I enjoyed every bit of my swimming career. I think that's the most important advice - to enjoy what you do
To be a champion, I think you have to see the big picture. It's not about winning and losing; it's about every day hard work and about thriving on a challenge. It's about embracing the pain that you'll experience at the end of a race and not being afraid. I think people think too hard and get afraid of a certain challenge.
The things you learn from sports - setting goals, being part of a team, confidence - that's invaluable. It's not about trophies and ribbons. It's about being on time for practice, accepting challenges and being fearful of the elements.
At the end of a marathon, it's going to hurt whether you're speeding up or slowing down. You may as well push.
If you're not mentally tough, If nerves undo you instead of focus you, If you don't have the inner arrogance That you absolutely have what it takes to win, If you don't see, in your mind's eye, A picture of yourself winning - then you won't win; And not because you can't.
The first mile is mental. The rest are all heart.
I grew up in northern California, where it was consistently in the hundreds in the summertime. My dad didn't think he should have to turn on the air conditioning when we had a swimming pool in our backyard; it was our built-in air conditioner.
It's not really about the competition. Your biggest challenge in a race is yourself. You're often racing against time. You're frequently running everything through your mind. You're always competing against preconceived ideas. It's not really the person next to you that you worry about.
I love to swim. When I jump in the water, I feel like I'm 12 years old again. It's really funny how it does that to me.
As a woman, you need to take control of your health. There's no harm in going in and getting checked out. Eventually, you have to ask yourself: 'Do I want to live at 100% or 80%?'
I slice up a ton of cucumbers, celery, carrots and red and yellow peppers. Keep them in your fridge so you always have something handy to curb your snack attack.
Preparing mentally takes more out of you than the physical aspect of it.
You can't go wrong with some nuts. The key word is 'some.' Eat them one at a time, not by the handful.
When people say, 'Hey, wanna come to our house for dinner?' I say, 'Yeah, what should I bring?' They say, 'How about the dessert?' I just don't skimp on the dessert. I make it the yummy way it should be made, and then I just don't eat the whole pan.
Indoor pools just don't seem as inviting to me.
I was a die-hard, obsessed fan of Michael Jordan. I'd take his posters with me to away meets, I'd walk out on the deck in my Air Jordans before I swam, I'd write 23 on my cap. I'm just a huge Jordan fan.
I love to run, but training can be hard, especially with a family and a crazy travel schedule. I often do sprints with my kids, where they bike and I run along side them so we can 'race' each other for a quarter-mile or shorter repeats.
Boston is the cream of the crop of the marathon world. It has such history that you feel such honor just being a part of it. All the other races have pacers to get you to a Boston qualifying time.
The more sleep you get in before the clock turns midnight, the more rested you feel no matter what time your alarm goes off.
I worked at this place called Water World; it was a waterslide park. My brother and my dad framed my first paycheck from this place - which was for $0.00 dollars - because I didn't even make enough to cover the cost of my uniform!
Running is how I clear my head and find my center again.
Quite simply, my diet has and will always be everything in moderation. People look at Olympic athletes and think they must cut out all those things everyone else indulges in, and speaking for myself, I never did.
I'm really conscious of the amount of food I eat, but I don't deny myself anything. For example, I have a really big sweet tooth. At the end of the night, if I'm craving ice cream, I might not have the bowl that I would have when I was a kid, but I'll put a couple of scoops in a coffee mug, and I'll eat it slowly, and I enjoy every moment of it.
Protein is important and hard for me to get in a hurry. We're busy. I don't always remember to thaw the chicken for dinner. I always have eggs, and they're light and satisfying. I never feel stuffed at the end of it.
Tennis is interesting because the women are almost more popular than the men. In the U.S. Open, women even get exactly the same money as the men.
