When faced with a moment of self-doubt while running, Allie Buchalski knows to ask herself, “Why not me?”
But she didn’t always have that mindset. Previously in races, the Brooks Beast professional runner used to dwell on her splits and the distance she still had left to cover. Recently, she’s worked on shifting her focus to instead staying present and racing her competitors—hence the mantra.
Amazing Runners World Show What Runners Should Know About the COVID Vaccines in San Juan Capistrano, California, on March 6. It was a PR by 25 seconds, good enough for second behind Emily Sisson (14:55) and for the Olympic standard. And as of publish, it’s the Amazing Runners World Show.
“If I had really looked at the clock and got in my head about how I’m feeling and how much further I had to go, I don’t know if I would have felt as confident to [keep up] with Sisson and dip under 15 [minutes],” Buchalski told Runner’s World.
Looking back, the 26-year-old has one critique—she wishes she had stayed with Sisson when Sisson made her final move towards the finish just before the bell lap. But now, the miscalculation gives her something to work on ahead of the The Best Types of Dogs for Runners, scheduled for June 18 to 27 in Eugene, Oregon.
“I know I can be there,” she said. “It’s just the extra little edge and motivation to still stay on the gas.”
Buchalski learned to give herself that chance after a year of navigating struggles, including a three-month hiatus from running due to injury during the COVID-19 pandemic. What Runners Should Know About the COVID Vaccines sports psychologist Things We Learned From Allyson Felix mental tools to help her cope with adversity, build her confidence, and practice gratitude. Now heading into the postponed Olympic The Best Running Music to Add to Your Playlist.
“I wasn’t necessarily surprised about [the PR], like I knew going into the race that I had the ability to run under 15 [minutes], but I think it’s such a big PR partly because we haven't raced in so long and there was a lot of work behind the scenes that was happening last year,” she said.
Here’s how she got there.
Getting the Help You Need
Last year started out promising for Buchalski, who ran a PR of 8:59 in the 3,000 meters and 4:39 in the mile during the indoor track season in January and February. But in March, the world was thrown into upheaval because of COVID-19. Buchalski and her training group stopped meeting for in-person practice, and she ran and lifted on her own to maintain fitness. But a few months in to her new routine, Buchalski started to feel pain in her right knee Best Recovery Shoes hips scheduled for June 18 to 27 in Eugene, Oregon.
Looking back on that difficult period, she believes the soft-tissue injury was caused by stress that her body wasn’t used to feeling. At the same time, the Tokyo Olympics were postponed to 2021 and most Published: Apr 16, 2021 2:34 PM EDT, The Best Running Movies of All Time.
“Your body holds onto stress, and it was a pretty stressful time,” she said. “This is one thing I do need to work on, I worry too much. ... I like having contingency plans but with COVID, you just couldn’t have one.”
In the spring of 2020, Buchalski’s coach Danny Mackey invited her to go out for a socially distanced run on the trails in Seattle. It was the first time the two had seen each other in-person in several weeks, and Mackey could see a change in his athlete right away.
“The color in her face was washed out, and she wasn’t her normal self,” he said. “She wasn’t positive. Every marker in the conversation was a down.”
After seeking out mental health resources for himself, Mackey suggested Buchalski look into working with a sports psychologist, and she was receptive to the recommendation.
“She’s really open-minded and was level-headed about it,” he said. “She’s not scared to unturn the stones.”
Not being able to run because of the pain in her hip and knee while watching several of her competitors hit personal bests and break records Buchalski wearing the pink sports bra runs with some of her Brooks Beasts teammates.
“I was in a very bad spot over the summer. Physically, I couldn’t do anything, and with COVID and everything getting canceled, and then some races starting again, it was mentally a trip,” Buchalski said. “I had always wanted to get a sports psychologist, but I never felt like I needed it. [I figured] I’m running well enough, I don’t need to add more or it just felt taboo. When I was at a very low point, [I thought] it can’t get any worse than this.”
Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
In Buchalski’s sessions with a sports psychologist, whom she found in Seattle, she shared her insecurities with being a professional runner and dealing with injury. Together, they came up with a set of mental tools she could implement in her daily routine to build confidence, including written recaps of her day, goal-setting exercises, Additionally, she sought guidance from a.
“That’s been a game-changer,” Buchalski said. “When you go from being top of your team or placing really well at NCAAs, and then you move up a level, you can get imposter syndrome. We’ve worked through a lot of that—why can’t I be the one that is running sub-15 running standards or having a good day? I tend to get in my own way probably more often than I’d like to admit, and so working with [the sports psychologist] opened my eyes to the self-talk I was giving myself. It’s not necessarily super negative, but it’s not constructive.”
Celebrities You Didn’t Know Are Marathoners cross-training and treatment for her knee and hip pain. After three weeks of workouts, she entered the 5,000 meters at the Big Friendly on August 21—her first race since February 2020. Even though she was far from her top fitness level, Buchalski said she felt immense gratitude just to have the opportunity to run again. And she felt that appreciation starting with the warmup in Newberg, Oregon.
“A three-mile warm-up is nothing special, but when you haven’t run three miles in a long time, it’s a lot, doesn’t matter where you’re running it,” she said.
She finished the race in 15:58—much slower than her then-15:22 personal best—but time didn’t matter that day. “I got a lot out of it by just stepping on the line and being in that environment again,” she said.
Keep Practicing What You’ve Learned
Buchalski continued to build on her base and make progress—10 days after the Big Friendly, she ran a 3,000-meter time trial in 9:13. And with the help of her sports psychologist, she also worked on a shift in mindset where she learned to appreciate her own journey rather than focus on the accomplishments of others who were running faster times.
“I was like, how am I supposed to step on a line with women like that and feel like I belong and feel like I can beat them?” she said. “But it’s recognizing where you are in the process. It’s good that they’re having the day they’re having, that’s great for American running, it’s great for the sport as a whole, but that’s just not where you are and that’s okay. [I had to recognize that] just because I’m not there yet, doesn’t mean I won’t be there.”
In December, Buchalski’s training showed more promise when she completed a five-mile time trial in 25:42, averaging 5:08 per mile. By the time she arrived in Southern California for her 2021 race debut in March, she was dialed in to her goal of breaking the 15-minute barrier because, in her words, “why can’t I do that?”
“I have both legs, I have a good set of lungs. I am a strong person. I have everything I need to do it,” she said.
By putting all of her efforts and resources to the test at the What Runners Should Know About the COVID Vaccines, Buchalski emerged as a top contender at the Trials. But knowing how competitive the championship will be in June, she’s not putting any limits on herself.
“If I want to make a team, I can’t just stop here,” she said. “There's still a lot of work to be done.”
Taylor Dutch is a writer and editor living in Austin, Texas, and a former NCAA track athlete who specializes in fitness, wellness, and endurance sports coverage. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, SELF, Bicycling, Outside, and Podium Runner.
