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SADIE THINKS THIS WOMAN IS THE GREATEST ATHLETE IN THE WORLD. HERE’S WHY.
A year and a half ago, Amelia Boone was at the top of her game: a four-time world-champion obstacle racer and competitive ultrarunner, regularly winning races most people wouldn’t even dream of entering: Spartan Race World Championship, World’s Toughest Mudder, Peak Death Race—all while working full-time as a corporate attorney. Then one day in the spring of 2016, as she was training for the prestigious Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, she felt a surge of screaming pain in her quad during a training run, and an MRI revealed that she had a femoral stress fracture. Life as she knew it came to a screeching halt.
Most world-class athletes disappear from public view after a serious injury, resurfacing only when they’re ready to compete again. Not Boone. Instead of hiding while she healed, she chronicled her journey to recovery on her blog—every painful, humbling aspect of it. Barre3 founder and CEO Sadie Lincoln recently talked with Amelia about what her injury taught her about identity, how meditation helped her heal, and reframing what winning means.
SADIE: I have to start by saying that I feel like you’re the greatest athlete ever because you’re sharing your wisdom so authentically with the public. There’s no greater risk than putting yourself out that way.
AMELIA: Before I got injured, it was this idea of “she’s a superwoman who crushes everything.” So many athletes don’t want to talk about injury because they worry that people will think they’re weak, and then they’ll become irrelevant. But I found that it’s the reverse. When I’m really honest about my struggle, people relate to it.
SADIE: We all break down, we’re all human beings. What you’re going through is a microcosm for what every woman goes through. We get attached to an ideal of what fitness looks like, but it’s all external. By talking openly about being sidelined by an injury, you’re reframing what winning looks like.
AMELIA: For high achievers, you start to think that other people are putting pressure on you. But really, people are actually wrapped up in their own stuff. You realize it’s actually just you putting pressure on yourself.
SADIE: Has this injury changed the way you look at racing?
AMELIA: Right before I got hurt, I was racing for the thrill of winning, but this has made me reexamine my relationship to it all. The thing is, you start something and you’re the underdog. Then you’re good at it, and it’s a thrill to win. After a while it becomes an expectation, and all of a sudden you feel such an obligation to win every time. You develop this fear that it will go away: If I don’t keep winning, what will people say? You worry you’ll fall from the top.
SADIE: You felt the pressure of external forces reinforcing that you’re the champion.
AMELIA: Right, and I got so fixated on the outcome. I forgot that the reason i got involved in racing in the first place was because i love the process. I love running for the sake of running, I love training. So this injury has been a reminder to focus on process goals and not just the outcome.
SADIE: What are specific things you did to help on your road to healing?
AMELIA: Movement has always been a stress reliever for me, but suddenly I was injured and not able to move in the way I wanted to, so it’s was about figuring out ways to relieve stress without the movement. Before this, I always felt like, “I don’t meditate—running is my meditation.” But after my injury I forced myself to start meditating every day. Even if I just sat there and twiddled my thumbs and thought “this is ridiculous,” I did it. And the more I did it, the more I started to crave it.
SADIE: I imagine for someone who’s so go-go-go, sitting still was really challenging. Can you talk a little more about that? Has meditation helped you in life? Has it had any connection to performance?
AMELIA: It’s forced me to sit and be with feelings. In the past I’ve tried to ignore things or push them down. But my injury has taught me that it’s ok to sit and be with things, to work through them. Now when I start to get nerves, instead of pushing them away, I think, “what am I feeling? Why am I feeling this way?”
SADIE: You write about how you kept going to races even when you weren’t running them. Was that difficult?
AMELIA: Keeping involved with the racing community and being surrounded by people helped me. A lot of people withdraw after an injury. Athletes don’t go to races they can’t run. But i forced myself to go to cheer people on. That was helpful for me.
SADIE: Did you see the races in a different way?
AMELIA: Being a spectator actually helped me redefine what winning is. Before my injury, winning was crossing the finish line first. Now I see that there are so many different ways to win. Sure the person who crosses the finish line at the Boston Marathon is the “winner,” but there are so many other runners who are winning in different ways. I went out to one race on crutches and did the race that way. I didn’t cross the finish line first, but I still “won.”
