Jessie Diggins

Racing in the Olympics after food poisoning was difficult, but I was able to stay focused on the task at hand and push through it with a positive attitude.
 
Transcript: "What was it like racing in the Olympics after having food poisoning the day before? That was honestly terrible. My body was in a really awful place. I felt super super drained. I wasn't really sure I would make it to the start line the morning before because I felt like going for a 20 minute jog. I felt like the wind was going to knock me down but I was able to rehydrate and refuel and make sure I got as much simple carbohydrates into my body. As I could and then I kind of took it really chill in the warm-up. I had, I tried to expend the least amount of energy possible in order to be ready for the race to give myself my best chance. And I honestly went into it with the mindset of, you know, I have nothing to lose here. I'm racing for me because I love it. Not because I have to and not because there's all this pressure on me, but I'm just here to see what I can do. And so, I just kept thinking one step at a time. You know. I'm just going to make it up this hill. This actually, How do I ski as efficiently as possible and conserve and then this section? And so, even when I found myself racing alone, because I went after johaug when she broke away from the pack, which may or may not have been a good decision by me, because I ended up alone and freezing temperatures, and high winds, and a body with very low energy. But I think it was the power of the Mind. Honestly, that kept me going because I was just really motivated to make to that finish line. And I just stayed in the here and now and even when my body started cramping, I wasn't worried. Oh what does that mean for me? 10K from now. It's well right now. I can still get up this hill right now. I can still move one foot in front of the other. So I'll keep doing that until I can't."

In the winter I like to do cross-country skiing, in the spring I enjoy dance classes, and in the summer we do a lot of trail running, gravel biking and swimming. We also roller ski to train for cross-country skiing.
 
Transcript: "This is the super fun part. We get to do so many things. Cross-country skiing because it's so aerobic, anything that gets your heart rate going really works as great cross training. So in the spring, I do a lot of dance classes, which I very much enjoy. In the summer we do a ton of trail running. We also do a lot of gravel biking, sometimes swimming when it's really hot. And of course, a lot of roller skiing to train for cross-country skiing in the summer."

My favorite place to ski is in the Dolomite mountains of Rome, Italy. It has gorgeous groomed trails, rustic huts, and sunny skies. Plus the people are so nice and the food is amazing!
 
Transcript: "My favorite place in the whole world to ski. And this is a hard one because I've gotten to ski in a lot of amazing places. But I would have to say [INAUDIBLE] Rome, Italy remains my favorite. It's up in the Dolomite mountains. It's absolutely gorgeous, you step out the door, and you're on the ski trail. And there are so many kilometers of gorgeous groomed trails. There's all these rustic little huts up in the mountains. So you could pack a little backpack with snacks and ski from one hut to another. I think that's pretty cool. I love that kind of culture. And the fact that in Italy it's often sunny there. And the people are so nice, and the food's amazing. It's honestly quite hard to beat."

On race day, I'm still stressed but I've learned to channel my energy in the right direction by setting goals the night before such as technique, mental and pacing. Writing them down and discussing them with my coach helps me focus on my purpose and have a plan for managing my energy.
 
Transcript: "Hi Leah. So the honest answer is I am still stressed on race day and I think it's important to acknowledge that. I think we get better at managing it and we better get better at racing through it, but it's not realistic for me to think I will never be stressed ever. I won't be nervous. So I've learned to really embrace it and know that when I am nervous, that's a sign that my body is ready. But that said, some of the things I do to channel that nervous energy and make sure it's going in the direction. I I wanted to our I set goals the night before. So let's say it's a 10 K skate race the night before I sit down and I literally write them down, write them down, either on the notes, app on my phone or write them in a journal, just the process of getting them out, really helps me and then I share them with a coach. And so one goal is technique, how am I going to be efficient? You know? This course, maybe maybe we're in Davos and it's a ton of vetoing. So what am I going to? About do I need to think about getting my hands high or getting my hips forward or a powerful push and long Glide. You don't come up with the technique Mantra, then I have my mental goal and that is when the going gets hard and we know it will. What am I going to say to myself? You know maybe all it is, is reminding myself. How do I want to feel at the Finish Line? I want to know, I gave it everything I had and so when it's tough in this moment, I just want to remember like when this is done in like 10 more minutes if I can Push through this, I'm going to feel so proud of myself for sticking it out. So, I've got a mental goal and kind of a cue word ready to say to myself when it gets tough in a race, and then I also have a pacing goal because you can't just go blasting out of the gates and it 10K and hope to survive. You have to have a plan. So I kind of break down the course, maybe there's three significant climbs, I kind of want to break it down and plot out, you know, how am I going to manage my energy and having these very concrete goals? Is that really really helps me on race day because I'm not just stressed or nervous. I'm there with a purpose and I know exactly what I'm going to do and what I'm going to say to myself."

I use data from my aura ring to track my sleep and recovery, as well as subjectively fill out a questionnaire in my training log to see how I'm feeling. I combine this information with my training plan to make sure I'm getting the most out of my training and not just blindly following it.
 
Transcript: "I do track my training and Recovery with data, I actually have an aura ring and to switch hands. I'll show you. It's on this and and so I sleep with it and I follow my heart rate, my HRV. How much deep sleep and REM sleep in my getting and how much sleep over all? I also try to make sure that I don't rely solely on the data. So, I fill out a questionnaire in my training log, where I subjectively rate, how do I felt like I slept, what is my stress level in everyday life? Am I packing up and moving? Do I have a lot of other things going on? That is going to make it harder for my body to recover. So then I combine the data with how I feel and do my best to react accordingly in my training plan. So if I'm feeling a little off and the data is also saying yeah, you know you're a little off then maybe I push back intervals a day or two because it's important to make sure that when I'm training I'm getting the most out of it and not Not just blindly following the plan without checking in to see how my body actually feels."

It took around 10-12 minutes after winning the silver medal to talk to my family, husband, and teammates. I had food poisoning 30 hours before the start and collapsed at the finish line. My teammates and other medalists took care of me and then Tom face timed Wade and the watch party in Park City Utah so that I could see them and let them know I was okay.
 
Transcript: "So how long did it take? After I won the silver medal to get to talk to you, my family and husband not that long probably 10 to 12 minutes because because I had had food poisoning 30 hours before the start, I collapsed at the Finish Line. I was not in a good place. I basically got carried out to a warming Hut where the other medalists were and I had my teammate. Julia Kern, our team media Guy, Tom Horrocks, and one of our PTS Susana Rogers were all there. Taking care of me. Like stripping my boots off, putting warm socks on my feet. You know, like here here's of this morn, warm sport drink so they really took care of me. And then Tom face times, I think he facetimed Wade, and they were all together at the watch party out, in Park City Utah. And so, I got to see all of them and say I'm okay. Like I really tired but I promise I'm okay. Like my body's gonna bounce back from this so that was very, very special."