Hello, and Happy New Year! 2023 feels exciting. We are 20 months out from Paris and there’s lots to look forward to between now and then. To keep tabs on my adventures, I thought a monthly newsletter would be fitting. I went back and forth on naming this thing, and I settled on the PB&J. My high school coaches, The Lisles, always emphasized the importance of Personal Bests & the Journey along the way, so this name is thanks to them, and the sandwich I eat before every race. I want to share the behind the scenes of my training, and just life in general. Being a professional athlete is not something I dreamed of for myself, it sort of happened on its own.
At every stage in my running career, I felt like I reached the peak. From the provincial “Olympics” (OFSAA, aka high school championships) to the national “Olympics” (U Sports, aka university championships), to the actual Olympics (Tokyo), I have continued to climb the mountain without realizing how far the top would be. If you told me when I started that I should be shooting for the Olympics, I might have quit. Now I’m trying to qualify for my second Games.
I’m currently at 7000ft in the mountains of Flagstaff, AZ, training with Team NB Boston for the upcoming season. I don’t think I can go up from here (literally and metaphorically). Flagstaff is one of the top training venues in the world for endurance athletes. Why? Altitude training increases red blood cells, so when we go back down to sea level, we can transport more oxygen to our muscles, and in turn, run faster.
Up here, we take the “eat, sleep, repeat” motto very seriously. Recovery is everything. As soon as I finish the run, I grab my electrolytes/protein bar, take off my wet sports bra, throw on an NB sweatsuit, and get horizontal as soon as possible. It’s less about how fast you run, but rather, how fast you recover. During early workouts, I watched my heart rate increase exponentially on what was meant to be a steady threshold session. Now I can run upstairs (sometimes two at a time), and not lose my breath.
Beyond the physiological benefits (aka becoming anaerobic animals), the team bonding is real (check out CITIUS MAG). Having the 10 of us in one place (two houses), and getting to share the daily magic and mundane makes for good memories . I think my favourite part is family style dinner. We each take a night of the week to make our best dishes, and they never disappoint (see link below for one of my favourites). I would say the hardest part of being a professional athlete is the amount of travel and time spent in random hotel rooms. I miss home often, but I do my best to nest into new places and keep in touch with my family and friends (care packages are always welcome).
I hope your year is off to a good start, and that you find time to take care of yourself as you make your own PB&J. I’ll be releasing my February racing schedule soon, so stay tuned (www.jastaehli.com). In the meantime, let me know if there’s anything you’d like to see in my upcoming newsletters (@jastaehli), I’ll do my best to keep it juicy.
Sincerely,
P.S. Sending you this month’s BEST:
Book – Do Hard Things by Steve Magness
Eat – Thai-Inspired Turkey Meatball Soup (modified from New York Times Cooking)
Session – 2 x 2 mile @ 3:35 min/km, 2 x 1 mile @ 3:10 min/km in Camp Verde
Tune – REVOFEV by Kid Cudi
Sending u vibes from the Green Acres loop. Ful respect Julie-Anne 🙌
We are with you all the way Julie-Anne. The Lisles