Olympic U.S. national steeplechase athlete Colleen Quigley knows what it takes to build a strong body that can handle the strain of her sport. Her success has been built upon lifelong training — shaping her career through high school titles, nine NCAA All-American honors, and a personal best, third place finish at the 2016 United States Olympic Trials which led her to represent the U.S at the 2016 Summer Games. As she begins her early 2017 race season, Colleen took some time to answer some questions about her training essentials and where she sees herself in the upcoming year.
Playlist: What do you listen to during your training for steeplechase?
Lately, I have been listening to the newest Sia album on my solo runs, but I also listen to a lot of podcasts when I run and swim. My all-time favorite, however, is to listen to the voices of my teammates as we chat incessantly and the miles click by!
Nutrition: What is your go-to breakfast, lunch, dinner and healthy snack?
I am currently obsessed with Shalane Flanagan’s new cookbook, Run Fast. Eat Slow. I bought my own copy on pre-order and have been devouring the recipes ever since it arrived. My go-to is her kale, farro, and radicchio salad with her lemon, miso, ginger dressing. I could drink that dressing it is so good! I have also been making a lot of the Can’t-Beet-Me smoothie after my morning run and before I jump in the pool for my cross-training. For breakfast, I’ve been having avocado toast with some salt and pepper and shaved Parmesan on top.
Gear: What’s your favorite training gear and gadgets?
Nike makes amazing gear for all types of training and all types of weather. Since it rains constantly in Portland, I can usually be spotted running around campus in a lightweight rain jacket and a running hat to keep the rain off my face. For gadgets, I just got the new Nike Apple watch and have been having a blast playing with all the features. I’m not particularly tech-savvy so that process may take a while considering how much this thing can do! My favorite feature so far is that it’s completely waterproof so I can take it in the pool and it counts my laps!
What are your goals for 2017? What is your training plan?
I hope that simply by being healthy and being able to build myself a really solid base that it will translate to more strength and stamina on the track in the spring. I have been working on building up my workouts to be longer than ever before and getting my aerobic fitness up to the level of a 5k or 10k runner and I think that will make the steeple easier for me to handle on the aerobic side, which is my biggest weakness.
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