Jessie Diggins

When it comes to managing anxiety with high expectations, I like to make a master goal list at the start of every season and share it with people who are supporting me. I also focus on celebrating all the small wins along the way towards my goals.
 
Transcript: "Hi Elena. This is a really great question and it's a tough one. It can be really hard to manage anxiety with these high expectations internally and externally. So here's some of the things that I do and I hope they're helpful. One of the biggest things is at the start of every race season. I sit down in the spring with my coach and I make a master goal list. I have my goals for the whole season. Here's what I want to work on and they're pretty much all processed go. Balls. Yeah, there's some outcome goals like I want to, you know, compete at World chance. You know, I want to try to be consistently scoring points in the world cup but mostly it's well, how am I going to do that? You know, how do I need to train, what technique things do? I need to work on and then how am I going to do that? So let's say, I need to get better at herringbone in classic, that means I need to create on snow opportunities. So when I am on snow, I really focus on that and maybe every time I classic ski, I spend 10 minutes. It's just doing some herringbone drills and I specifically asked coaches for feedback and I get video and I review the video. So then I have this plan, you know, I have this goal, I have this plan and it's very defined. And so one of the best things is I make this big goal list and then I've shared it with myself and also, with the people on my team who are around me, who want to support me, they know what I'm working towards, and that also really helps, because then the expectations, you know, I've had a chance to set up Here are my expectations. Here's what I'm working on. I love for your help for you, to support me in these things. But here's what's important to me. So that hopefully they know. Okay, if these are the things she's working towards, I'm not going to say well here's what I think you should be working towards. I'm going to support you in what you've clearly set out, you know, as your goals for you, and then the other side of that is, if their process goals, celebrate the wins along the way, make sure that we don't lose the celebration of small, Winds, I think that's really important. So, every time you take a step towards your goals, really like write it down Journal about it, share it with your coach, share it with a friend celebrate, all those winds along the way to make sure that it's not only the big Milestones, that we celebrate and look forward to. And that helps me a lot to manage those expectations because I feel like I'm in charge of them."

Roller skis don't have brakes, so the best way to stop is by stepping or snow plowing. However, it's important to know the terrain and hills you are skating on, so that you can safely come to a stop.
 
Transcript: "Yeah. So roller skis don't have brakes which is the one huge drawback to them. So the big thing is you can kind of Step so you can stop with one leg as your skis go in and the stuff with the other legs. You're kind of doing this weird little chicken waffle side to side that kind of slow you down. You can also try to snow plow which is where you put your skis in words like the letter a and you really push hard against the outside of the ski that will slow you down. But if Going down a really fast. He'll you won't be able to stop at that rate of speed. So it is best to know where your roller skating and make sure that you're familiar with the hills and the terrain. And that you can roll to a stop that you're not going down a really Steep Hill into a stop sign. For example."

Two to three days before a race, skiers will travel to the venue and do intervals and strength training on Tuesday. On Wednesday there will be an easy distance workout and then on Thursday they will do race prep like testing out skis, practicing on the course at different levels of intensity, and doing pickups. The morning of the race, skiers will jog for 5-10 minutes to wake up the body.
 
Transcript: "Okay, so two to three days before the race. So let's say we often race Saturday Sunday, right? So we travel to the venue usually on Monday, because we're coming from the last World Cup stop. And then, we might do intervals and strength on Tuesday, easy distance, on Wednesday. Thursday is usually a pretty easy day. So it's just some distance training, maybe a couple speeds, a couple pickups. And then the day before the day, the race we do. Ooh, race prep and so will see on the course, definitely testing a lot of skis kind of figuring out, maybe there's some keys to the course. Maybe there's a tricky Corner, maybe a downhill, I really want to hit really hard. And so I want to practice that a couple times and maybe at speed and then we'll often do these race prep intervals together. So we'll gather in the stadium after we test our skis and we might do like if it's a Sprint. The next day we'll do a lap of the spring course in level 3 So Below. Race Pace but you know harder than we would normally go and then we'll recover for you know three to four minutes of full recovery and then we'll do a lap of the Sprint course hard. So you know it maybe was three or four minutes blow race pace and then we'll do a lap at race pace. So pretty hard firing up the body at the same time. Hey, how does this feel when I'm going hard on this course? Would I want to change the way I did? Some things for the race tomorrow, it's a really good dress rehearsal. And then after that, another full recovery, and we might Do some pickups. So a bunch of 10 to 15 seconds speeds. So maybe we do to out of the start gate, to into the Finish, practice a lunge, maybe there's a tricky corner. So we want to go into the corner, around the corner and out of the corner. So yeah. And then jog that evening and a jog, the morning of the race literally like five to 10 minutes just to wake up the body."

