscious.

That nearly happened at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 2021, in Eugene, Oregon. Her legs started buckling and her vision began to blur during the final lap of the women’s 10,000 meters. After she crossed the finish line in third, earning a spot on the Olympic Team, she experienced near-syncope and was hospitalized for heat exhaustion.

“I was so committed to making the team,” says Monson. She doesn’t remember much from the race, but her motivation was more than clear.

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It wasn’t the first time she has pushed her body into uncomfortable zones. It’s a necessary normal while Monson strives to maximize her budding talent and represent a country that has yet to produce a world champion in the 10,000 meters, male or female. (Only two in history have: Kara Goucher earned a silver medal in 2007 in Osaka; and Emily Infeld won bronze at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing). Both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters have historically been dominated by Kenyan and Ethiopian athletes.

From the Midwest to the Olympic Trials

Monson turned pro in 2020, following a decorated cross-country and track collegiate career at the University of Wisconsin, during which she became a  and Big Ten record holder. That year, she signed with Total Sports, a management firm that also represents marathoner and Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel.

Monson would join OAC, a training group of 11 professional distance runners in Boulder, Colorado, founded in 2020 and sponsored by On, the Swiss athletic shoe and performance sportswear company. The OAC, which includes Boston Marathon champion Hellen Obiri, is led by three-time Olympian and former American record holder Dathan Ritzenhein.

Monson moved to Colorado in fall 2020, which was her introduction into altitude training for extended periods. She had visited national parks during summers as a college student and ran along Wyoming’s Grand Tetons and Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, but it was more running as part of weeklong camping trips. Training in Colorado was a blank slate. It helped that she had a built-in support system through OAC, which she says is all about team culture, a running co-op.

“We’re all trying to make each other better,” says Monson. “We have an international team, so we bring a lot of different perspectives. We try to build each other up.”

Monson says her transition from college to pro was natural. “Being Midwesterners, Dathan and I understand each other. There wasn’t much of a cultural shift.”

Ritzenhein, who grew up in Rockford, Michigan, was a national champion runner as a teen, then went on to compete for the University of Colorado and made his first Olympic team while he was still a student-athlete. The four-time All-American began racing professionally for Nike in 2004 and later, in 2009, as part of the now disbanded Nike Oregon Project.

Ritzenhein retired in May 2020, at age 37, with a resume that included appearances in multiple world championship finals, the Olympics, and a marathon best of 2:07:47. After exiting his pro career, he opted to coach full-time.

Ritzenhein’s enthusiasm and loyalty to the sport as an elite athlete hasn’t left him. Monson describes him as “intense.” But so is she. “You have to be at this level,” she says, especially in a race like 10,000 meters, which she and Ritzenhein both say is a race of attrition. “You’re not that far off of 5K pace for twice the distance,” Monson adds.

RELATED: Olympian Faith Kipyegon Just Broke Three World Records. She’s Not Slowing Down.

Running at home in Colorado—often twice a day at 5,100 feet above sea level, along with strength work multiple times a week—has no doubt pushed her athleticism to new heights since she joined OAC.

“Every week it just gets harder,” Monson says, laughing. Some workouts have been so challenging that she has felt as though she wouldn’t finish, like running four one-mile repeats at 5:05 pace with 400-meter sprints at 67 seconds between each rep.

Challenging workouts like that one are an opportunity for her to visualize race scenarios. “I picture being on a train of people, and I have to stick on the train,” Monson says. “You’re going to feel bad during a race so you have to purposefully be intentional about when you feel bad during a workout and how you’re going to overcome that.”

Sights Set on Worlds

The morning after Monson’s easy three-miler, she upgraded to 10 miles, running half of the workout alongside OAC teammate Sage Hurta-Klecker, who is one a dozen On-sponsored athletes here in St. Moritz to train. They run, stride-for-stride, on a dirt path adjacent to Lake Silvaplana with the backdrop of the mountains. The clean air washes their lungs, and only the sound of their shoes stamping the ground cuts the silence.

As Monson builds herself into a potential international medal contender, she hopes her three-week stopover in Switzerland will bring her a step closer as she prepares for her second world championship appearance.

Still, Monson has a bit of catching up to do. Her 10K personal best—30:03.82 achieved in March when she shaved 10 seconds off the previous national record set in 2016 by Molly Huddle—currently ranks in the world in 2023. It is 34 seconds behind Ethiopian world record holder Letesenbet Gidey, the 2022 world champion and Olympic bronze medalist.

