Running on Empty: The Cost of Success
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- Olivia Williams tied the course record of Amber Trotter's (2001's HS national XC champ) 16:15 at Hayward High School in November of 2021. Shortly thereafter, Olivia started to feel the effects of the sacrifices it took to be able to achieve such an unprecedented effort. Although she had made it to the Eastbay Nationals as undoubtedly one of the top runners in the nation. Her rise to success was just as quick as her exit from the sport in the spring of sophomore track season due to her declining physical health in the form of anorexia. Two years later, Olivia is getting back into the sport she loves, but now in a body she is becoming more familiar with. By sharing this vulnerable story, Olivia hopes that others that want success as bad as she does understand that they cannot and should not do it as it comes at a great cost & is not worth it.
We used to be on the same swim team, she was such an amazing person and athlete. I am so glad she got the help she needed and is now able to run again!
It took a lot of courage to share your personal struggles. I hope you are able to make a difference in someone else’s life. I’m grateful you are on a different path and getting healthy. I am thankful someone stepped in and saved you from more destruction. It was great seeing you set records, however watching you lose so much body mass was awful to witness. Talking to a couple of times I was really impressed with how articulate you were for being so young. You seem to be very well spoken and committed to your school and community. From observing you interact with others, I feel besides being an awesome athlete, you have even better personal qualities and traits that make you shine more. Good luck in your journey and don’t let running define who you are.
What a wise young woman to address this early instead of 10 years down the road and a career full of injuries. What a delightful teammate Olivia must be! Keep spreading your message!
Unfortunately, the world of endurance running is full of eating. The world cannot change without people being open and honest. Besides long term health implications it even doesn’t help your performance. Proper fuelling makes you a stronger runner and you can sustain it. Thank you Olivia for your honesty and vulnerability.
Very emotionally generous of her to help others recognize athletically influenced eating disorders by sharing these very personal experiences.
Very mature of her to lay it all out and help others understand how this could happen and how to respond to people at risk of anorexia and compulsive competitive behavior.
Such a courageous, articulate, amazing young person.❤
What a thoughtful and articulate young woman. It's good to hear that she got the help she needed and has emerged as a much more healthy, balanced, and insightful person. She could have lost everything. Hopefully she has a great life ahead of her.
She's so cool and I'm so proud of her and her team! I wish I had a leader like her on my team in high school. She is a fantastic role model!
Wow Olivia. So proud of you. Amazing. You are so brave!
This is extremely powerful. I am confident that will help an exponential number of young athletes. Thank you for your vulnerability, Olivia, you are so brave.
So proud of you for sharing your story. Your openness on eating disorders will help so many people. You are an inspiration and a very brave person. Best of luck with all your future endeavors.
I went through similar issues and I found a way to get through it. The main aim is never give up on yourself
I had the same thing happen to me after cross country season I got sent into treatment and missed track season. I find your story so inspiring.
Olivia, so sorry to hear of your struggles but so proud of your recovery. You were one of my brightest and best fifth grade students and I can see you are continuing on that path. Thank you for sharing your story, I know it will be an inspiration for many.
Inspiring! my son runs cross country. I love the bond between the team and support they each give to each other. Best wishes and thanks for sharing your story. This will help countless others.
So brave. We love seeing you back out doing what you love!
Serious Question: Why aren't annual blood tests and physicals revealing the eating disorders among athletes especially professional athletes like Mary Cain. We all know a Iron Deficiency and Anemia is fairly common among distance runners and that it can take months to restore that deficiency so why isn't it being revealed in blood tests?
So proud so proud of Olivia for speaking honestly and from the heart. Go Dons and go Olivia!
What an awesome video. So glad I watched this. I'm a runner, who also struggles with weight issues.
You are so beautiful, smart, strong, and brave! Thank you for sharing your story, it will help others! ❤️ Sometimes we need to heal and rest in order to get stronger 🫶🏼 I believe in you!
Courage and leadership
I couldn't begin to imagine how hard that and this must have been. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for sharing. Your health and your safety matter so much more than any sporting achievement, even if it may not feel like it. Winning a race is one moment - your value is forever.