SADIE: Wow, what was that like?
AMELIA: It was really really humbling. I did it with a friend who’s permanently on crutches. It was so hard, but it’s amazing where the human spirit will take you. I haven’t seen a race in the same way since then.
SADIE: Meditation, staying plugged into your community. What else helped you heal?
AMELIA: Physical therapy. I focused on what kind of movement I could do safely. When people get injured, they often dive into super aggressive cross-training. You can set yourself up for more injuries if you don’t address the root. I asked questions like, “How did this happen to me?” “What were the issues?” “How can I make sure it doesn’t happen again?” I got really into core strength and little movements that helped me rebuild. Rehab was fascinating, it was like a puzzle piece. I started noticing things, little clues, like why was my right shoe always more worn than the left?
SADIE: It sounds like rehab was an entry point for you to develop body wisdom. I like to talk about mindful movement rather than just moving to move. Do you feel like you have more mindfulness about your body and the way you move now?
AMELIA: I constantly talk to my body—literally like it’s another person. If I start to have pain in a certain place, I think: OK, why is this happening? Where is it coming from? I’m constantly making sure parts of my body are firing. I always thought that self-talk stuff was mumbo jumbo. But now I realize it’s about being kind to yourself. We’re at this point where people abuse their bodies for results—it’s that culture of #norestdays. It’s not sustainable.
SADIE: At barre3 we replace “no pain no gain” with “work smarter not harder.” It’s all about body wisdom and mindfulness. I think that’s why I’m so drawn to your blog. You’re showing that being mindful is powerful and transformative.
AMELIA: A lot of it is remembering that it’s about the process and not the outcome. We’re all doing really well at certain points and then something hits. That’s really all life is. When you start to focus on the process instead of the end result, it can be a more positive experience.
SADIE: It sounds like your injury was actually an opportunity to gain new perspective.
AMELIA: Absolutely. Not just for racing but also in terms of identity. It was an opportunity to realize that you’re more than just one facet. You can consistently recreate. When you fixate on an identity, you can over-identify with that. When it’s taken away, it’s like now what? Now I realize I don’t have to be JUST the athlete—in fact, people relate more to Amelia the person than to Amelia the athlete.
A year and a half ago, Amelia Boone was at the top of her game: a four-time world-champion obstacle racer and competitive ultrarunner, regularly winning races most people wouldn’t even dream of entering: Spartan Race World Championship, World’s Toughest Mudder, Peak Death Race—all while working full-time as a corporate attorney. Then one day in the spring of 2016, as she was training for the prestigious Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run, she felt a surge of screaming pain in her quad during a training run, and an MRI revealed that she had a femoral stress fracture. Life as she knew it came to a screeching halt.
Most world-class athletes disappear from public view after a serious injury, resurfacing only when they’re ready to compete again. Not Boone. Instead of hiding while she healed, she chronicled her journey to recovery on her blog—every painful, humbling aspect of it. Barre3 founder and CEO Sadie Lincoln recently talked with Amelia about what her injury taught her about identity, how meditation helped her heal, and reframing what winning means.
SADIE: I have to start by saying that I feel like you’re the greatest athlete ever because you’re sharing your wisdom so authentically with the public. There’s no greater risk than putting yourself out that way.
AMELIA: Before I got injured, it was this idea of “she’s a superwoman who crushes everything.” So many athletes don’t want to talk about injury because they worry that people will think they’re weak, and then they’ll become irrelevant. But I found that it’s the reverse. When I’m really honest about my struggle, people relate to it.
SADIE: We all break down, we’re all human beings. What you’re going through is a microcosm for what every woman goes through. We get attached to an ideal of what fitness looks like, but it’s all external. By talking openly about being sidelined by an injury, you’re reframing what winning looks like.
AMELIA: For high achievers, you start to think that other people are putting pressure on you. But really, people are actually wrapped up in their own stuff. You realize it’s actually just you putting pressure on yourself.
SADIE: Has this injury changed the way you look at racing?
AMELIA: Right before I got hurt, I was racing for the thrill of winning, but this has made me reexamine my relationship to it all. The thing is, you start something and you’re the underdog. Then you’re good at it, and it’s a thrill to win. After a while it becomes an expectation, and all of a sudden you feel such an obligation to win every time. You develop this fear that it will go away: If I don’t keep winning, what will people say? You worry you’ll fall from the top.
