![]() ![]() She was in a very fortunate position that she got to choose her time. “She still had the ability and Nike, her sponsor, still had the interest. Many athletes don’t get to choose their time-she could still be a professional athlete today if she wanted to be,” says Jerry Schumacher, head coach of the Bowerman Track Club, who coached Flanagan for the last decade of her career. Making a fifth Olympic team was a realistic goal. ![]() If she could rebound from the injury, Flanagan-who in 2017 became the first American woman in 40 years to win the New York City Marathon-was still at the top of her game. Nor did she want to leave the sport in the immediate aftermath of healing her left knee, where 75 percent of the patella tendon had torn off the bone. She never wanted to make the call in an emotional moment, like a finish line. Most athletes reach a definitive point where retirement is inevitable, but for Flanagan things were less clear. “That year of the unknown was uncomfortable-I felt like I was in between worlds.” “I felt very relieved and better about where I was headed in life after I finally announced my retirement,” Flanagan says. At 38 years old, the rhythm of her adult life was in upheaval, unanchored by the rigors of marathon mileage, fueling, and recovery. For the first time in 15 years, one of the most decorated distance runners in the country had no races on the calendar, no plans to compete-and a waning desire to ever log 130-mile weeks again.īut she hadn’t yet retired, either, so she struggled to figure out what each day should look like. After knee surgery, rehab replaced training. The year before her retirement from professional running, Shalane Flanagan felt like she was living in purgatory. ![]() Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! ![]()
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