Allie O Admits Eating Disorder and Enters Therapy

runnerexpert wrote:

"Fact" checker wrote:

I don't think so, she has declared for the US Olympic Trials and you could only declare since June 8th I believe.

https://www.usatf.org/events/2021/2020-u-s-olympic-team-trials-track-field/status-of-entries

She can declare whatever she wants, there is no way they will let her step foot on the track in her current condition

You have no idea what you are talking about. She just told people about it today, that doesn't mean it just happened today. She has already stepped foot on a track since she's been in treatment, for all you know it's part of her treatment. Go away!

Nonsense! wrote:

runnerexpert wrote:

She can declare whatever she wants, there is no way they will let her step foot on the track in her current condition

You have no idea what you are talking about. She just told people about it today, that doesn't mean it just happened today. She has already stepped foot on a track since she's been in treatment, for all you know it's part of her treatment. Go away!

If she steps on the track for the Trials I will NEVER buy a Brooks product again. That would be ridiculous to allow a person this sick to be racing this soon. Running and training could be part of her therapy but there is no way racing at an elite level is healthy right now.

Deliver the goods wrote:

Nonsense! wrote:

You have no idea what you are talking about. She just told people about it today, that doesn't mean it just happened today. She has already stepped foot on a track since she's been in treatment, for all you know it's part of her treatment. Go away!

If she steps on the track for the Trials I will NEVER buy a Brooks product again. That would be ridiculous to allow a person this sick to be racing this soon. Running and training could be part of her therapy but there is no way racing at an elite level is healthy right now.

Exactly, she is a mental mess in a video she posted today, she has a long way to go before she is rolling at a top level.

Yomif Kejelcha is 6'1" and 128 lbs. Skinny doesn't necessarily mean you have a problem, and we should not be judging from afar just by how people look.

Deliver the goods wrote:

Nonsense! wrote:

You have no idea what you are talking about. She just told people about it today, that doesn't mean it just happened today. She has already stepped foot on a track since she's been in treatment, for all you know it's part of her treatment. Go away!

If she steps on the track for the Trials I will NEVER buy a Brooks product again. That would be ridiculous to allow a person this sick to be racing this soon. Running and training could be part of her therapy but there is no way racing at an elite level is healthy right now.

You have no idea what you are talking about. For all we know missing the olympics could send her into a bigger spiral. She needs to do what she believes is best. If that means competing, then she should do it.

Stupid post of the day ^^^^^

She has been doing what she thinks is best since she was 12 years old. How is that working for her.

Running the Trials would be just another example of no one stepping in when a young woman is crying for direction.

Shame on Brooks

Deliver the goods wrote:

She has been doing what she thinks is best since she was 12 years old. How is that working for her.

it has worked very well in many ways. nearly everyone with a great idea of how to improve her has never been close to as accomplished as Allie. The trials will be full of athletes who are injuring themselves by competeing. So will the olympics. These are choices they have the rights to make. They will guess their odds and try to decide if it's worth the experience. But let's not pretend elite athletics is primarily concerned with achieving or promoting health. It is risky and fleeting. A twist to the drama is, her workouts and competitions will give her some of the most meaningful data about the choices she is making. I would guess , long term that its wiser to skip the trials and to focus on training. But she is massively wiser than me . It seems her opinion of what to do would be pretty important. And obviously some people way more foolish/out of balance than Allie will be among those competing in the trials.

Best wishes to her and everyone else going through that.

Get the help you need, we are all human, there is no shame and you will be happier.

Deliver the goods wrote:

Stupid post of the day ^^^^^

She has been doing what she thinks is best since she was 12 years old. How is that working for her.

Running the Trials would be just another example of no one stepping in when a young woman is crying for direction.

Shame on Brooks

This is exactly why people have such a hard time coming forward. All the know-it-alls suddenly start treating you like your defective or damaged, they don't truly listen and they make things much, much worse.

Here are the facts.

When she was diagnosed with her latest stress reaction and had to take a break; that's when things came to a head. That was a while ago. She was given the choice of seeking treatment or being dropped. She made the choice to be treated and that's when, if you follow her videos, she was seen cooking healthier, cross training on the bike and easing back into running. She has been in treatment for 5 weeks and has transitioned back into running and is under the advice and care of her physicians. You can see her videos where she did the steeple workout , she did some cooking, she pitched her new sponsor, Built Bars (not a coincidence). All this AFTER she initiated treatment. What you people do not understand is that she could have easily not said anything and just continued on her path to recovery, running at trials and no one would have been the wiser. She decided to live a life of purpose and use her platform and painful experience as a teachable moment. She's at a place where she can do that now. The people saying that her mental state is this and that or the other have zero understanding of how painful it is to come clean about something you have been hiding. The pain you hear in her voice and see on her face is both sadness and relief. She has been on this road for a while and whether she runs at trials or not is not up to Brooks or anyone else other than Allie and her doctors. Stop the stupid comments about her mental health - it's not helping! If you truly want to help; listen and be supportive. The end.

