My guest for today's episode is Parker Valby. This is her third time on the show. Over the past year, she rewrote the NCAA record books, becoming the first woman in history to win 5 individual NCAA titles in a single academic year. It earned her the prestigious Bowerman Award. Her undefeated season included a record-breaking performance at every championship level from cross country to indoor to outdoor.

She shattered the collegiate 10,000m record by 28 seconds, ran a historic 14:52 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, and capped it all off with a runner-up finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials to qualify for her first Olympic team. Then she took 11th at the Paris Olympics.

Now she's taking her talents to the professional stage with Team New Balance Boston under the guidance of Mark Coogan. She's navigating a new training environment with tougher competition and adjusting to that shift from being so dominant in the NCAA to now trying to contend on the global stage. In this conversation, we talk about her transition to the pro ranks, her unique training approach that still prioritizes cross training, and what she hopes to achieve in her first season as a pro.

We also get into her Olympic experience and recap her professional debut at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix where she ran 8:34 for a personal best and third place finish against a very strong women's 3000m field.

Host: Chris Chavez | ⁠@chris_j_chavez on Instagram

Guest: Parker Valby | @parkervalby on Instagram

Episode Highlights:

The following excerpt has been edited lightly for clarity. You can listen to the full episode with Parker Valby on the CITIUS MAG Podcast.

Team dynamic with Team New Balance Boston:

That's the beauty of our team: there's always someone to work out with and everyone has different strengths. Obviously there's a lot of 1500m strength on our team, so I hold on for dear life on the speed part of workouts. We run together for the distance parts. Whenever you see me, I’m probably doing more because I'm more endurance-based.

Why she decided to join Team New Balance Boston:

They say when you know, you know. It was a gut feeling. Someone actually just talked to me about this. They were like, ‘Can you tell me what made you choose this team?’... I was like, ‘Everything about it just felt right…’

The first time I talked to Mark [Coogan] was when we were in Belgium. I was not signed whatsoever at that point. I was still just focused on running the Olympics. He was at the track when we were at the track and that day my coach wasn't there… Mark was like, ‘Parker, don't overrun your workout!’ I was running a little bit too fast. That was probably the first interaction I've ever had with him. He supports my goals and is willing to help me get there, so that’s ultimately why I made the decision.

Reflections on her 11th place finish in the Olympic 10,000m:

I wouldn't say I was disappointed in myself. Obviously you don’t want to go to the Olympics and get 11th place. I have higher goals than that. But in hindsight, everything happens for a reason. That was a really good starting point and hopefully it's only up from here. That just fuels the fire for the next three and a half years until the next Olympics. I wasn't disappointed…

Once I made the Olympic team, it was kind of like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. I finally accomplished that goal. This is weird to say, but I feel like there was a lot less pressure on me for the Olympics than any NCAA race. At NCAA races, I was expected to win. But at the Olympics, they're like, ‘She's here!’

How cross training continues to fit into her training plan:

Mark has been very good with keeping what I've been doing the same – don't change what's not broken. So I still cross train five out of seven days of the week. I'm not a huge mileage calculator, but I think in Flagstaff I was close to 50 [miles] one week…

I don't monitor my heart rate while running – it's really just when I'm cross training because you don't want to be going too easy. You want to keep it above a certain heart rate… I'm sure my body could handle [running more mileage], but I genuinely enjoy arc-training. I think that it genuinely makes me fitter. I can get my heart rate higher with arc-training than I can running. I think that my body is so used to it at this point in my career, because I've been doing it for so long, that I think I'm going to keep it as a staple in my training forever.

What her goals were heading into her pro debut at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix where she raced the 3000m:

My goal was really just to go out there and compete. I basically was just thrown into the deep end to see if I could swim. I think it went really well! I placed in the top three and ran a seven-second PR. That was cool. I definitely could have done a few things better, but you live and you learn.

Goals looking ahead:

I just want to continue to improve every year leading up to the L.A. [Olympics]. Obviously my big goal is making the World Championships this year and performing my best. Just competing, having fun with it, and continuing to improve. That's really it.

Listen to the full episode here.

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