Pre-Race We started our drive to Chattanooga around 1pm on Thursday. Sunny has been keeping me busy with his new "job" as a therapy dog and we spent an hour in the morning at the Children's Museum. The drive was uneventful with on and off rain. The quickest route was through the mountains and the drive was very beautiful. It was a new route to us and we loved it. We arrived around 6pm to our Airbnb (1/2 mile from the race start) and unloaded the car. I ordered Chipotle online and picked it up around 7pm. My body was feeling great all week but I was very tired. It was as if I couldn't get enough sleep to feel rested during the day. I was supposed to get my period on Monday but I was feeling stressed and anxious all week which contributed to a late period (it arrived Friday afternoon). On Friday morning we went to the Dam for a swim. It felt good to be in the water (which was warm). I wore my swim skin and swam for around 30 minutes. I included some faster efforts th...
In a world where elite athletes push the limits of human performance, people still feel entitled to comment on the bodies of athletes. From social media to sports commentary, athlete bodies are constantly judged, praised, picked apart, or criticized. Too often, weight and appearance overshadows performance. Here's the truth: this obsession with how athletes look is harmful and needs to stop. Athletes are not training to meet beauty standards. They’re training to compete, to excel, to inspire, to protect their mental and physical health and to maintain joy for the sport that they love. Athletes deserve respect without conditions. Stop obsessing over what athletes’ bodies look like. Let’s shift the focus from appearance to achievement.