Friday Five: Tips on Running + Life from Olympian Alexi Pappas

It’s Friday, so I’m linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for Friday Five 2.0. The Chicago Marathon is this weekend. The city is buzzing with marathon fever. I’m not running the marathon but I’m loving playing the role of super fan and participating in some awesome events.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend an event with Olympian Alexi Pappas. She’s here to make her debut in the marathon on Sunday. The event was sponsored by Champion in their new store in Bucktown. Several high school teams were invited. The kids got to ask Alexi questions after she spoke.

If you’re not a running nerd like me, you may not know Alexi Pappas. She ran the 10,000 meter in the Rio Olympic for Greece (she’s a dual citizen). She won the Shamrock Shuffle 8K here in Chicago in 2016 and 2017. She was a 3 time All American runner in college. She’s also a writer, film maker and actress. She’s smart, inspiring and engaging. She’s a great role model and fosters a great community on Instagram. Follow her!

Alexi offered the students tips that she wished she’d learned earlier. Then, she entertained questions. Here are Alexi’s tips:

  • Write down your goals. She said, “the bravest thing you can do is to admit that you want something.” This makes the aspiration real. Even though you may not be close to achieving it, you need to put it out there to find a purpose and pursuit.
  • Commit yourself to your goal for a period of time and don’t question it. She suggested that it’s not fair to judge results in process. The analogy she used was making a stew. If the ingredients are not fully cooked, sometimes it seems like your recipe is not coming together. You need to give it time to, well, stew.
  • Consider the 33/33/33 rule. Pursuing your goal will feel good 33% of the time, ok 33% of the time and bad 33% of the time. This is normal and to be expected. If it always feels good, maybe it’s not challenging enough and if it always feels bad, maybe it’s too challenging. [A quick google search shows that this principle is used in a lot of areas including expanding a business and making friends!]
  • Relish your successes and progress. She reminds us to take time to be proud and reflect on success. Reflect on the process and appreciate what you have done and how far you’ve come. This one resonated with me especially. As I get older I realize the importance of appreciating progress and celebrating milestones.
  • Find role models and incorporate their habits/approaches. She said “imitation is powerful” and “find role models and see what you have in common.” She told us about incorporating new behaviors based on people she looked up to. It was less of a “fake it until you make it” and more of an incorporate behaviors you admire.

Bonus tip: Layout your clothes the night before. She said “it’s a gift to yourself that’s practical and helpful.” I’m with her on this one. It’s easy to misplace or forget things and that adds a ton of stress in the morning.

Alexi answered a ton of questions on running and life. As a writer, she was asked what she likes to read and she said she’s been hooked on short stories. She also told us about The Book Club Track Club podcast she moderates with runner Kyle Merber. They “read great books (that are not about running) and get creative to find ways that make them running books.”

She also gave practical advice on overcoming a bad race and visualizing success. She has a “12 hour rule” for feeling bad when things don’t go her way. She also reminded us that you “have to have a sense of humor” about things and try to think of tangible things that went well and things that you can do better next time.

Alexi was nice enough to take a selfie with me. I told her that I also have selfies with Kipchoge and Meb as well as some other greats!

I loved this opportunity to hear Alexi and to meet her for a few minutes after the talk. I was a fan before yesterday and now I’m a “bravey.” That’s what she calls her Instagram community. Her positive energy and open demeanor make you want to root for her. I can’t wait to see what Alexi does in her debut marathon on Sunday. I know whatever happens she’ll handle it with grace and style.

Good luck to Alexi and all of the Chicago Marathon runners! I’ll be cheering you on at mile 13 on your right hand side.

Have a great weekend!

PS.  It’s the last day to enter my Runfessions giveaway.