Olympic Trials Talk With Vanessa

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Do you remember when you first set the goal of making the Olympics? When did it begin to feel like a realistic one?

I'm not the athlete who had the childhood dream of going to the Olympics. I remember watching The Games on TV growing up and thinking it was fun to watch, but that was about the extent of it. My sole childhood dream was to go to Stanford one day (which developed in 3rd grade after attending many football games with my family there), and then in the summer of 2008 (going into 8th grade), I attended the Nike XC Stanford Camp and decided my goal was not just to attend Stanford but to run XC/Track there one day too. Many people thought this was a crazy aspiration for a young kid to have, but in eventually fulfilling that which was 10 years in the making, I kinda started to believe in the power of manifesting your dreams for yourself. I'm glad it worked out, because without the coaches and teammates I had at Stanford, I don't think I would be in the position today of running professionally and pursuing the goal of making an Olympic team. I would consider myself a late bloomer in the sport, and it wasn't until my 4th and 5th years at Stanford ('17-'18) that I saw a level of success that made me imagine something beyond the collegiate running world for myself. I am forever grateful for those college coaches and teammates who helped me to both discover my potential at the time and create even bigger dreams for myself in the future.

It's been a rollercoaster 15 months for you, from running a huge lifetime best of 14:48 in the 5,000m to then having double achilles surgery a couple months after that. What thoughts or practices have helped you most through that recovery back to racing?

Vanessa running 14:48 in February of 2020.

The emotional high of running that breakthrough 5K last February to the low of dealing with my first real running injury setback/surgery was pretty tough. And the timeline to get back to racing at a high level has been longer than I (probably way too over-optimistically) envisioned. I have learned a lot of things from the experience - mostly to just focus on taking the next step forward, no matter how big or small. Sometimes, those steps forward were quite literal - one year ago to the day, I tried to take my first steps out of the double walking boots, and when I first stood up my ankles buckled from the weakness/pain and I fell right back down on the couch! Celebrating all those little moments of progress along the way often felt quite tedious, but it was the only way not to get too overwhelmed by how much further was left to go. Here I am a year later, still feeling like there is a long way to go, but if I can continue to get excited about taking more steps forward from where I am today and to see whatever that might look like for me at the Trials, then it is a huge personal victory. Another important perspective that continues to help me in this comeback is to just accept whatever timeline my body needs to fully bounce back from this surgery... I know I can't control exactly when it will be ready to run PRs again, but I know the time will come. Above all else, I am truly overjoyed to now be training and racing pain-free, which any runner knows is one of the most important keys to running fast.

Is there one key workout that's given you a lot of confidence or do you just look at the total body of work?

I try to look at the total body of work and remember that consistent training over time is the best way to be ready to race well ('time and pressure, like geology', as Jerry likes to say - lol). But I do rely on having at least one spicy workout in the final weeks leading up to a race to just give me a little extra confidence boost - my favorite confidence booster before a 5K is Mile-1200-800-400-Mile running everything at 5K pace and faster.

What's your mental routine like before a big race? Are you someone who gets a lot of nerves? Are you doing positive visualizations? Just chilling in your hotel room watching movies?

I get pretty nervous before all races - I visualize the race in the days leading up to it, but I just try to turn my mind off completely on race day and have fun distractions. My favorite pre-race routine is a little hotel room dance party while getting ready with Elise - shakes out the nerves and turns them into excitement.

From Palo Alto to Portland.

What's it been like to join a professional group with 3 of your college teammates? Are you sick of them yet?

I can't imagine anyone ever getting sick of Sean, Elise, or Grant! They are some of the best people this world has to offer, and I am not biased at all. I feel so lucky to have had a front row seat to all of their careers over the years - hard-working, dedicated, and resilient doesn't even begin to sum them up. They are incredibly supportive teammates, and I am inspired by them daily.

Do you have a favorite Jerry story?

The first time I met Jerry we had lunch at Nike and I got a sandwich that had a bunch of mustard on it.. I hate mustard. I was trying to be polite but clearly having a hard time getting the sandwich down. We then bonded over the fact that he hates mustard too. He offered me some of his plain salad (no dressing) which is when I learned what a bland eater Jerry is!