People often talk about work/life balance. Less frequently discussed, however, is the balance between a sport, when embraced with the same fervor as a career, and other interests that spark joy and serenity. Given the tenacity with which athletes approach their sport, it’s inevitable that they experience stressors from the training, racing, performing, fueling, competing, injury, etc. Therefore, striking a balance between sport and self-care becomes a necessity in order to maintain the intensity, duration, and frequency required to participate competitively without cracking under pressure. Staying grounded is such a uniquely individual endeavor that not only can we learn from the journeys of others, but we can partake vicariously in their joy through their accounts--Instagram accounts included! The stories below reflect the strength and vulnerability inherent in these athletes and their personal quests for balance.

Michael Eaton, although newer to Seattle, seamlessly immersed himself in the city’s running community. As the Brooks Trailhead Assistant Sales and Community Manager, he oversees sales, training for new hires at the store, and community events like the Thursday night group run and monthly Running 101 events. A Kentucky transplant, Michael touts an impressive running career as the four- time Kentucky High School State Champ (2xXC,2xTrack), 2xNCAA Division 1 All-American in the 10,000m, 2xOlympic Trials Qualifier in the Marathon (2012,2016), and a competitor in the IAAF World Half Marathon Championships in 2012 in Kavarna, Bulgaria. More than a runner and self-proclaimed “trophy husband” to Jessica Eaton, the 32-year-old University of Louisville alumni, Micheal finds solace in the outdoors through hiking, camping, photography and as an avid Birder (aka bird watching to nonbirders).

Q: What has your 2019 athletic journey looked like?

Eaton: 2019 has been a mixed bag for me. I've had some real highs like setting a PR in the 3000m at the UW Preview Meet in January and running sub 14 minutes for 5k at the Mike Fanelli Track Classic, but struggle to hit my A goal so far of qualifying for my 3rd Olympic Trials. Injuries and training through have been a big part of this year, which is frustrating after coming off an incredible 2018. At times I have felt on top of the world, at other times I have struggled to find motivation to keep training. Currently I'm preparing for the Chicago Marathon. It will be my first marathon since the fall of 2017. I'm excited to be taking another swing at the marathon distance and hope to get my OTQ there.

Q: How does sports-related stress or angst manifest for you?

Eaton: Sports-related stress usually manifests in negative thoughts and self-talk heading into big competitions. Training heading into a race could have been perfect yet I still find in the closing days before an event self doubt and negative thoughts can really take hold if I'm not careful.

Q: How have you responded to it in the past, present, day-to-day, various events?

Eaton: To help me control or at least silence for a while negative thoughts and feelings I spend a good deal of time meditating and writing in a journal. Throughout a training cycle I use the Headspace app to guide my meditation in the morning before heading out for training. Most mornings you can find me in a big yellow chair, reading, writing, and sipping coffee before I settle into maybe 10-20 minutes of guided meditation to help get my head right before starting the day.

Q: How do you strike (attempt to strike?) a balance between your sport and personal interests outside of your sport?

Eaton: This is a really hard one for me to do. During most training cycles a lot of my personal interests outside of sport get put on the back burner. Birding especially, because the best times to bird are in the morning, often becomes low priority during these times. I try to make room for these interests during my planned off days, so I can stay somewhat fresh mentally.

Picture of Anna’s Hummingbird shot by Eaton at Green Lake Park, Seattle, WA

Q: What are hobbies, activities, and interests of yours outside of your sport that provide you with respite from the stressors of your sport and life generally? Where, in what, in whom, how do you find peace?

Eaton: Obvious to anyone who follows my instagram (@bigcountryeaton) I spend a good deal of time birding and taking bird/wildlife/outdoor photography. This is probably my favorite way to keep balanced and let off some steam. Getting out into nature and getting a chance to focus on something other than work or running can be a real relief.

Also, I've found surrounding yourself with a good community of people really helps. Whether its friends I've made from CNW or the crew that shows up to the Thursday night group runs, it just helps to have people to do life with. Maybe an 8-9 minute/mile paced 5 mile run isn't that beneficial to me from a training stand point but it still does wonders for my heart and mind.

While her teammates run in circles, Tori Franklin jumps not once, not twice, but three times into a pit of sand. A Black American woman and free spirit, Tori has excelled in her athletic career as a professional triple jumper, representing Team USA at the IAAF World Championships in Doha with Tokyo Olympic aspirations for 2020. Franklin, a 2x American record holder in her event and Nike athlete, also writes a blog Tjfranklin.com/blog and is crafting her first novel.

