Posted on July 26th

At age 6, Kaylin Whitney won her first running race. At her elementary school’s field day, she outsprinted the other kids while carrying an egg on a spoon. Soon she joined a local track club and spent her weekends at the track. “I just fell in love with the sport,” she says.

At the age of 16, Whitney broke the girls U-18 records in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints. She turned pro at age 17 and won her first international meet in the senior ranks. “When I was younger, running just felt effortless,” she muses. “I can’t say that now, because at the elite level, everyone is talented.”

Though she initially focused on the shorter sprints, Whitney has shifted her focus to the longer 400-meter event. “It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she says. “It forced me to change and rethink everything—how I sleep, how I eat, how I emotionally prepare myself to train, day in and day out.” But she has taken the challenge in stride. At the Tokyo Games, she contributed to the U.S. team’s gold medal in the 4x400-meter relay, and she’ll be among the favorites at July’s World Championships in Oregon.

ON TRACK

“I do a lot of stretching”

“We train five days a week, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. That includes a track workout, and we lift four days a week—two days upper body, two days lower body. I spend 60 to 90 minutes doing my strides and stretching. I like to use ropes to stretch. I lie on my back and put the ropes around my feet to stretch my hamstrings, quads and glutes. And I do a lot of hip stretches, because my hips get super tight when I sprint. In every track athlete’s bag, you’ll find ropes, lacrosse balls, golf balls—whatever gets the job done.”

INTERVALS

“I train to shock my system”

“Successful 400 runners need to have the speed of a short sprinter and the endurance of a distance runner. Finding a happy medium between the two is grueling. A lot of my workouts are based on getting to a point of having lactic acid in my legs, then continuing to run. I like to do what’s called a ‘broken 4.’ The total reps are 400 meters, but I might run 200 meters, rest 90 seconds, then run another 200. Or I run 300 meters, rest 90 seconds, then run 100. That shock to the system helps me learn how to sprint when I’m already tired.”

NUTRITION

“I’m all plant-based now”

“Going plant-based has helped me in every way. I shed all the unnecessary weight I was carrying. I recover better from day to day. I’m as strong as I’ve ever been. I enjoy my food more. Everything is so simple for me now. I crave vegetables, fruits, rice and beans. For breakfast, I’ll have oatmeal with peanut butter and bananas, topped with chia and flax seeds. Then I’ll come home and have a bowl of fruit and a protein shake with bananas, frozen berries and almond milk. I love anything chocolate. I’m a chocoholic! Dinner, you can’t really mess up, rice, beans and vegetables.”

RECOVERY

“I focus on sleeping more”

“I can’t tell you how much it’s helped me to get eight hours of sleep. Before, I would sleep for five or six hours, but I wasn’t waking up refreshed. Otherwise, for recovery, it’s mainly massage, the chiropractor and contrast baths. There’s a place in town that has hot and cold tubs, so I do contrast baths there. We have Normatec boots, that basically squeeze your legs and get the blood flowing. I stretch every day during our warmup, so I’ve got that covered. But at home, sometimes I’ll watch TV and think that I might as well get on the floor and stretch.”

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