Monson, who finished 13th at both the 2020 as well as at last year’s in Eugene, is aiming for a different outcome this time around—and she feels ready for it. Her coach is confident in her, too.

“If you look at it on paper right now, she should be fifth or sixth in either event,” Ritzenhein says, referring to Monson’s double attempt at the World Championships. “If you look at the times, the competition she’s run against, it’s hopeful. I think she can medal in the right kind of situation, but that’s not going to be the barometer for success for her right now.”

The plan for Monson initially was projected to make an impact in the U.S. pro distance scene closer to 2028. But, as Ritzenhein says, “a lot has happened in three years.”

Since last summer, Monson has become a faster, more mature version of herself. She is stronger than ever, too, thanks to an upgraded strength program overseen by Dr. Jason Ross, D.C., the OAC strength coach. That continues to help her “hang on,” as she puts it, to 17 miles of a fast long run. With Ritzenhein’s direction, she continues to answer the call for reaching to the top of the sport. After all, Monson set the American record for the 10,000-meters, a mere three weeks after breaking the 3,000-meter American indoor record.

“I’m surprised I was able to pull off [three] American records this year,” Monson says. “It takes a lot to break one American record. I’m grateful.”

Ritzenhein emphasizes that Monson still has room to grow. “She’s already the fastest [in the U.S.], and she’s not even in the events I think she’s going to be the best at one day,” he says. “I think she’s going to be an incredible marathoner.”

But until Monson makes that transition, at least a few years from now, she will continue doing  her part to lay the foundation.

“We’re just seeing how good I can get on the track before I start moving toward the roads,” Monson says. Come August 19, the world will find out just how good that is.

The post How U.S. Record Holder Alicia Monson Prepares for a World Title Run appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

For me, salads have always been the culinary equivalent of a sad trombone. I’m active. I want something warm and hearty after a hard effort, not the stuff you give the class gerbil in elementary school. This, I know, is a wildly outdated characterization of salads, if not a surprising one coming from a vegetarian.Ìę

But I live in Germany, where there are a lot of rules, and a lot of exceptions to those rules. My exception for salads is the Israeli salad, usually defined as a chopped salad with diced tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers topped with a light, lemon-based vinaigrette. Simple, right? A recent trip to Israel coupled with a chat with none other than Olympian runner helped me change my perspective.

Israeli Salads, Twice a Day

Tiyouri is a wildly accomplished Israeli Olympic long-distance runner. Over the course of her career, she’s held the national record in the 5,000-meter run and is a three-time national champion. So it’s fair to wonder: what’s fueling these impressive performances?

Although she doesn’t credit one dish to her success, she’s quick to mention the Israeli salad. Tiyouri describes it as a staple of her diet; something she eats twice a day. But that wasn’t always the case.Ìę

Tiyouri admits that she slacked off on the salads. Then her nutritionist, Tamar Ashlagi, told her in plain medical terms: “You’re Israeli! You have to eat salad every day. Where are your Israeli roots?” Ashlagi is the nutritionist for the Israeli Olympic windsurfing, sailing, and long-distance running teams. She encourages everyone to eat salads, which she says are an important component of the Israeli and Mediterranean diet.

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“In Israel, there is a large, readily available variety of vegetables, and they are relatively cheap. There are a lot of possibilities for preparing a salad using seasonal vegetables,” she explained. “The salads can be simple and don’t require too much time to prepare, making them readily available even for tired or busy individuals.”

Of course, it’s not just about their simplicity. Salads are fundamentally good fuel for long-distance runners. “The high fiber content is beneficial for the gut microbiome and digestion,” she said.Ìę

Introducing more salads into Tiyorui’s diet wasn’t just about honoring her Israeli roots. A veggie-rich, nutrient-dense salad full of fiber like the Israeli salad is a welcome addition to any runner’s diet.

“Israeli salads contain multiple types of vegetables and are usually seasoned lightly with olive oil, which is beneficial for the cardiovascular system,” Ashlagi explained. “It is common knowledge that every vegetable has different nutritional values. Therefore, the more colorful the salad is, the more nutritious it is.”

A colorful salad usually means more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, which are known to be anti-inflammatory. In other words, Israeli salads can play a nutritional role in an endurance athlete’s recovery and combating free radicals, not to mention the high fiber content helps regulate blood sugar.

That said, this doesn’t mean you should start stuffing your face with salads every chance you get. “Athletes should be aware that eating a salad close to training or competition is not a good idea because of the high fiber content that can cause gut discomfort due to slow digestion,” Ashlagi explains.Ìę

For Tiyouri, Israeli salads come with a bonus benefit. It’s a taste of home for the 32-year-old, now based in Boulder, Colorado.