SADIE: You felt the pressure of external forces reinforcing that you’re the champion.
AMELIA: Right, and I got so fixated on the outcome. I forgot that the reason i got involved in racing in the first place was because i love the process. I love running for the sake of running, I love training. So this injury has been a reminder to focus on process goals and not just the outcome.
SADIE: What are specific things you did to help on your road to healing?
AMELIA: Movement has always been a stress reliever for me, but suddenly I was injured and not able to move in the way I wanted to, so it’s was about figuring out ways to relieve stress without the movement. Before this, I always felt like, “I don’t meditate—running is my meditation.” But after my injury I forced myself to start meditating every day. Even if I just sat there and twiddled my thumbs and thought “this is ridiculous,” I did it. And the more I did it, the more I started to crave it.
SADIE: I imagine for someone who’s so go-go-go, sitting still was really challenging. Can you talk a little more about that? Has meditation helped you in life? Has it had any connection to performance?
AMELIA: It’s forced me to sit and be with feelings. In the past I’ve tried to ignore things or push them down. But my injury has taught me that it’s ok to sit and be with things, to work through them. Now when I start to get nerves, instead of pushing them away, I think, “what am I feeling? Why am I feeling this way?”
SADIE: You write about how you kept going to races even when you weren’t running them. Was that difficult?
AMELIA: Keeping involved with the racing community and being surrounded by people helped me. A lot of people withdraw after an injury. Athletes don’t go to races they can’t run. But i forced myself to go to cheer people on. That was helpful for me.
SADIE: Did you see the races in a different way?
AMELIA: Being a spectator actually helped me redefine what winning is. Before my injury, winning was crossing the finish line first. Now I see that there are so many different ways to win. Sure the person who crosses the finish line at the Boston Marathon is the “winner,” but there are so many other runners who are winning in different ways. I went out to one race on crutches and did the race that way. I didn’t cross the finish line first, but I still “won.”
SADIE: Wow, what was that like?
AMELIA: It was really really humbling. I did it with a friend who’s permanently on crutches. It was so hard, but it’s amazing where the human spirit will take you. I haven’t seen a race in the same way since then.
SADIE: Meditation, staying plugged into your community. What else helped you heal?
AMELIA: Physical therapy. I focused on what kind of movement I could do safely. When people get injured, they often dive into super aggressive cross-training. You can set yourself up for more injuries if you don’t address the root. I asked questions like, “How did this happen to me?” “What were the issues?” “How can I make sure it doesn’t happen again?” I got really into core strength and little movements that helped me rebuild. Rehab was fascinating, it was like a puzzle piece. I started noticing things, little clues, like why was my right shoe always more worn than the left?
SADIE: It sounds like rehab was an entry point for you to develop body wisdom. I like to talk about mindful movement rather than just moving to move. Do you feel like you have more mindfulness about your body and the way you move now?
AMELIA: I constantly talk to my body—literally like it’s another person. If I start to have pain in a certain place, I think: OK, why is this happening? Where is it coming from? I’m constantly making sure parts of my body are firing. I always thought that self-talk stuff was mumbo jumbo. But now I realize it’s about being kind to yourself. We’re at this point where people abuse their bodies for results—it’s that culture of #norestdays. It’s not sustainable.
SADIE: At barre3 we replace “no pain no gain” with “work smarter not harder.” It’s all about body wisdom and mindfulness. I think that’s why I’m so drawn to your blog. You’re showing that being mindful is powerful and transformative.
AMELIA: A lot of it is remembering that it’s about the process and not the outcome. We’re all doing really well at certain points and then something hits. That’s really all life is. When you start to focus on the process instead of the end result, it can be a more positive experience.
SADIE: It sounds like your injury was actually an opportunity to gain new perspective.
AMELIA: Absolutely. Not just for racing but also in terms of identity. It was an opportunity to realize that you’re more than just one facet. You can consistently recreate. When you fixate on an identity, you can over-identify with that. When it’s taken away, it’s like now what? Now I realize I don’t have to be JUST the athlete—in fact, people relate more to Amelia the person than to Amelia the athlete.
