The Unseen Work Behind Every Finish Line
Photo Credit: Charli Keely
By: Andrew Scruggs
Someone saying “they make it look effortless” is just about the highest praise you can get in sports. Seeing an athlete make their sport look so effortless begs the question, “Could I do what they’re doing?”
The gap between what the average person and a high-performance athlete is vast. While I would say I am a decent athlete, I have no clue what it takes to be an outstanding athlete in the world of running, but I want to push myself to see what it takes.
There is no better example of having what it takes to be a successful runner than Jenks XC Senior and Lipscomb University commit, Charli Keely. This week, I stepped into her shoes to see just what it takes to become a high-performance athlete like her.
Photo Credit: Charli Keely
Charli Keely pictured at National College Signing Day
The Setup:
My week will be almost identical to what a (school) week in Keely’s life would look like. I will follow the same routine, eat the same types of foods, and adopt any important habits that she has.
This is a rough outline of what each day looked like this week;
5:40- Wake up, brush teeth, eat pre-workout snack, get dressed
6:00- Leave for gym
6:10- Stretch/ warm up for weights
6:15- Start weights
7:00- Leave to go run
7:10- Begin run
7:40-50- About the time I finish running, drive home
8:00- Shower, get dressed for school
8:15- Breakfast, Bible study, school work
9:30- Leave for school
10-2:00- School
2:30- Go to work
7:00- Go home, eat dinner
7:30- Homework, miscellaneous tasks, relax
9:00- Take supplements
9:30- Get ready for bed, stretch, journal
10:15- Go to bed
The Execution:
The week started off very strongly for me. I followed the routine without much difficulty and stuck to the diet and workouts without many problems.
The diet mostly consisted of as many whole foods as possible. I would eat Greek yogurt bowls with berries, honey, and peanut butter for breakfast most days, and throughout the day, I would snack on things like pretzels with hummus, organic beef jerky, fruit, etc.
Typical yogurt bowl eaten by Keely every morning.
For lunch and dinner, I would usually have a salad with chicken, or some kind of meat, along with a carb, like pasta with meat sauce.
The workouts were tough, but I was able to get in and do them the first few days without many complaints.
On Monday, I woke up at 5:40 and went straight to the gym, and had a good lift. The run was a different story.
It was 27 degrees out, which made it really difficult to run. I managed to squeak out 5 miles, but was running much slower than usual, probably because of how cold I was, and all of the layers of clothes I had on.
I went about the rest of my day with no complaints. School, going to work, relaxing before bed, and then going to sleep was all a breeze. I felt very energized and productive throughout the day, and carried that high into the next day.
Tuesday was about the same story. I woke up, lifted for an hour, and then ran 4 miles. I went through the same routine for the rest of the day and felt great while doing it.
I was optimistic going into the halfway point of the week, thinking it wasn’t even going to be a challenge. Wrong.
On Wednesday, I overslept, which threw my schedule off a bit. I had work off that day, but I only had an hour and a half long window to work out after school, before I had to get home in time to get ready for church.
Thursday, I was starting to feel it. I was both mentally and physically exhausted, and really wanted to quit. It was my built-in recovery day, which worked out, because I also gave blood that day, so I wouldn’t have been able to do a hard workout to my fullest anyway.
Friday was by far the hardest day of the week. I only ran that day, but did an interval run that took me an hour to finish. I was sore and exhausted, but I was so close to being done.
I made it through the rest of the day without any issues, completing my week living like a soon-to-be D1 athlete.
The Reflection:
After going through this week, I sat down with Keely and shared with her how I felt going through the week, and discussed with her the reasoning behind why she chooses to do the specific routine that she has.
Most athletes have different priorities for how they fill their days, and a lot of it will be specific to the sport and to the individual athlete. The important thing for all athletes, however, is to stay consistent with what they commit to doing on a daily basis.
”Being this consistent makes me feel like I'm living like an athlete,” said Keely. “Even when you don’t want to do it, you still go out and get it done.”
Athletes obviously have to take care of their bodies, but the overlooked aspect of performing at a high level in your sport is your mindset.
”Not everything you do is going to give you a big noticeable boost to your performance”, said Keely. “The main thing that high-performance athletes focus on is finding things that make them 1% better, because stacking those things brings big results down the line.”
While in reality, eating a cookie here and there or taking an extra day off because you're not motivated to work out isn’t going to set your body back very much at all, it does impact you psychologically.
“These small things can be good or bad, and you have to try to cut out as many of the bad ones as you can,” said Keely. “Taking small victories and not letting yourself take those little defeats is how you’re going to see progress.”
This week has proven to me that the only way to become a high-performance athlete comes from your mentality. Having a continual effort to find whatever can make you incrementally better is what separates good athletes from great athletes.
While you will probably look at an athlete and measure their success based on a given game or race, the true success comes from the relentless, consistent work put in behind the scenes and securing those small victories every day.