“When I miss home, I want to make it,” she says. Now it’s part of her morning routine. She’ll cut up some tomatoes, cucumbers, and top it with olive oil, lemon, salt, and pepper. “I usually do that in the morning, after a workout and with dinner,” she says.

Tiyouri isn’t rigid with her Israeli salads. As long as it has tomatoes and cucumber, she welcomes some greens (spinach, arugula) and additional veggies (radishes, red bell pepper), even Israeli feta cheese if she can get her hands on some. It all depends on what she has available in her fridge, what’s in season, and frankly, what she needs to eat before it spoils. “Sometimes I just want to throw everything in there,” she says.

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Recipe: Israeli Endurance Greens

This just might be the easiest dish to make . At minimum, all you need is a cucumber, some grape tomatoes, olive oil, lemon, salt, and a knife to make it all happen.

But we’re not about doing the bare minimum. For this recipe, we’re adding some color—chopped red bell pepper and a carrot along with some of Tiyouri’s favorite bonus regional ingredients, feta cheese and cilantro.

This recipe also adds chopped dates. Why dates? Because they come up time and time again when you ask Israeli athletes about some of their favorite endurance snacks. They grow well in Israel where the temperatures can crawl above 100 degrees Fahrenheit and can be eaten directly from the tree.

Nutritionally speaking, Ashlagi notes that dates are a good source of carbohydrates, glucose, and fructose—making them a quick and optimal source of quick energy for exercise.

“Dates can serve as a replacement for around two energy gels,” she explained. “It’s also a great snack if you desire something sweet, if consumed moderately.”

Within the Israeli salad, dates offer a sweetness to balance out the saltiness of the feta.

You can adjust the quantities in this recipe as you like. And like Tiyouri, feel free to add an extra veggie or swap some out for your favorite vegetables. Not only will she throw in a radish from time to time, she might cut up some avocado or toss in some corn. Put in whatever ingredients are going to make you excited about having this salad. Below is a recipe to get you started.

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Ingredients

Serves: 2 people

• 1 small cucumber, diced
• 150 grams grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 small red onion, minced
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• Âœ red bell pepper, chopped
• 50g dried dates (about six dates), chopped
• 15 grams fresh cilantro, chopped
• 30ml or 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• Lemon juice from 1 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, more to taste
• 85g (about 1/2 cup) Israeli feta cheese, crumbled

Instructions

1) Halve your cucumber and slice each half lengthwise into four slices. Hold the slices together like a bouquet and chop them into small pieces. Add them to a medium-sized mixing bowl.

2) Halve the tomatoes and add them to the bowl along with the red bell pepper, carrot, dried dates, and finely chopped cilantro.

3) Soak minced red onion in lemon juice and set aside.

4) Cube the feta cheese or crumble it directly into the bowl with your hands. Add the kosher salt, black pepper, olive oil, and lemon juice with onions. Mix thoroughly until the salad is well coated and serve.

The post This Olympian Runner’s Go-To Endurance Salad Couldn’t Be Easier appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Molly Seidel is a top-rated American distance runner with a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics and the American record at the New York City Marathon. While competing at the highest levels of the sport, Seidel has also been candid about her mental health struggles.

Seidel has been diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD), and eating disorders. After a career-defining run at the Tokyo Olympics that catapulted her to new levels of prominence in the running world, she dealt with relapse and was forced to confront the pressures that came with fame and a platform. Since then, Seidel has used her journey to de-stigmatize mental health for other athletes and demonstrate that struggle isn’t the opposite of healing—it’s an integral part of it.

Earlier this month, the 28-year-old Puma-sponsored pro led a New York Road Runners group run called “Open Run for an Open Mind,” to share her story and connect with the running community. One of her primary messages was admitting that, while the past year has been challenging, she’s eager to embrace her role as an imperfect advocate for mental health in the running community if it helps others on their journeys.

“It’s been interesting to be seen as an advocate for mental health in sport, especially because a lot of it is stuff I’m actively going through,” says Seidel. “It’s been balancing being able to share the journey while also living it.”

Seidel has only raced once this year—she placed eighth at the Cowtown Half Marathon (1:13:08) in Fort Worth, Texas, in February—but is considered to be one of the top contenders at next February’s U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon, and earn the chance to run in the 2024 Paris Olympics. She hasn’t entered a marathon since 2022, which she dropped out of at mile 16 with a hip injury.

