Sobre amizade e competitividade na corrida

Li uma entrevista da Shalane Flanagan para a Women's Running semana passada [dica do Danilo do Recorrido! :)] e só hoje tive tempo de compartilhar. É bem papo de mulherzinha (Gil talk); falando sobre o dia a dia, alimentação, mantras, melhor treino, etc.  Aqui, a minha parte preferida, que é quando ela fala sobre amizade na corrida e como ela lida com a competitividade entre atletas amigas.

Fonte: Shalane

WR: Describe what your running girlfriends mean to you.

SF: I find a lot of joy in the running journey and sharing that with my training partners is very rewarding. I just feel like it’s a lot more meaningful and enriching when I can share my running with others. We go through a lot on a daily basis together (a lot of ups and downs with our training and in life) so it just makes those races a little more powerful because we’ve gone through so much to get to that point. I have some really great relationships through running.

WR: How do you put competition aside to forge friendships?

SF: Since my competitiveness only comes out on race day, I’m really good at executing the training goal for the day and helping my training partners get better. That’s what we’re ultimately striving for – getting the best out of ourselves. But we wouldn’t be great athletes if we weren’t competitive, so on race day I want my friends to be competitive too. I want the best version of Kara [Kara Goucher is Flanagan’s training partner] on the starting line. I want all of my competitors to be their best so that if I do win, it’s more meaningful. I feel empowered by having my teammate next to me competing. I feel like we’ve done a lot of hard work together, so I feel like I have a secret weapon next to me.

Não é uma fofa? Pra finalizar: um vídeo da Competitor em que Shalane e Kara fazem piada com a rivalidade entre elas. Sou fã :)