As someone close to the situation it most definitely is a result of Stanford. Coaching, dining, lack of discipline, on top of school…. It’s difficult to overcome. The best people from Stanford (guy or girl) are not like these two girls. They both should transfer and be put to work in a program that cares.
As someone close to the situation it most definitely is a result of Stanford. Coaching, dining, lack of discipline, on top of school…. It’s difficult to overcome. The best people from Stanford (guy or girl) are not like these two girls. They both should transfer and be put to work in a program that cares.
How are they different from the best ppl at Stanford?
Given her IG post after NCAAs, I don’t think she should have run in this meet. I wonder if seeing her semifinal heat (which was stacked) was a factor.
Social media is not good for athletes. Feeling like you always have to announce your times and performances has to be draining. I think this is also causing major issues for Quigley. Athletes - don’t treat your social media like your running resume!
As someone close to the situation it most definitely is a result of Stanford. Coaching, dining, lack of discipline, on top of school…. It’s difficult to overcome. The best people from Stanford (guy or girl) are not like these two girls. They both should transfer and be put to work in a program that cares.
How are they different from the best ppl at Stanford?
Given her IG post after NCAAs, I don’t think she should have run in this meet. I wonder if seeing her semifinal heat (which was stacked) was a factor.
Social media is not good for athletes. Feeling like you always have to announce your times and performances has to be draining. I think this is also causing major issues for Quigley. Athletes - don’t treat your social media like your running resume!
i agree on the social media. people need to learn to self regulate. even as an older male, i recognize that constant strava type posts, looking for and giving kudos, comments etc is sneakily mentally draining. I have mine set to private.
people need to find intrinsic motivation in what they are doing. if you do something legitimately special, go ahead and post it. but you don't need to let the world in on everything. you don't need to live with the dread of posting something that might come off as a disappointment.
I agree that SM is bad for these kids but it's also a plus for some. I suppose due to SM and these athletes putting themselves front and center allows people to feel like it's okay to bash them but ffs they are young kis/adults and don't have a lot of experience with life...
I wish this place wasn't so harsh on these kids (or young adults).... so she didn't start the race... she isn't the first and won't be the last to do that. Same with the other 800 girl from stanford... she didn't make it to the finals... maybe next year is different... no need to trash these kids...
Heck, look at Akins, she knocked on the door for several years and now she looks ready to move to the next level... you never know what will happen!
She asked for attention by signing an NIL. That was after she decided to tell the world that her full ride to Stanford and NCAA championship was just too much for her. And before that, she traveled the country racing in pro meets while her teammates were at local meets.
Can't say that. Obesity is beautiful but we are suppossed to worry about super healthy elite athletes being at the BMI that everyone was at 50 years ago.
How are they different from the best ppl at Stanford?
Given her IG post after NCAAs, I don’t think she should have run in this meet. I wonder if seeing her semifinal heat (which was stacked) was a factor.
Social media is not good for athletes. Feeling like you always have to announce your times and performances has to be draining. I think this is also causing major issues for Quigley. Athletes - don’t treat your social media like your running resume!
i agree on the social media. people need to learn to self regulate. even as an older male, i recognize that constant strava type posts, looking for and giving kudos, comments etc is sneakily mentally draining. I have mine set to private.
people need to find intrinsic motivation in what they are doing. if you do something legitimately special, go ahead and post it. but you don't need to let the world in on everything. you don't need to live with the dread of posting something that might come off as a disappointment.
keep the information flow rare and appropriate.
Galen Rupp has it figured out. Doesn't waste time with all that silliness. Just run baby! Not even a watch needed when he races.
If you are having suicidal thoughts then I hope you’re seeking out therapy/help. As it is, we had that major story about Madison Holleran from a few years that I hoped would lead to more empathy towards young athletes and the pressure they face.
Heartbreaking and difficult read. This portion stuck out to me as someone who struggled with their mental health and contemplated suicide between age 24-25.
""Madison left a suicide note that began, "I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out, and I thought how it is worse perhaps to be locked in." Previously, in her journal, she had written "Help!" at the top of one page, followed at the bottom by "No, no more help." She also left a copy of the young adult book Reconstructing Amelia, which tells the story of a devastated single mother who pieces together clues about the death of her daughter, who supposedly killed herself by jumping off a building at her prep school. In the book, nothing is as it seems. And at the end, the mother discovers that Amelia didn't jump; she was pushed.
Jim cannot bring himself to read the book.
"Sometimes it's hard to tell how fast the current's moving until you're headed over a waterfall," the author writes.
Madison seemed to see a version of herself in Amelia, in the perfectly crafted veneer that never felt like an honest reflection of her interior life. As though she could never find validation for her struggle because how could someone so beautiful, so seemingly put together, be unhappy? This is illogical, of course. Like thinking a computer's hard drive can't malfunction simply because the screen hasn't a scratch.""