Wrong. She was listening to coaches from at least 12-18 years of age. Are you that dense?

You are not her nor are you her doctor. The decision isn’t up to you. It’s up to the two of them.

runnerexpert wrote:

"Fact" checker wrote:

I don't think so, she has declared for the US Olympic Trials and you could only declare since June 8th I believe.

https://www.usatf.org/events/2021/2020-u-s-olympic-team-trials-track-field/status-of-entries

She can declare whatever she wants, there is no way they will let her step foot on the track in her current condition

She ran just 2 or 3 weeks ago and said she's been in treatment for 5 weeks. So you don' t know the inside scoop of what is going on there. She'll probably line up next week but we shall see.

a basic question for anyone who has or has had an eating disorder. Or perhaps youve stood at the bed of a person in the hospital and hoped they make that change and come back to life because they are way too close to gone.

Can you imagine missing a best time in an event you have done for years by a fraction. Being really in the neighborhood of your athletic best. While in the depths of your disorder? Was the person you stood next to and spoke with even strong enough to get out of bed?

look at the times she got in her last two races and compare them to her best times. She is making corrections. She is coming back stronger. She is emotional about what is happening. Emotion is not illness. It is not a sign of sickness to have a different mood. It is not a sign of sickness to make steps to be more careful while you improve.

What I mean is- ive seen , and been, people who messed up way more than Allie. And I believe she will bring light to some of these riddles. Because she already has .

Also Ive had stress reactions and fractures at a lot of weights.

runnerexpert wrote:

Go, allie, go wrote:

Haven't watched her video yet, but has she mentioned if she is still going to compete at the Trials? I hope so. Rooting for her!

She wont be anywhere near a meet for a year, watch the video, she has serious physical and mental issues to get resolvex..it will take a long time before she is ready, if ever.

She seems pretty put together to me. It looks like she'll be able to fight through this and compete at the same time.

Why does literally everyone in running have an eating disorder? It's depressing. I hate how in running all these people are way leaner and way faster and then it turns out they have problems. Person after person has problems..... And then when they recover they are still really, really lean compared to many.

I am a huge Allie O fan from her videos. Allie I wish you the best. 2021, 2024 or whenever.

When you race I will buy a ticket and cheer the whole way.

+1

Because no matter how you put it, for most of the US population it's not normal to be that skinny or run a bagillion miles a week. Just like it's not good to be obese or morbidly obese and just sit around with little physical activity. I bet the pandemic has worsened people's habits on both sides of the spectrum.

The thing is, if someone like Elle Purrier didn't get lean you would all say her weight is holding her back. Also, lots of talk of "bulkier" guys like Solinsky. No winners here.

Rooting for Allie. Enormously talented, and she will do well whatever she decides to do with her career, running or something else.

d1runnergirlpwr5 wrote:

Why does literally everyone in running have an eating disorder? It's depressing. I hate how in running all these people are way leaner and way faster and then it turns out they have problems. Person after person has problems..... And then when they recover they are still really, really lean compared to many.

I get how this can be frustrating. Makes it seem like every elite runner with an elite runner body must have an eating disorder and so that becomes unattainable to a girl/woman working hard and eating right at 50-100mpw.

But I THINK that if Ostrander, for example, gained 10lbs on her 5'1" frame it would be imperceptible to us and consist mostly of increased internal fat (which is needed), water, bone density, and like 2lbs of muscle.

I think that the physical symptoms of her eating disorder are not her skinny arms--plenty of runner have skinny arms. Her symptoms are glass bones, lack of visceral fat needed for metabolism, low energy, etc.

But at the end of the day, I think all runners of every level (and especially females) have to believe that if they are running a ton, their weight will end up at a nearly ideal level for their body, and there is no use trying to change it to look more like a pro.

I am a fan of Allie and have enjoyed watching her progress since she was in high school. I was sad/shocked to hear this news, mainly because I care about her and also she had a food blog and made videos that showed her cooking and eating! If I were to look back and try to identify red flags on her food insta and youtube, I would say that she restricted food groups and was probably following a paleoish diet in an effort to cut carbs & reduce calories. Also Sometimes she would take posts on her IG down because they mentioned calorie counting.

Having said that, I am not shocked that she's been experiencing ED for 10+ years without intervention. From my own experience of being on a college D1 team where our top runners were competing with ED, no one wants to get involved until the athlete hits rock bottom and can't produce quality results anymore. Brooks' & Mackey's goal is probably to address it now before she is completely broken (physically, at least). If you want to read more about how ED dysfunction plays out on a team, I wrote an e-book about it called She Was Once a Runner:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/156110