Pro Runner Jenny Simpson on How to Handle an Uncertain Race Season

Cross Country season, like everything else, is up in the air. Many high school and college runners will probably not have a season. New Balance pro runner Jenny Simpson is no stranger to the emotional roller coaster that comes with training hard, just to see your entire race season get cancelled. Among her many achievements, Simpson is a three-time Olympian who earned a bronze medal in the 1500 meters at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She was gearing up for her fourth shot at making the US team, just as the Olympics got postponed.

We chatted with Simpson over Zoom to find out how she’s handling the current times, and ask for her advice for cross country runners during the coronavirus pandemic.

Fleet Feet: Everything is different right now, with no races on the horizon and no track season. As a pro runner, what has it been like to live and train without any races?

Jenny Simpson: I would say there have been two phases to the interruption. The initial one was to enter a holding pattern, wait it out, and expect to race in August or September. And the new reality is that there’s not going to be a 2020 season and I probably won’t race for the rest of the year.

Of the two phases, the first was psychologically and emotionally easier. The second is different because the uncertainty remains even several months later. It could be a much longer timeline before we’re back on the track.

FF: Now that you can’t compete is there anything new you’ve learned about yourself as a runner?

JS: I’ve been doing this a really long time, so I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of who I am as an athlete. But I do think that this time has given me an incredible opportunity to pause in the middle of what's often an intense, stressful summer. We were supposed to be doing the trials and trying to make an Olympic team. Fingers crossed it was going to hopefully be my fourth Olympic team. It's given me a chance, instead of all the intensity and pressure, to take a step back and appreciate all that I’ve gotten to do.

I think what it’s brought out in me is this realization that making three games is so against the odds in the first place. I’m so fortunate and lucky to have those years in the bank.

FF: Do you ever worry about what the next step will be for you when racing is over?

JS: I’m not going to be racing forever. I’m in my 30’s, closer to the end of my career than the beginning. It’s crossed my mind but I think it’s the opposite for me. I’m curious about other things. I’m a hard worker. I’ve put running first for so long. There has been this thought, oh when the running part is over, there will be so many exciting things to dive into. And having this summer at home, I think, has really reaffirmed to me how much I want to get the most out of these last few years of racing. If I get one more year, that would be amazing. If I get five more years, that would be five times as amazing. Yeah, it’s given another level of conviction and resolve that this is what I’m great at and I love it. And that will serve as great motivation for next year.

FF: What are some things you really enjoy or have found time to do that you wouldn’t have had before?

JS: I’ve been so obsessed with doing yard work! The summer is such a great time to be outside, but I can’t risk having a workout go wrong or be too exhausted. I’m often coming home too exhausted from my runs to do yard work.

As soon as I realized the racing wouldn’t happen and the most intense part of my training took a step back, I started getting in the yard and doing yard work because I could. I’ve loved it. It’s a silly small little thing but I’m really enjoying domestic projects I’ve never had time to do before.

FF: So, you’re about to be 34, and you still run the 1500 meters. That’s a really short distance race and a super intense event. What has that evolution been like for you? What do you love about the race, and is there another event you would want to pursue?

JS: I found a niche in the 1500. It combines a lot of my strengths. I have a talent and fitness for it, and I like to think, a brain for it. The strategy and the thinking on your feet, having to read the people around you in the moment is something that makes the 1500 a really dynamic race. I love the uncertainty of it.

The gun goes off and you don’t know if people are going to start jogging and run 70’s until 800 to go, 600 or 300 to go. Or if the gun goes off and it’s going to be lights out and people will do like the final World Championships Run in the 3:50’s. Even when you’re sitting in the pack waiting to see if someone will make the move. Or decide if it’s you that day that feels good and wants to go.

Last year I was 33 and I ran 3:58 at the world championship final. I’m still running fast, within a second of my PR, my lifetime best. As long as I think I can still improve and it’s still interesting. There’s also the practical side that compared to the other events, with the 1500 that’s the event where I've been within reach of the medals. And that matters a lot to me, to go do well and bring back a medal for the US. For all of those reasons combined it remains the number one love of mine as far as events go.

If I did change events, there’s a lot of similarities between the 1500 and cross country. Even though they're not the same event. The fact that the course is always different, you run in a pack, and the pack itself has its own mood. You don’t know if people will go hard, go easy, wait for a kick. Cross country was what I loved the most when I was in high school and college. It’s a little sad for me that as a pro there’s not as much of a career in cross country running. But if I could wave a magic wand and do a different event other than the 1500, it would definitely be cross country.

FF: Yeah, you turned down a pro contract to do your final cross country season in college! So, that says a lot. What do you love about cross country?

JS: Yeah, I loved it, I loved the team aspect. It’s so fun. I love that you never totally knew what you’re getting into until you’re in the race. Even if you get to preview the course, you don’t know what it feels like to run race pace over the course until you’ve done it.

I also really love there’s some amount of groupthink within this pack that’s together at the front. Unless you totally break away, and race out front on your own, some of your decisions are based on reading the people around you, and that’s very much what middle distance or the 1500 can be like. I also love being outside and on the terrain, in nature, you know, it’s not the same as being in a stadium.

I came back because I just love the team aspect of it. In track and field so much is individual. When you can score cross country points in college, that feels really special. And then (as a pro) you move on to individual events. The next closest thing you get is being on Team USA, which is amazing. Hopefully you get to put your best out there and bring back a medal for the United States. But the truth is, it’s just not the same as adding up points. Running down the finish stretch and knowing that every person you catch is one less point for your team. I really miss that and loved that as a Buffalo.

FF: Do you have any advice for high school and college runners who may not have a season?

JS: It won’t be the same. I think the longer you go in your career the more you realize it’s all about the people that were around you. Even with the individual nature of track and field, I think back on the years, that oh, this was the stretch of years I was training with Emma. Or this was the year Shalaya was still in town. Or, Dani Jones was still a college student and we were doing this workout together. My years are really in the context of those friendships and those teammates more even than, like, what year was the Moscow World Championships.

So, that being the case for me, I encourage everyone whether there’s racing, or there’s not, or if it looks different this year and it’s a pseudo season. How you treat the people around you and the commitment you have to them, the runs you go on with them, that can still be the context and the motivation for your year. It’s really tough. I know it’s not easy. Even for me, knowing that there's another Olympics to fight for next year, it’s hard to get out the door when you know that it’s really far away.

But it’s so much easier to get out the door when you know you’re meeting somebody. And you know that that friend is going to talk you through a couple of miles or tell you a story along the way. Remember to do this for each other and to join each other as safely as you can. Continue to share the season together, whether it’s virtually, out on the trails or the road together. Make this season about your teammates if it can’t be about racing.

FF: You just adopted a dog, right? Tell us about him!

JS: Yes, his name is Truman! He sleeps next to me while I’m working. He’s the best. I got him thinking he would be the perfect buddy for doubles. But after a mile he really poops out and isn’t interested. I think part of that is he’s a puppy so hopefully he’ll develop more stamina and enthusiasm.

It’s been so great to have him over COVID. You know, our jobs are uncertain, the economy is uncertain, there are cultural shifts and the mood of the country is fraught. It’s a lot to deal with inside of your own four walls. Not being able to get out and be with people. I love going out in the yard with him and his only concerns are where his toy is, if he can go to the bathroom. He’s always so happy. It’s nice to have a good distraction.

This interview was edited for brevity and clarity.