“When an athlete embraces perfection, they can let go of what they are ‘supposed’ to be and accept things as they are. They can recognize their flaws as a natural part of being human, not as something wrong with them as an individual which can reduce negative self-talk and improve self-belief,” says Sarah Strong, . “They can be more open to celebrating small successes and notice progress along the way to big goals and roll with setbacks when they happen.”

When she first started speaking up about mental health, Seidel encountered negative feedback and harsh comments online, telling her to stay in her lane as an athlete or to stop complaining. While the pushback still hurts, she’s made peace that anyone who challenges the status quo of athletes being portrayed as emotionless automatons is likely to get criticism.

“There are some things that I need to keep in my inner circle,” she admits. “Sharing the nitty-gritty details about things invites a high level of scrutiny and backlash, and I realized that OK, the world is not where I’d hoped it would be with being able to talk about mental health. Not everyone is going to be supportive and understanding, and that’s OK.”

Progress, Not Perfection

Mental health is a slippery thing, and working through diagnoses like OCD, ADHD, or an ED are rarely a neat and linear process. Recovery rarely follows the perfect narrative arc that social media and culture crave.

Seidel says things really came to a head after the Tokyo Olympics, and that while she went on a publicity tour of sorts after the race, privately she was struggling with a major eating disorder relapse and considering going back into treatment.

“It was hard for me to admit, even to myself, that I was struggling,” says Seidel. “Because so much of the messaging around mental health is ‘oh she went through this once and now everything is fixed and everything is OK. I felt like I had to portray this image that everything is OK, even when it very much is not. And that made everything I was going through 10,000 times worse.”

Strong says that cultural expectations that mental health and recovery are linear journeys with definitive destinations can set people back or even prevent athletes from getting help they need in the first place.

“Unmet expectations can lead to negative self-talk and an unhelpful narrative that the athlete themselves is to blame which can exacerbate symptoms,” says Strong. “A sense of pressure or an effort to avoid that disappointment may lead an athlete to force themselves to return to activity or intensity earlier than they should which can jeopardize recovery.”

While there aren’t any definitive studies about the prevalence of relapse in eating disorders—which is difficult to study as many relapses are unreported—there is no definitive consensus about what constitutes a relapse either, which makes gathering data about relapses difficult. Some studies point to an approximate 33 percent rate of relapse. That means about a third of people who seek treatment for an eating disorder will experience a relapse at some point.

“The most important thing related to this question is to normalize that eating disorder recovery is not linear and many people experience ‘lapses’ or ‘relapses’ as they go through their journey of recovery,” says Kara Bazzi, co-founder and Exercise and Sport Program Director of in Seattle, Washington. “It’s important to educate both those who are struggling with eating disorders and loved ones, in order to have realistic expectations for recovery and reduce stigma and shame around the recovery process. Understanding the nature of recovery also helps people be more prepared and equipped to resource themselves with the support they need.”

Bazzi says that relapses are normal and a part of many athlete’s recovery process, and that normalizing and de-stigmatizing them can help many athletes in recovery.

“They are to be expected and help give the person data that there is more recovery work to be done. Often, these increases in thoughts and behaviors come with stressors in someone’s life, both positive or challenging (moving, going off to school, weddings, losing a job, etc.). It is also common to see increases in behaviors when someone is doing some of the deeper work of their recovery, such as addressing childhood trauma,” says Bazzi. “In early recovery, it can be challenging to not lean into the eating disorder to cope with life’s challenges or difficult emotions.”

RELATED: Running and the Mind

Cultural changes, like de-stigmatizing fat and body diversity would also create better space for many athletes’ healing.

“Given the weight stigma in our country, and the constant messaging that ‘fat is bad,’ presents a challenging backdrop towards maintaining daily recovery choices,” says Bazzi.

In her experience, Bazzi says the biggest challenge athletes often face is returning to life, sport, and competition.

“Athlete-identified clients are typically highly motivated and approach treatment with gusto. However, with this “can-do” attitude, they often feel compelled to cut their treatment process short, as they are highly motivated to return to life and sport,” says Bazzi. “As a provider, I try to offer a big-picture perspective on how much more time they have to participate and excel in sport, and to give themselves the gift of really devoting this time to recovery. If they allow themselves the time to make more transformational changes (not simply behavioral), their future life in sport will be so much more satisfying. I especially think it’s important to have a period of time that is solid in recovery before returning to competition as that poses an additional stressor of performance outcomes.”

