Enjoy the Struggle a la The Alysa Liu Mindset
Winter Olympics 2026 just ended and I've been going down an Alysa Liu rabbit hole. She's full of joy and so fun to watch. Oh and she just won two Olympic golds. She embodies the ultimate comeback story. Alysa retired at age 16 from figure skating, then came back few years later to snatch the highest honors, and she did it on her terms. For Alysa, it's not about the medal, it's about enjoying the ice and sharing her art. It shows, her skating feels like playing. Of course, she still puts in the work, but it's her mindset about the work that makes her look so...free. In her 60 minute interview (done before the Olympic wins) she said "I love struggling... it makes me feel alive."
We like to say starting is the hardest part, but I think restarting is even harder. Although Alysa made it look easy. I've been struggling to get back into marathon training. I used to enjoy the consistency of a training plan, of seeing my progress build week by week, all accumulating to the final race. I used to sign up for a race so I can work towards a final goal. Now, I can't seem to get up early, even though I'm a morning person. I can't seem to push through my miles, even though I used to be a fan of slow steady miles.
Ever since my last race in Oct 2025, where I got injured, it seems to be taking forever to recover. And even when I feel mostly recovered, I retract at the slightest sign of soreness. As the May race date creeps up, I get less motivated. My legs don't feel like mine, they feel heavy, and each run feels, not fun, not freeing. I can't remember the last time I got a runner's high. I'm not sure if it's the fear of injury or if it's the fear of not being able to PR (I've PR'd every marathon so far).
In the 60 minute interview, you see clips of Alysa falling and falling, yet she says "one more" each time. The interviewer asks her, "you don't need somebody pushing you, you're pretty scrappy." That's when she responded "I love struggling... it makes me feel alive."
I need to take a page from Alysa's book, instead of doing it for the race time, do it for the pure enjoyment, for the art, for the celebration of being alive. When I feel like stopping, I'll tell myself "one more step, enjoy the struggle."