Emily Infeld is heading into her ninth year as a professional runner with the Bowerman Track Club. She’s currently training with her team in Flagstaff, Arizona for an altitude camp. She recently ran her first outdoor track race since 2017 and will soon run her first outdoor 10,000m race since the 2017 world championships. In this episode, we discuss the highs and lows (including injuries) of her career, what she shares on social media, what her hopes are for the next phase of her professional career including the marathon. I respect Emily a lot for her honesty and candor in how she addresses mental health and how to keep yourself in the present moment while training, especially when you’re on one of the best teams in the world and the urge to compare yourself to others can be high. It’s always fun to interview women who I’ve looked up to from afar.

SHOW NOTES AND QUOTES

– “Before races and just in general I try to check in with myself and I’m really trying to do positive self-talk. Initially, before this race, I was like. ‘I’m not in great shape and I’m worried so I tried to change my attitude by saying, ‘You’ve been through a lot. You’ve done a ton. You should be so happy to be lining up.’ Even last year, I pushed it a little too hard and got injured and didn’t get to race whereas all my teammates had all of these killer races over the summer. It was a good reminder to me and I told myself that I wanted to be smarter and it’s going to take longer. I’m not going to do anything crazy. I’m just trying to take the little baby steps and know that I’ve come through a lot. I’ve had some really bad injuries and bouts of trying to figure it out. In 2018, I took six months off of running trying to figure out what was wrong with my hip. I got a tibia stress fracture and had all of these foot issues so I ended up having surgery. I couldn’t run for 13 weeks. I had to be on crutches for two months. It was exhausting. It was something where I was trying to focus on the day-to-day. I got running again and started working out after being so out of shape. I was trying to focus on each day, each week. Last year, I got in good shape but I feel like I’m not in the shape I got into last spring but I ended up getting injured. For me, I’ve had lots of time where I haven’t pushed it a little too hard. I feel like looking down at my scars is reminding myself a bit about being smart and doing what I can. Your body has been through a lot. Your body is different than everyone else. I do feel like other athletes I can look at from the outside and think, ‘How are they able to jump in so quickly after having a little setback?’ If I find myself playing that game or trying to compare then that’s not helpful to me and it’s also not realistic. I am who I am. My body is what it is. I’m using it more to feel empowered that I’m still on the start line. I’ve had a lot of setbacks but I know I still want this. I feel like my body is capable of more. It makes me feel empowered and strong. Even knowing too that ‘I don’t think I’m going to win this race but that’s OK because lining up and racing because I love racing and because I want to push my body is what matters to me.”

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SEASON 2: Episode 1, Michelle Sammet | Episode 2, Porscha Dobson |Episode 3, Roberta Gibb | Episode 4, Katherine Burgess | Episode 5, Mrs. Space Cadet | Episode 6, Emma Abrahamson | Episode 7, Erika Kemp | Episode 8, Alexi Pappas | Episode 9, Nini Meyer | Episode 10, Emily Infeld

SEASON 1: All 12 episodes are available to download and stream. Guests included Molly Seidel, Alison Wade, Nia Akins, Mary Cain and more.

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