When I was struggling, I often felt as if the life I had built up to that point became a prison. I was a good looking, athletic, and successful young man who had been dealing with the exacerbation of an undiagnosed and hence untreated chronic psychiatric condition... obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). I was terribly frightened by my own thoughts... what they meant, what kind of person it meant that I was... I quickly became consumed by rumination and fell into a deep depression which is the main comorbidity for OCD. I began to drink heavily most afternoons and evenings while I was battling these OCD obsessions. OCD episodes are truly... something nightmarish, it eventually builds to panic and chronic anxiety... like you're about to crawl out of your skin with no relief in sight.
Most of my friends quickly came to sense that I was dealing with something dark and internal and didn't really want much to do with me anymore (don't really blame them, but obviously not helpful to someone suffering as I was). My family was and still is deeply suspicious of the field of psychology/psychiatry and I was strongly cautioned to avoid seeking treatment because "those people can't help you". Much like the well-meaning people in the story of Madison, they externalized what I was suffering from... a change of scenery, a change of job, a change of external circumstances would be what pulled me from whatever nameless, shapeless misery had clouded my experience of life. Also, because it was "illogical", I just needed to be logical again, see my good looks, my athleticism, my career and success, and I would feel good again. I would eventually learn in treatment that it is the intellectualization of emotional problems that so often perpetuates and exacerbates them.
The closest I came to suicide was when I was dealing with an OCD manifestation where sufferers become obsessed with the notion they may have struck someone with their car and not known/realized it. I would go back along stretches of road I had earlier traversed looking for a body. I would look and look and look and despite not finding anything, I still wouldn't be sure if I had hit someone or not. I'd check the local police blotter and I still wouldn't be sure. I would spend hours recreating what had "happened", but never feel sure I hadn't hit someone. My dad had given me a handgun as a gift a few years prior to that and I would often sit on my bed and hold it, examine it, and contemplate what it would be like to stick the barrel in my mouth and pull the trigger. I'd wonder if I would feel anything. I'd wonder what my coworkers, friends, and family would think... how they clearly didn't want to know or hear why I was feeling what I was feeling, but how devastated and how mystified they would be in the aftermath.
I've already written more than I had intended to, but I did eventually find good treatment. What I learned along the path of treatment and recovery is that feelings are meant to be felt. This whole notion of "so and so shouldn't feel this way, they're so wonderful" is a very unhelpful belief in Western cultures that is present even in many therapeutic settings... I'd argue many involved in psychotherapy perpetuate conditions by not dignifying the very valid and very real emotional distress that people who suffer from mental illness or just a very tough time in life experience. I broke down in tears when I finally found a provider that told me my suffering was real and mattered and more importantly, why I was feeling what I was, and in the case of OCD, logic was a big part of the problem... I was using logic to try and solve an emotional problem and that was why I felt so miserable.
If anyone who reads this has contemplated suicide, please, tell the closest person you can who cares or if there is no one, go to a hospital. Hold on as long as you can until you find someone who actually can help you with whatever you are experiencing. You'll know you found good treatment when they don't speak in general platitudes about why and what you're experiencing is irrational and they're not afraid to sit with you in that suffering and misery as you begin to chart the course back to a place of good health. I can strongly attest to the power of good treatment, I live a wonderful and fulfilling life now with treatment, but I had to go on a dark, frightening journey to get good treatment so I could be where I am now.
If you are having suicidal thoughts then I hope you’re seeking out therapy/help. As it is, we had that major story about Madison Holleran from a few years that I hoped would lead to more empathy towards young athletes and the pressure they face.
Heartbreaking and difficult read. This portion stuck out to me as someone who struggled with their mental health and contemplated suicide between age 24-25.
""Madison left a suicide note that began, "I thought how unpleasant it is to be locked out, and I thought how it is worse perhaps to be locked in." Previously, in her journal, she had written "Help!" at the top of one page, followed at the bottom by "No, no more help." She also left a copy of the young adult book Reconstructing Amelia, which tells the story of a devastated single mother who pieces together clues about the death of her daughter, who supposedly killed herself by jumping off a building at her prep school. In the book, nothing is as it seems. And at the end, the mother discovers that Amelia didn't jump; she was pushed.
Jim cannot bring himself to read the book.
"Sometimes it's hard to tell how fast the current's moving until you're headed over a waterfall," the author writes.
Madison seemed to see a version of herself in Amelia, in the perfectly crafted veneer that never felt like an honest reflection of her interior life. As though she could never find validation for her struggle because how could someone so beautiful, so seemingly put together, be unhappy? This is illogical, of course. Like thinking a computer's hard drive can't malfunction simply because the screen hasn't a scratch.""
When I was struggling, I often felt as if the life I had built up to that point became a prison. I was a good looking, athletic, and successful young man who had been dealing with the exacerbation of an undiagnosed and hence untreated chronic psychiatric condition... obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). I was terribly frightened by my own thoughts... what they meant, what kind of person it meant that I was... I quickly became consumed by rumination and fell into a deep depression which is the main comorbidity for OCD. I began to drink heavily most afternoons and evenings while I was battling these OCD obsessions. OCD episodes are truly... something nightmarish, it eventually builds to panic and chronic anxiety... like you're about to crawl out of your skin with no relief in sight.