Setting Boundaries and Embracing Humor

One reason Seidel has been able to share more of her story is because of the boundaries she’s been able to put around herself. When she first opened up about her mental health challenges, her DM’s were also flooded with messages from athletes facing similar struggles. While Seidel wanted to help everyone who reached out, the onslaught was overwhelming. She felt cornered between her own struggles and the pressure to appear like a perfect role model for athletes.

She’s since set more robust boundaries around what she shares on social media, and how much she absorbs from the platforms themselves. A Midwesterner at heart, Seidel says that maintaining a good sense of humor has been key in her recovery, and has been able to use social media as a place for levity while navigating tough issues.

“So many people deal with mental health, and I think it helps my approach of seeing this as not always some dark and horrible thing because it’s something I live with every day,” says Seidel, who grew up in Brookfield, Wisconsin. “I’ve lived with it my entire life, and being able to laugh at it, and laugh at myself makes it more approachable, and not quite as horrible and scary.”

Seidel and her sister Isabell started a humorous meme account on Instagram, with the tongue-in-cheek tagline to “normalize being a lil emotionally unwell.” Memes about depression and dealing with injury adorn jaunty images of intentionally sloppily photoshopped raccoons with slogans like “pain is temporary, a silly finisher’s medal is forever” and “crying is part of my strength routine.”

 

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Seidel says the biggest thing she’s learned in the process is to really listen to her body, and acknowledge how she’s feeling mentally and emotionally, even if imperfectly.

“I’ve found that being able to give a voice to that pain, acknowledge it, and make peace with it. When I’m running a marathon, I’m not blocking out the pain. You’re definitely feeling it, you’re accepting it and you say, I feel this and I’m going to keep going anyway,” says Seidel. “I think the same thing happens with mental health. It’s like you can be not OK and you can acknowledge that, and you can keep going while giving that healing the space it deserves. You can be struggling and present and enjoying life all at the same time. It’s complicated, but that’s life.”

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In April, Kelvin Kiptum clocked the third-fastest marathon in the history of the sport at the London Marathon. He’s from Kenya. Hellen Obiri won the 127th Boston Marathon in one of the most exciting women’s races in history. She’s from Kenya. And Eliud Kipchoge, considered the best marathoner of all time, missed a water station and hiccuped his Boston marathon performance, but remains the greatest runner of our time. Yes, he’s from Kenya.

It’s widely understood that Kenya has produced, is developing, and will continue to develop many of the world’s fastest and most formidable runners on Earth. But why? This question has been prodded and churned by many professionals, along many disciplines, and the answer is complicated and multivalent. But if there is one common denominator, in one specific location in Kenya, where champions are made, it’s in the Rift Valley of Kenya. And, for many champions? It’s the coach Patrick Sang.

In (Pegasus Books, 2023), sportswriter Sarah Gearhart takes a headlong, behind-the-scenes look into the world of the Kenyan super-elite as she investigates less the physiology or Vo2 max advantages that erupt from this corner of the world, less about the comparative analyses of workout and training architecture, and more about the social ecology found at the Global Sports Communication training camp, in Kaptagat, Kenya, a small rural town at the western edge of the country, inland about 200 miles from Nairobi and an hour’s drive south from Iten.

Here, Gearhart seeks to understand the collective weave that reinforces greatness, the mentorship and coach dynamics that create the best marathoners the world has ever seen, and she does this by traveling nearly 8,000 feet above sea level to the Rift Valley to meet the legendary Patrick Sang, famous for being Eliud Kipchoge’s coach, as well as many other elite champions, including Geoffrey Kamworor, twice a winner of the New York City Marathon.

If the name Kipchoge sounds familiar to you, bravo. But I’ll bet most, like me, won’t know much of anything about Sang. That’s partially because the 59-year-old coach is private, as this book illustrates, but also because his coaching philosophy is not exclusively geared only for individual success. Rather, it’s about elevating together, something admittedly hard for much of the Western world to understand fully.

It’s about the athletes, yes. It’s about their success, yes. But most importantly, Gearhart suggests, Sang’s goal is to cultivate the whole human athlete, to identify their Why as rocket fuel.

An Elite Athlete and Coach

Near the beginning, Gearhart paraphrases Sang, saying that coaching a good athlete to become a great athlete comes by “shaping a person to have the ability to critically engage with the world with honest intention and undauntedly navigate whatever life presents.”