Q: What has your 2019 athletic journey looked like?

Franklin: The start of my 2019 season was the best I’ve ever had. During my indoor season, i broke the American Indoor Triple Jump Record. I was on the track to jump big things for the outdoor season. I had an entire layout for the upcoming season until a small bug in my knee grew to become what would keep me from running for weeks and require a small procedure called PRP. My training essentially halted. It has been a slow recovery to get back to finding my rhythm and being confident in my ability to perform. I have one meet left in less than 2 weeks. The World Championships. This season has taught me patience, what FOMO feels like, and that my plans don’t matter at the end of the day. What is for me, will be for me.

Q: How does sports-related stress or angst manifest for you?

Franklin: Sports-related stress manifests as easy annoyance. I don’t like to be asked questions like, “what happened? What do you think you did wrong? How do you feel?” All valid questions and obviously meant to help. But, asking at practice or post-competition really bothers me. I don’t know the answers to those questions at the moment and if I do, the fact that I couldn’t fix them when I needed to, will make me upset to talk about. Sometimes sports stress will bring doubt as well.

Q: How have you responded to it in the past, present, day-to-day, various events?

During practice or competition it is rare for doubts or negative energy to break my focus or love for me. Now a day, I repeat a mantra beforeeach jump. “I am strong, I am powerful, I am confident. Run like a Queen, hips up and tall.” This brings me confidence and reminds me of my greatest within.

Q: How do you strike (attempt to strike?) a balance between your sport and personal interests outside of your sport?

Franklin: I’ve always made a point to have a personal life and pursue personal interests outside of track and field even in college. I sang, did school performances, and was president of a couple of programs. So to continue this way of life even now isn’t difficult for me. I practice in the evening. During the day I wake up early and do what I enjoy.

Q: What are hobbies, activities, and interests of yours outside of your sport that provides you with respite from the stressors of your sport and life generally? Where, in what, in whom, how do you find peace?

Franklin: Writing (blog, my novel, journaling), going to live music events, with my friends, going dancing. My friends are really important in my balance. Quiet days with my plants help me reset my energies when everything feels draining

Q: Would you care to share an example of an outcome of these peaceful moments?

This is a piece I wrote on a Sunday while in the peace of my surroundings:

The simplicity of Sunday, the peace of a cycling fan on the last summers’ day. I lay in my home for one, body free for only me to see. The blue satin sheets like waves on a beach. My cotton pillows dimpled from last nights sleep. Spread from edge to edge, I have nowhere to be. So, I’ll lay with myself, listening to the blades spin, until hunger motivates me.

Caitlin McIlwain, an engaged member of CNW, admits to spending a lot of her time thinking about running, reading about running, planning running, recovering from running, and actually running. But when not engrossed in the running world, Mcllwain works as an economist for EY (a public accounting firm), analyzing how publicly traded companies interact with international tax law. Before this, she was a student at UW and the London School of Economics studying (you guessed it) economics and applied math.

Caitlin joined the club when she was a Sophomore at UW, after running her third marathon. She didn’t get the opportunity to run for a college, but this allowed her to explore what she wanted from her running career without having the pressure to perform. Mcllwain is still reaching her peak potential, which means she’s encountering for her first time things (like injuries) that seasoned runners have likely dealt with many times before. She finds, however, that these experiences enrich her running journey.

Q: What has your 2019 athletic journey looked like?

McIlwain: Ah 2019, you have been good to me so far. After coming off a mentally exhausting year in 2018 where I was sidelined for multiple months after suffering a minor calf strain whilst training for Boston 2018. Since this was my first injury, I ended up running through the pain and completing the 2018 Boston Marathon 6 weeks later, which ultimately put me out for several months as my calf tried to figure out what happened to it. I fondly call it my “calf gremlin” and although I long for the times before my injury, I really do believe this was a huge learning experience full of SO many frustrating runs, weeks, months, and seasons. The calf gremlin put me in a sort of “funk” where I felt that I couldn’t run a race without giving up. I cried my way to multiple finish lines, jogging in when I should’ve been striding fast. I was miserable in almost every race I ran in 2018. My injury made me feel weak both physically and mentally, and coming out of that hole has been a long journey. After cross, I took a while off of running and tried to re-evaluate where I was at.

