My competitive days had a short window, but I could push my mind and strengthen my positivity for a lifetime.

It took tremendous effort to control those thoughts. My brain easily slipped back into negativity, and I found I had to stay on top of my thinking in the same way I had to remain conscious and diligent about my pace in a workout.

In less than a year, I’d traveled from quitting running to twentieth at nationals, then to sixth, and now, second among the Americans at worlds. It seemed as though when my mind talked, my body listened, opening me to progress. My plan was to keep making more.

The body experiences joy at the cellular level.

ran the 10,000 at Mt. SAC and won in a personal best of 32:17 on the track. In May, I ran the Bolder Boulder 10K in Colorado, finishing fourth, first American, while also blowing away the US altitude record for the distance.

put “Jóga” by Björk on the

We have to repeatedly return to the thoughts that support our desires.

The rigid tree snaps in the wind, he wrote in an email. The flexible tree sways and develops stronger roots. I chose

legendary track and field coach Bill Bowerman: “Everything you need is already inside.” What I needed, I had. What I was seeking, I was.