Keeping Track

Alysia and Molly talk to Team USA Discus thrower Valarie Allman about setting and AR during a pandemic, life as a thrower, what her other interests are and how to better spotlight and market field events.Special thanks to Gatorade Endurance for sponsoring September's theme of "Inspiring Sports women of the Pandemic"Get 20% off DE products with the code "Track20" here!https://endurance.gatorade.com/endurance-products/endurance/?utm_source=KeeingTrack&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=TrainingForLifeAnd Thank you to Saucony for our season 2 support! #runforgoodWorkout Wed with Val: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxuuG9z4cJU The AR throw: https://twitter.com/CoachSion/status/1289721823026753536 Doha World Championships https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0YHQ1MC4gk Catchup: Molly and Alysia talk as Ro takes maternity leave, welcome baby Ruari! Alysia’s August-did it happen if it’s not on IG? She’s doing analyst work for NBC Diamond League-yay for races coming back! Molly’s micro meet and upcoming 5000m Intro to Val! -Val’s start in Discus She began in other  sports-soccer, full time dance , track and field other events Lured to throws by spaghetti Wanted to compete on a college team and that’s why she narrowed focused on discus -Stanford years-everyone is good on that team, new pressures 6-How dance helps disc -mental side of being an athlete during this pandemic time: from wanting to give up and go home to having the biggest throw of her life Did she see it coming? 70 meters is a big barrier Pandemic meet: Happy to even be competing, had been focusing on getting stronger in weight room -Volunteering at University of Texas, whats her day look like , training during covid shutdowns Coach is Zeb Sion - nugget of insight during pandemic: “It forced me to figure out what I truly need-pretty much all medical things closed in terms of getting physio and getting adjusted, and it forced me to shrink my priorities. That was actually great because I didn’t realize all the things I was trying to factor into my training that had become a distraction a little bit, that I think maybe that was one of the silver linings that came out of it.”  - business and finances of track and field, how throwers support themselves, her sponsors (Oiselle and NYAC), and the importance of prize money, USATF funding and grants especially for field events  - why the field events aren’t marketed as well and how it could be better connected to the audience Discus is athletic-training includes partial movement,full throws,olympic lifts, cross training sprints/biking/swimming  Fun facts may help (ex. javelin weighs as much as guinea pig) 28:30-what the competition is like-do you chat, interact? Stay in the zone?  - Val’s story:  “Sports is such an empowering thing-I feel so lucky that I found a community and a sport and a sense of purpose with my body, especially as a female, and in an event that I didn’t know was possible."