I started 2019 off strong with the Tunnel Viaduct race, which helped me get out of my “funk” that was the 2018 cross country season. Surprising myself at the Seattle Center finish line was a true reminder that I still had grit and poise, I just needed to believe it. Doubting myself is a fairly constant part of my running mentality, something I work on with every race, but sometimes is the reason that a race doesn’t go well. After the Tunnel Viaduct race, I ran a strong 5K at Love ‘Em or Leave ‘Em (albeit slower than the time I ran in 2018), but it was yet again another encouraging sign. I started training harder than I should have, having a minor calf setback in March that led me to reconsider PT. I had been dealing with my injury alone for so long, and it felt like every time I cracked 45 miles in a week, I would break. My passion has always been the marathon, and I knew that I wouldn’t run a healthy marathon again if I didn’t get my calf gremlin under control. I started seeing a PT at Experience Momentum shortly before Beat the Bridge (another strong race for me) and my running life changed in the blink of an eye. I now have a place I can go every week where I can just talk out my running anxieties and uncertainties, get my calf massaged and hear the words “your calf is healthy” to the point that I stopped feeling any pain (phantom or otherwise). PT acted as a sort of mental therapy for me, somewhere that is helping me overcome the physical battle of a grumpy calf and also the mental battle of self doubt. I’m 11 weeks out from CIM now, and thanks to Experience Momentum, I was able to enjoy a full summer of healthy running where I built new friendships that expanded from just social running, got to start exploring trails a little bit, ran a freaking fast Hood to Coast, and ran my favorite long run distance again (16 miles!). Whatever happens in these upcoming 12 weeks, I can look back on the majority of 2019 with a full heart.

Q: How does sports-related stress or angst manifest for you?

McIlwain: Often before races I feel sick to my stomach. My race anxiety is always surrounding my self doubt. I never think I have it in me to do well, and if I show up to a start line not feeling nervous, I get nervous that I’m not nervous. When I’m surrounded by my Club teammates, I noticed that feeling subsides marginally because there is often so much playful banter and laughter; when your best friends start a race with you, it definitely lightens the tone of the race. It’s those races I do alone that I struggle the most.

Q: How have you responded to it in the past, present, day-to-day, various events?

McIlwain: After a race, you’ll often see me on the ground looking faint and needing assistance. These are the moments where my running anxiety is so visible. My body is literally releasing all of the anxious energy I had pent up before the race while I catch my breath from the race itself. It’s hard for my parents to watch me run because the end is so hard for them to be present for, but it’s such a visible representation of how much emotion is stuffed into every race. Often I just need a moment to breathe and gather my thoughts, though most people offer to get me medical help.

Q: How do you strike (attempt to strike?) a balance between your sport and personal interests outside of your sport?

McIlwain: I run in the mornings so that I can have my evenings free for myself. I often find that running early is tough on my legs, but allows me to focus on myself and other interests in the evening. I can make more elaborate meals, get into bed an hour early to read (this has been my go-to for the last month or so), bake breakfast muffins for the following morning, read news articles, or just watch Netflix and eat first dinner and often second dinner (I’m patiently waiting for the release of the Crown and Grey’s Anatomy).

Q: What are hobbies, activities, and interests of yours outside of your sport that provide you with respite from the stressors of your sport and life generally? Where, in what, in whom, how do you find peace?

McIlwain: I think it is healthy to have passions that are outside of the realm of running, though it is challenging to balance. I love to read, keep myself informed with the news, bake, and spend time with my beloved cat, Rosie. No matter what I am doing though, I find that my most relaxed moments are those spent alongside my cat. It has been said that animals can offer a sort of escape from reality and allow for a moment of mindfulness when their immediate needs and wants surpass your own. Every time she comes over for a nudge, or wrongly jumps on the counter, Rosie helps bring me back to the present. No matter what we do together, whether we are watching Netflix together, reading together, taking a nap, or working (I am working, Rosie is jumping on the keyboard), if my attention is on her, I’m not focused on the splits for my next workout, the what-if’s around twinges or tweaks I might be feeling, or the bigger picture of what I want out of my career.

I’m also a passionate baker (and Rosie is passionate about watching the rolling pin). I especially love to make bread. Bread is a complicated baked good to make, and the lengthy and precise process offers a challenge outside of sports that cannot be measured by objective values like splits, distance, or PRs. I can even fulfill my sense of competition by asking people around me to try my bread loaves and decide whether or not the fig hazelnut loaf tasted better than the honey whole wheat loaf from the week before.

From baking to birding to quiet afternoons with plants, athletes’ methods for recharging their seemingly inexhaustible batteries play crucial rolls in their lives and overall well-being. Thank you, Michael, Tori, and Caitlin, for your candor in sharing how each of you recharge, how you strike a balance between sport and self.