Patrick Sang himself was one of Kenya’s finest athletes, and it’s around him that We Share the Sun sets the table. Sang ran at the University of Texas, becoming a three-time All-American, and proceeded to become a two-time Olympian, running the steeplechase for Kenya at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona. In addition to his silver medal in those Olympics, he also brought home silver from the 1991 and 1993 world championships, helping him earn his nickname of “Silver Sang.” (He also dabbled in the marathon in the late 1990s, running a personal best of 2:14:03 in 1999.)

Here, Gearhart clearly establishes the street cred of Sang as Athlete, followed shortly by Sang as Coach, establishing his tone of authority from both sides. What unfolds from here is a thoroughly reported tapestry of athletic achievement that stems from his early success and his philosophy of sport, Sang’s primary terms for life: “You are given an opportunity. Work hard.”

Sang’s Greatest Athlete: Eliud Kipchoge

Many will know Kipchoge from the Breaking-2 Project, the INEOS 1:59 Challenge, or as the G.O.A.T. with near-flawless running form. But early Eluid was also earnest and relentless. Sang first met Kipchoge as a teen in 2001. Kipchoge was a fatherless boy with big dreams and an even bigger appetite for guidance and training plans. Sang delivered structure for young Kipchoge to grow into the disciplined athlete he is today.

“Do your best. There’s nothing else,” is Kipchoge’s primary credo, and that’s a direct import from Patrick “Silver” Sang.

RELATED: Why We Have No Choice But to Root for Eliud Kipchoge, the Marathon King

Throughout the book’s 30 chapters, Gearhart establishes heft in the front end with longer portraits connecting Sang and Kipchoge, and then, right around midway, the book’s pace starts to pick up. The chapters get punchier. Shorter. More lyrical. It’s almost as if the book was mirroring a progression run—a staple workout in East Africa where the runner will start off slow and build to a whipping cadence by the end.

In flittering snapshots, Gearhart takes you through a brief history of how Sang established the running camp in 2002. She finds some of her most evocative language to describe the landscape, the roads, and the intimacy between Sang and the more than 50 athletes he coaches. “Daylight begins to surface just shy of 6:15 A.M., revealing a blanket of fog kissing the top of cypress trees,” writes Gearhart. “If you arrive at the end of April or beginning of May, stripes of lilacs on both sides of the road offer a mark of direction toward Sang and his world-class associates at Global Sports Communication training camp.”

As the book drills into the common themes of Kenya’s success in elite long-distance running, a clearing begins to form. Gearhart’s punchy chapters and scene-setting help the reader become immersed in the place, as well as the self-affirming atmosphere created in Kaptagat by Sang.

Occasionally, we pan out and fold back to offer needed context for those of us—including myself—who haven’t yet committed to memory the complex history of colonial Africa and the origins of the Kenyan elite running at global events, which really took off in the 1980s. But generally, the book steers clear of geopolitics and stays with portraits of the athletes, the camaraderie, and the collective task of making elite running a career, depicting the training camp a workplace, not a hobby.

Here, Sang’s coaching approach proves less a hyper-individual focus and more about the collective, a way of building the greatest runners in the world, not by lionizing one athlete but by building in a culture of mutual flourishing. Much of this is shown through time spent in Kaptagat, and through Sang’s relationship with his athletes.

At times, I was hoping Gearhart would look squarely at this, offering more contrast of coaching techniques and cultural differences between Kenya and running programs in the West, to better understand the consequences of a more hyper-individual hype-machine of social media that readily invites athletes in the West to double down on self-as-brand and lose focus on the business of winning.

Developing the Why

There’s a constant refrain of Sang’s importance of developing the Why in his athlete’s training regimen. “Those who are here understand their Why, just like Sang understood his Why when he was a competitive elite athlete and trained alone,” writes Gearhart. “The Why is crucial. The Why pushes one to be better everyday.”

Thus, Sang’s recipe becomes apparent: collective elevation through hard training together; aiming for a higher purpose, a reason for being there. “Grab a higher branch” is an analogy both Sang and Kipchoge use to stay optimistic and driven to succeed, despite setbacks.

Though a higher proportion of the book focuses on male athletes under Sang’s leadership—in large part because the ratio of men-to-women at the camp is significantly disproportionate—Kenyan female athletes are certainly part of the book, including Faith Kipyegon, a two-time Olympic champion and two-time world champion in the 1500 meters. She joined Sang’s group in 2019, who helped train her back to excellence after maternity leave. “He knows everything,” said Kipyegon. “He reads your mind.”

“The people around you determine what you become, what you think,” Sang says, which I find one of the clearest lessons of the book, one that the author continues to illustrate throughout the work. Excellence is never wholly individual; it’s always dependent on others. The best marathoners in the world are indeed talented individuals full of drive and discipline, but they are also almost always part of a group, a team that reminds them of the ultimate project: mutual flourishing.