Congrats on everything Olivia and Eric, so inspiring!
So happy you are able to compete again and feel healthy and confident doing so! Eating disorders among young girl runners is all too common and I hope this video helps someone in the same situation. You are very brave!
Thank you so much for sharing your story! It is so helpful to me.
Thank you for making this 🩵🪼🌻
So proud she realized this early, wish it wasn’t so weight focused. There is a lot more to eating disorders than weight focused. It’s only a part
keep pressing forward.... never give up
I'm not fast or young but I've gone further than I ever had after I recovered from my ED and got my life back
Thank you for sharing ❤
You’re awesome, consider a smaller program like a D2. I would love to see you as a teamate of my daughter at cpp.
This is why I recommend rowing instead. You get muscular but also you are an endurance athlete. Beside, you can eat to bulk up which helps with power.
Hmmmmm. The title of this video looks familiar.
You look beautiful now. ❤
I love sports and I think they are so good for kids, but we've got to stop teaching kids to sacrifice their bodies for a sport.
Wow sad story but has an important message that we should run to be healthier not become unhealthy to run faster!.In doing the latter we might run faster being lighter but it can be short lived if runners get weaker or sick from being too light. It is so easy to see how girls or guys think being on the skinnier side will equate to running faster. The less weight or body mass the more efficient the oxygen moves into muscles and travels because no matter how much we weight or how light we become genetically the blood volume we have stays the same so the popular believe is lighter is more efficient But looking at it deeper for shorter races like High School Cross Country or a 5k distance being a few pounds heavier doesn't mean a person will be slower if it is in muscle weight and core strength. Running a fast Cross Country race also takes muscle strength and power not just endurance. The last mile to 800 meter sprint uses more muscle power to have that fast finish. Also many world elite Marathon and 10k runners are very skinny so unfortunately kids who follow running might base these examples by runners body types to what they think a runner should look like. On the other side of the coin by doing more core exercises like leg lifts,cruches and push ups the very little extra muscles tone and size added will help a runner to run faster. A strong core makes a huge difference. When she is starving not eating enough it's hard for one thing to have the stored carbohydrates as muscle fuel for a race unless she knew how to starve then eat more carbohydrates the day before to just have enough fuel to have a decent race then go back to not eating enough."If I was her coach I wouldn't take her dream away by pulling her out of Cross Country. Actually I would encourage her to run but would sit down and have a sincere conversation explaining that by eating more and doing more core exercises and being 10 to 15 lbs heavier it might mean having more muscle fuel and power to race that Cross Country distance faster.Of course I wouldn't expect her to believe it right away but it may take patience and time to show many examples of other girls who run fast being a little heavier The sad thing is pulling her put of Cross Country could shatter her dreams she feels so inspired by being in her heart and dreams.So soft caring approach showing examples might be the best way heart to heart dialogue with a sence of sincerity and compassion.
great .
but i think if the girls are competing, they should have someone looking(controlling, mesuring) in the diets and muscle mass, maybe blood exams periodically(i don't know the price in the US, in Brazil is like 25~~35 dollars), 2 pounds of muscle mass , is better than losing 4-5 pounds of weight.(for better performance.)
Doctors, parents, and coach: Now make this video demonstrating the "sefl-education".
Olivia: (Sit and tape the "confession"). I am going to be the smallest girl in no time and be the best again.
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Being an athlete takes a lot of physical and mental strength. it also builds muscle, which contributes to weight gain. gaining weight is not a bad thing, and weighing only 110 pounds while working out at least 5 times a week, is insanely unhealthy.
Dictating someone's weight just according to height is completely incoherent. People's muscle mass and bone structure and anatomical particularities mean that people of the same height will have pretty big variations in ideal weight. It's less about weight and more about muscle/fat percentages.
I am just wondering because I am a distance runner around her height and I weight 98 pounds but I am not unhealthy.@@vacafuega
I would really caution against posting a comment like this on a video that deals with eating disorders. An individual’s healthy weight will look different for every single person despite what we’ve been taught about weight and health.
Sorry I will delete it I was just curious.@@shelbeydeegan2666
Wait until the Kenyans gets a hold of her. They will have her for lunch.
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