Allysa Seely is not any stranger to defying the norm. The Staff USA paratriathlete confronted three difficult diagnoses whereas a scholar at Arizona State College: Chiari Malformation, basilar invagination, and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. In consequence, she underwent mind and backbone surgical procedure in addition to a below-the-knee leg amputation on one in every of her legs. To this present day, she lives with advanced continual sickness and a number of secondary diagnoses.
And whereas these dynamic diagnoses may derail anybody’s goals, Seely was decided to carry on to her’s.
“I had began triathlon previous to experiencing a significant flip in my signs whereas at school. I had actually simply gotten began within the sport once I started dropping sensation in my legs and arms and was struggling to stroll,” Seely mentioned in an interview with Properly+Good from her pre-Paralympics coaching camp in Vichy, France. “My medical staff on the time even mentioned I might by no means be an athlete once more. However, I don’t wish to be advised what to do, and I turned my goal again to wanting to have the ability to run and do triathlon once more. By no means did I think about the place that need would take me as I laid in a hospital mattress all these years in the past.”
“My medical staff on the time mentioned I might by no means be an athlete once more. However, I don’t wish to be advised what to do.”
Quick-forward greater than a decade, and 35-year-old Seely has executed greater than “simply” run and take part in triathlon once more. She is a two-time back-to-back Paralympic gold medalist in paratriathlon, the one Staff USA paratriathlete to attain such a feat. She gained her first gold on the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Now, Seely is making ready for the largest race of her season as she prepares to go for gold once more on the Paris Paralympics. She says she is worked up, but additionally pretty calm, concerning the prospect of defending her title.
“I really feel a surreal mixture of feelings about the place I’m in my life—some days I really feel like I’m dwelling in a film,” Seely says. “On many days, I can’t imagine that I’ve achieved the entire issues that I’ve, and that I’ve made historical past. I actually do deal with every day with out getting caught up within the greater image … There’s a piece of me that is aware of I’ve been right here earlier than and may deal with it.”
Seely notes that her journey started with the purpose of taking a single step whereas getting used to her prosthetic leg. The only step progressed to operating a lap across the observe, which progressed to bigger objectives like finishing a triathlon, and, ultimately, making the Staff USA Paralympic paratriathlon roster.
“I hope different individuals can take from my journey that by specializing in your self and your course of, you can also discover success,” Seely says. “Evaluating your self to [others] will do you no good. You need to comply with your pathway—all of us should take our personal journey.”
On her journey, Seely has just a few key habits and merchandise that hold her resilient and wholesome so she will compete at her greatest when it issues (like on the Paris Paralympics).
1. She is aware of she’s greater than the Paralympics
As vital because the Paralympics are to Seely, she stays grounded in her strategy to being an elite athlete.
“I completely agree with the idea of separating our identities from what we ‘do,’” Seely says. “Whether or not you’re a Paralympic champion or a trainer or a health care provider, you can’t let your work or your job outline you.”
Seely says that when she is requested the query, “What do you do?” she’s going to not often say she is a Paralympic gold medalist.
“I all the time reply very vaguely, like ‘I work for the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics,’” Seely says. “The explanation I do it is because as soon as I inform individuals I’m a Paralympian, I usually find yourself in a endless dialog about it, and the fact is, there may be a lot extra to me than paratriathlon.”
Along with being a Paralympic champion, Seely says she is especially pleased with being an advocate for equal rights (particularly for ladies and people with disabilities), a doting dog-owner, and an concerned aunt to her younger niece.
“I’m not simply an athlete. My assist group jogs my memory that even on the very best days or the worst days, there may be a lot extra to me than a gold medal,” Seely says.
2. She makes group a precedence
After so a few years as a high athlete, Seely is aware of that the important thing to longevity in sport is to search out (and hold!) the enjoyable in it.
“I by no means take my paratriathlon coaching so critically to the place I can’t pivot or rearrange the coaching to work for me and my life,” Seely notes. “If my mates are all occurring a run collectively, I’ll change up my coaching in order that I can be a part of them; being a part of a gaggle and a group is vital to me, particularly given how remoted triathlon coaching might be.”
Seely says she’s discovered through the years that she’s going to profit extra from catching up with mates on an informal run or journey than if she recurrently forces herself to skip time with mates within the title of ticking off a coaching session.
“After I see my mates for a run or journey, I’m recharged mentally and I’m able to tackle exercises later within the week,” Seely says. “Generally it’s nearly getting the miles in with out being too particular about tempo or distance.”
3. She stays within the second
Seely credit a lot of her success in sport to taking her journey day-to-day, purpose by purpose. Exterior of sport, Seely likes actions that assist her keep current.
“Getting out with my two canines, Bentley and Mowgli, for a stroll is extremely rejuvenating. I really like attending to see the enjoyment they discover within the littlest of issues as we stroll across the neighborhood,” Seely says. “My canines are truthfully the factor I miss most about house once I journey.”
Seely says her different go-to actions are crocheting and baking, which she jokes could appear to be “grandma actions,” however that she finds a number of consolation in them.
“These hobbies are pretty sedentary, which additionally provides me time to recuperate from my coaching,” Seely says. “And as somebody who isn’t excellent at sitting nonetheless, having partaking actions that drive me to lastly be nonetheless is unbelievable.”
4. She mixes issues up
When Seely is within the thick of her paratriathlon season, one in every of her high priorities is staying injury-free, which frequently means saying “no” to issues like path operating or mountain biking.
However when the season is finished, all bets are off, and Seely adores taking her Liv mountain bike for a spin.
“My coach and I’ve an settlement: When the season begins to when the season ends, I keep off my mountain bike,” Seely says with fun. “However as we get nearer to the tip of the season, I actually rely down the times to once I can hop on my mountain bike.”
Seely says that taking a break from street biking is rewarding on the finish of an extended aggressive season.
“I liked taking part in within the filth as a child, and now I channel that by means of mountain biking,” Seely says. “I really like being out in nature, having fun with the silence and solitude of it whereas on my mountain bike.”
5. She practices self-care
Seely is consistently placing her physique by means of rigorous exercises. Whereas she thrives on being an elite athlete, she finds pleasure in mild self-care, too.
“This previous 12 months I’ve began to get pleasure from some easy skincare practices,” Seely says. “One thing as straightforward as a Burt’s Bees facial masks brings me a number of rest.”
Seely says that it’s not usually she will get to actually pamper herself or totally chill out, so incorporating small and simple acts of self care make her really feel “contemporary and recovered” earlier than her subsequent coaching session.