We Share the Sun is an engaging book for those who want to explore the structural, social, and relational foundations of Kenyan elite marathoners. Both compelling and accessible, I wouldn’t see this book resonating as much with those having zero knowledge of elite road marathoners, as it does get into the weeds in its traversing of races, results, and athletes. That said, I came to road running from a trail and mountain background and found Gearhart’s guidance through this world captivating.

If you’ve ever asked: Why are Kenyan marathoners consistently so damn good? What is the subtle edge that cultivates such deep distance running talent? Though this book doesn’t fully answer these questions—mainly because these questions are complex and involve many factors—Gearhart effectively delivers the message that success comes best when shared, best when you believe in your inherent greatness and potential, and best when reinforced constantly by your community and peers. This, combined with Sang’s approach to building whole athletes, athletes who are connected to their Why, is a time-tested recipe for greatness.

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It was two days before the Boston Marathon, and Emma Bates was completely freaking out. At a press conference the day before she told the whole world she was a contender to win and planned to stay with the lead pack.

Then the pressure of her announcement started getting to her.

“All of that pressure and all of the chaos that was going around me all just weighed in on me and then I just started crying and I had a breakdown of just pressure and stress,” she says.

Luckily, she had someone with her to help: her boyfriend Steve Finley.

“I just let it all out and he just held me until I was able to get all of my tears out,” says Bates, 30. “And it was like 20 minutes of just full on shaking and crying and feeling out of control. And after that 20 minutes I felt fine. So it was just kind of like a release of emotions.”

She said she needed to get those emotions out of the way to focus and be relaxed and confident. Clearly it worked. Bates finished first among Americans, fifth overall in a new personal best of 2:22:10 and led the pack for several miles late in the race

And, it seemed, her boyfriend knew exactly how to help, despite the fact that he’s not a professional runner himself. In the running world, there are many famous elite running couples, from Adam and Kara Goucher to Sara and Ryan Hall. There are also relationships between runners and coaches, such as Brent and Sara Vaughn and Emma Coburn and Joe Bosshard.

Then there are runners like Bates. Her boyfriend is a runner–he founded the Brooklyn Track Club, works for Bandit Running and used to run professionally–but is no longer an elite competitor, and is not connected directly to Bates’s running career in any way.

She says that’s the perfect balance.

“He knows the pressures that I’m under and just how much I care about it, and so he’s just really good about being there and knowing exactly what I need at each moment and each phase of the days leading up, or weeks leading up, or hours leading up even to a race,” she says. “He’s also a coach, but he doesn’t coach me in any way. We don’t really talk about running any other time. It’s just more like just checking in, making sure I’m OK. He treats me like just a person. He doesn’t treat me like a runner or an athlete or anything like that. It’s just making sure that I’m supported in the way that I need to be.”

But, the fact that Finley is a runner means he still understands the way Bates needs to conduct her day to day, from nutrition to sleep to her mental state.

“It’s hard being friends or making friends or having relationships later in life just because people have their routines and their careers and they want to go out on weekends and that’s how people meet nowadays at our age, in our 30s,” she says. “And I can’t do that all the time. I’m not going to go out when I’m in full running mode. And so that’s really nice just to have somebody that understands I can’t do certain things because of my career.”

She and Finley met, coincidentally, at a bar, but at a bar during the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. It was at the Wild Duck Cafe in Eugene, Oregon.

“I didn’t know that Steve was a runner in any way, I just thought he was like a townie in Eugene, like just somebody random,” Bates says. “And so we had such a great connection there, but didn’t talk for years and ended up meeting back up again at the 2021 Trials at the Wild Duck.”

They’ve now been dating for a year, and Bates says Finley helps her stay calm before a race. On Saturday and Sunday before the Boston Marathon, he picked up food for her so she didn’t have to brave the crowds and hung out with her in the hotel room while she watched one of her favorite movies, Lord of the Rings.

RELATED: The Secrets to Dating a Non-Runner

 

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Having a Non-Running Partner

Other runners end up in relationships with people who have never been in the running world. That includes 2016 U.S. Olympian Kate Grace, who is married to Patrick O’Neil and has a two-month-old baby with him.

O’Neil worked in sales for Picky Bars, the company started by Oiselle-sponsored runner Lauren Fleshman and Hoka NAZ Elite runner Steph Bruce. Grace met O’Neil back in 2013 at a New Year’s Eve party when she was sponsored by Oiselle. But Grace says O’Neil doesn’t run much at all.