Most of my friends quickly came to sense that I was dealing with something dark and internal and didn't really want much to do with me anymore (don't really blame them, but obviously not helpful to someone suffering as I was). My family was and still is deeply suspicious of the field of psychology/psychiatry and I was strongly cautioned to avoid seeking treatment because "those people can't help you". Much like the well-meaning people in the story of Madison, they externalized what I was suffering from... a change of scenery, a change of job, a change of external circumstances would be what pulled me from whatever nameless, shapeless misery had clouded my experience of life. Also, because it was "illogical", I just needed to be logical again, see my good looks, my athleticism, my career and success, and I would feel good again. I would eventually learn in treatment that it is the intellectualization of emotional problems that so often perpetuates and exacerbates them.
The closest I came to suicide was when I was dealing with an OCD manifestation where sufferers become obsessed with the notion they may have struck someone with their car and not known/realized it. I would go back along stretches of road I had earlier traversed looking for a body. I would look and look and look and despite not finding anything, I still wouldn't be sure if I had hit someone or not. I'd check the local police blotter and I still wouldn't be sure. I would spend hours recreating what had "happened", but never feel sure I hadn't hit someone. My dad had given me a handgun as a gift a few years prior to that and I would often sit on my bed and hold it, examine it, and contemplate what it would be like to stick the barrel in my mouth and pull the trigger. I'd wonder if I would feel anything. I'd wonder what my coworkers, friends, and family would think... how they clearly didn't want to know or hear why I was feeling what I was feeling, but how devastated and how mystified they would be in the aftermath.
I've already written more than I had intended to, but I did eventually find good treatment. What I learned along the path of treatment and recovery is that feelings are meant to be felt. This whole notion of "so and so shouldn't feel this way, they're so wonderful" is a very unhelpful belief in Western cultures that is present even in many therapeutic settings... I'd argue many involved in psychotherapy perpetuate conditions by not dignifying the very valid and very real emotional distress that people who suffer from mental illness or just a very tough time in life experience. I broke down in tears when I finally found a provider that told me my suffering was real and mattered and more importantly, why I was feeling what I was, and in the case of OCD, logic was a big part of the problem... I was using logic to try and solve an emotional problem and that was why I felt so miserable.
If anyone who reads this has contemplated suicide, please, tell the closest person you can who cares or if there is no one, go to a hospital. Hold on as long as you can until you find someone who actually can help you with whatever you are experiencing. You'll know you found good treatment when they don't speak in general platitudes about why and what you're experiencing is irrational and they're not afraid to sit with you in that suffering and misery as you begin to chart the course back to a place of good health. I can strongly attest to the power of good treatment, I live a wonderful and fulfilling life now with treatment, but I had to go on a dark, frightening journey to get good treatment so I could be where I am now.
Totally off topic, but Not sure if you’ll see this reply but what you described is exactly what my child is going through. (OCD). They’ve been diagnosed and have tried some treatment, but they seem to be resistant to it (because it is hard). What type of therapy/treatment did you do? (ERP?). You’re statement about logic is 100% my child.
I expect both to transfer. Both have landed an NIL, so now can decide what is best for them. A degree from Stanford is important but not when it is blocked by the old school training and mentality coaching there. How does Willis go through what she goes through without the coaches stepping in and calling her season? Why does Whittaker get out into the 1500 instead of the 800 at NCAAs? No clue why somebody would fly from Wisconsin to Eugene to run one heat but it’s part of the whole family dynamic for a precocious runner now turned young adult. Will she ever be any better than 1:58-1:59? She is now a public figure, running for money, people are allowed to speculate.
I expect both to transfer. Both have landed an NIL, so now can decide what is best for them. A degree from Stanford is important but not when it is blocked by the old school training and mentality coaching there. How does Willis go through what she goes through without the coaches stepping in and calling her season? Why does Whittaker get out into the 1500 instead of the 800 at NCAAs? No clue why somebody would fly from Wisconsin to Eugene to run one heat but it’s part of the whole family dynamic for a precocious runner now turned young adult. Will she ever be any better than 1:58-1:59? She is now a public figure, running for money, people are allowed to speculate.
Old school mentality? What are you talking about? I think running Whittaker in the 1500 is far from old school but I actually think putting them in different events was great from a mental health perspective and quite new age. And Willis hardly ran the 800 in season outdoors which also was great.
And do you think Stanford cares if they run USAs? Trust me, they don't. The athletes clearly wanted to run USAs. If you are going to blame the school for allowing her to run, then also blame the parents. It always mystifies me that schools get all the 'blame.'
hope she's okay. I think anybody who has truly competed as a runner understands the horrible feeling that can come with the anticipation of an upcoming race, even if only 1% of what she is going through. I have had a runner or two not come back to the team from one year to the next simply because they said they hated the feeling they had leading up to a race. Some people's solution to this is to run at only a fraction of their true ability.
It's easy to empathize here.
You're absolutely correct.
Any coach who hasn't dealt with this hasn't been coaching very long.
All runners are different and handle things in different ways. Some can continue to muscle through stuff and some can't. And some know themselves well enough to realize that they're better off taking a step back than trying to muscle through.
It's as simple as that.
People, please don't be judgemental when you don't know the facts or the person.