It has been Oiselle's huge privilege to partner with Megan Rolland for the last nine years. From her no-nonsense hard work attitude to her triplet snuggling, her ER nursing, and her fierce racing, Megan embodies integrity in everything she does. It's not goodbye, Megan, it's see you out on the trails and roads! We love you!
I graduated college with an 11:30 steeple time and finished with a PR of 9:35. I have run in 5 USA champs including the 2016 Olympic trials.
It would be cool to write a blog that was short, succinct and went something like, “I am training as an elite athlete, crushing it!, working as a nurse AND raising triplets. Period. The end." Life never presents itself in that tidy packaging with a pretty bow wrapped around. Instead, it is more of an explosion of confetti and you are trying to run around and catch the tiny pieces falling from the sky.
I have decided I am stepping away from the steeple world and the rigorous training that comes along with trying to compete at the top level. I have nothing but love and respect for the sport of track and field and consider myself incredibly lucky to have chased after a dream and goal since graduating college in 2010. I graduated college with an 11:30 steeple time and finished with a PR of 9:35. I have run in 5 USA champs including the 2016 Olympic trials. I have met wonderful, lifelong friends and traveled all over the country and even internationally. I have done this all with my wonderful sponsor Oiselle by my side every step of the way.
I joined Oiselle in 2010 and have watched year by year as this incredible community of strong, wonderful women grew and grew. The love and support I have received from them and the community they helped create has opened up doors I didn't even know existed. It has been an amazing honor to represent a company with values so closely aligned with mine throughout it all.
In October 2018 my wife and I welcomed our triplets to the world. We knew life would drastically change, but when asked about my running, my standard answer was, “I would like to run through 2020, the next Olympic trials, and then we will see.”
The first 3 months were a blur, averaging 2-3 hours of sleep in increments throughout the day. Months 4 and 5 seemed to get slightly better with 3-5 hour increments. We sleep trained our kids around 5.5 months and I thought, “Okay, this is where it will get better and I can start keeping up with the training demands.” Even though they do pretty good, the triplets' sleep average is about 5-7 hours with 4-5am wake up times. The months of sleep deprivation and a heavier nursing load slowly caught up and I found myself in a zombie-like trance the majority of the day. I was just going through the motions intent on sticking it out even though I could feel the life draining out of me. The process stopped mattering, the joy of simple runs were gone. I dreaded workout days and races. I still thought I could power through one more month, one more season. It took a lot of self talks and courage to finally admit to myself that I don't want to limp through a season when the joy of competing has left. I am extremely proud of my accomplishments and have zero regrets with stepping away now to focus on new priorities in my life.
This is not a farewell to running. I am fit, healthy and will be turning 31 later this summer. I will run as long as my body allows and will always consider myself a runner. This is just a parting of ways of a certain lifestyle that has become incompatible with where I am in life right now. I will take a break and regroup and then see where the next journey leads. I am ready to step onto the sidelines, cowbell in hand, and cheer madly for the next woman Oiselle takes a chance on to pursue her own version of big dreams.
To everyone who I have met along the way, every person who has high-fived, congratulated me, every person who has supported me throughout it all: thank you, thank you, thank you.
This is not a farewell to running. I am fit, healthy and will be turning 31 later this summer. I will run as long as my body allows and will always consider myself a runner. This is just a parting of ways of a certain lifestyle that has become incompatible with where I am in life right now. I will take a break and regroup and then see where the next journey leads. I am ready to step onto the sidelines, cowbell in hand, and cheer madly for the next woman Oiselle takes a chance on to pursue her own version of big dreams.
To everyone who I have met along the way, every person who has high-fived, congratulated me, every person who has supported me throughout it all: thank you, thank you, thank you.