“He goes through bouts of running for exercise, but he’s not even an intense recreational runner,” says Grace, 34, who lives in Boulder.

O’Neil was a high-level collegiate swimmer, another individual competitive sport, so Grace says he understands her career and the mindset that comes with it.

“For someone who’s not a runner, he’s been a very supportive partner almost because of his swimming background,” she says.

 

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Grace says she and other elite runner friends Emily Infeld and Cory McGee also have husbands with backgrounds in college swimming and joke about it.

“We all say that if you’re not going to have a runner, you may as well have someone who works now but has had that background because they totally get the single-minded, individual sport focus and are very supportive of it, even though now they’re in business and don’t do anything with the sport,” she says. “The whole thing about the four-year cycle is very similar. Sometimes when you’re dating, people who just are so removed from this life sometimes don’t understand the amount of time it takes because you just think like, ‘Oh, they should just go for a run and be done.’ It was very helpful for me that even though he was not a professional athlete or a runner, he understands just what it means to be a high level athlete in a sport like this.”

Grace and O’Neil started dating in 2015 and then less than a year later moved to Sacramento together so Grace could train for the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials. She won the 800-meter finals and earned the chance to compete in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

“There was a positive feedback loop because I ended up making the team and doing well (in the Rio Olympics) and being top American, and it was just pretty obvious from the start that we were able to support each other and good things came when we did that,” she says.

The couple is aligned on nutrition–Grace does the grocery shopping and O’Neil joins her in her carb- and protein-balanced meals. The bigger difference, she says, is in drinking and going out.

“I would say he’s had to make sacrifices in order to be my partner. He wouldn’t call them sacrifices, or maybe he would, but there’s a certain lifestyle that comes with it, since I’ve been a pro runner for my whole adult life,” she says. “Whereas my friends go frequently out to happy hours, I am at home. Initially, I would judge him for casual drinking, but I realized it’s actually me that was the unique one.”

Grace says O’Neil is also her support person during races and competitions, running around to get her coffee and food.

“There are so many rounds during our championships, so it was always a big thing for me to make sure I ate quickly after prelim, so he would have whatever rice bowl ready for me,” she says. “Stuff like that, where it’s very helpful, but non glamorous stuff. That has been great.”

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A Long-distance Partner

Erika Kemp, who set a record for the fastest American-born Black woman at the Boston Marathon (2:33:57) and had the best marathon debut by an American woman in Boston, says her boyfriend Myles Dungan, a Captain in the U.S. Army, isn’t always able to be with her for big races like Boston because he’s stationed in Germany. After Kemp finished the marathon, she went to visit Duggan in Germany for two weeks, and trained while she was there.

“He’s very respectful and supportive, whereas in previous relationships I had, they treated my running as if it was more of a hobby, which is hurtful when it’s your full-time job,” says Kemp, 28, who lives in Boston. “You structure your entire day around your workouts, which can seem silly to some people, but having that understanding, having them also make it a priority.”

She says even when she’s in Germany, Duggan was looking for places for her to run.

“We want to do day trips, see some things and hang out with friends, but he’s always making sure that there is timing and space for me to do the work I need to do,” she says.

Kemp met Duggan in high school–in freshman year Spanish class–and they dated throughout high school but then broke up junior year of college. Then in 2021, Kemp saw a TikTok video of Duggan jumping out of an airplane as a paratrooper. She reached out to him, they reconnected, and have been dating ever since.

 

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Duggan doesn’t run much, and Kemp says in high school they had trouble on a run together.

“Senior year he tore his ACL and was cleared to run, maybe two months before we went to college, but I needed to do my summer training, so I begged him to come with me, but he was a few months post-op, so he was so out of shape, and still struggling to walk, and I wasn’t very nice to him on that run,” she says. “So that was the one and only time we ever truly ran together because I couldn’t understand why he was so bad at it, but he was like, ‘I just got cleared from surgery last week, give me a break.’”

Now he runs once or twice a week, and they’ll occasionally run together if Kemp finds a nice trail. She says she’s eager for him to get a bike to go with her on runs, and he’s considering it.

Unlike other relationships, Kemp says Dugan has no problem with her being faster than him–though he insists he could beat her in a short distance sprint.

“He knows his limits, but he is so convinced that he can beat me in any distance under 400, which, potentially, but I run so much more than him, and so I don’t buy it,” she says.

Sounds like she needs to challenge her boyfriend to a race.

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