Skate skiing is my favorite because there are fewer variables, so it is more dependant on me and I can get up a hill easier.
 
Transcript: "This is a hot question. I have worked on developing my relationship with classic skiing for a while but I will say skate still my favorite. Here's why though because there are fewer variables so it's a little bit more of you in this keys in the wax classic. You have you the skis, the Glide wax and the kick wax. So I like the idea that skate if I'm going to work super hard, I'm going to get up that hill and I know I will and I'm not worried about Awesome matching the kick wax, but I will say on a beautiful day when you got some really pristine tracks out there, classic skiing is really fun for a long ski but to race skating."

Yes, I have been too hard on myself in the past. In order to be kinder to myself, I have tried to learn to celebrate the small victories along the way instead of waiting until major milestones are achieved.
 
Transcript: "Have I ever been too hard on myself? Oh boy. Have I ever one of the biggest things I struggled with actually, especially during my eating disorder time or the time, when it was the hardest for me, was the fact that I was, I was trying to be perfect. I felt like, I had to be the perfect athlete. I'd eat, you know, perfect Athlete Nutrition. I had to do everything perfectly, every training session had to be the best ever, and that's just not realistic. That's just not Human. And I think I really, really struggled with that. I was putting these unrealistic expectations on myself and then of course, not living up to them because I'm not perfect, I'm a human. And so I think that was, that was a really hard time for me. And I think I realized I need to accept myself for who I am and let go of the things that, you know, I let go of these unrealistic standards and, you know, still have goals. Still work towards all these things, but celebrate the little victories along the way. And I think sometimes, when we lose our way, it's, you know, you're only allowed to celebrate these major Milestones. Then, I don't missing all these awesome. Awesome small victories along the way. So I think one of the things I've learned and tried to absorb is celebrate. All the steps along the way, don't just wait till the end to celebrate, like, celebrate all the little things and that helps me to not be so hard on myself, but But, do you answer your question? Yes, I have definitely been too hard on myself many times and I try to learn from it."

If you're concerned about a friend who may have an eating disorder, it's important to approach them from a place of love and support. Let them know that you are there for them and can help refer them to a professional if they need it. It's important to seek treatment as soon as possible, as the sooner they start recovery, the shorter their journey will be.
 
Transcript: "Hey, so this is a great question and it's one of the hardest ones to answer because there isn't exactly one right answer or One path. However, and I should say, I'm not an expert at you disorders. Thought I had one and one of the things that really helped me was knowing that the people in my life who love me and care about me, are there to support me no matter what. And so I think, you know, if this is a friend or a teammate or just somebody, you know, where you think they're really struggling. It's okay to, you know, make sure you approach the conversation from a place of love and say, hey look, I really care about you. You know you mean a lot to me and it matters to me if you're happy and you know it seems like maybe there's something going on. I just want to be here if you want to talk about it. And I think, you know, it's also okay to tell someone in their life. Hey, I'm really concerned about this person. I've noticed, you know, maybe their moods change their behaviors of change. Their sum Flags that make me concerned for their overall health and well-being, because this is really important. Eating Disorders are life-threatening, mental, illnesses, and maybe to head, like, to refer them to an eating disorder therapist. You can go on the national Eating Disorders association website, there's tools where you can search by provider or by location. And so I think it's okay to, you know, go to your friend or if they're a very young person. You could go to their parents and say, hey, look, I'm really concerned about my friend. And here's why, you know I like to suggest that they start meeting with a professional because we do know that the sooner you meet with a professional the sooner, you can start recovery and have a full road to recovery. So, the analogy that makes sense to me is if you're standing at the top of a big, big hill and you start going downhill. The sooner you can turn around and start walking back uphill the shorter, the hike, right. If you get all the way down to the bottom of the hill, you can definitely turn it around and make it back up to the top. Top but it's going to be a little more work, right? It might take a little longer, so I think talking to your friend and coming from that place of love and caring and saying, hey look, I care about you. I want to be here for you. I can't help solve this problem but I'm going to be here and have your back and be part of your team as you get into recovery and just let them know that you care."