Even Olympians Overtrain | Slowing Down with Caroline Burckle

The Sonya Looney Show

Some people are wonderfully infectious with their smile and enthusiasm. Caroline Burckle is one of those people. Not only is she a positive force that transcends the 2 dimensional boundaries of social media, but she mentors athletes who are rising stars through her RISE LIFE business. Caroline is a veteran in what goes on behind the scenes of human performance. She knows about pressure, accomplishments, and hard work. She has personal experience with overtraining. Caroline is a Bronze Medalist Swimmer performing in the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 4 x 200m relay. Not only that, she took gold in the 2007 Pan Am Games in the 800m freestyle, was the 2x NCAA champ, and was named the 2008 NCAA Swimmer of the Year!

I first found Caroline on Instagram and we instantly became online friends. After only a few conversations with her, I was inspired by her energy, her commitment to personal growth, and her journey. She was training to race the Othillo Swim Run World Championships with Hilary as her teammate and was planning to share the journey with Rich Roll and Chris Hauth. (Check out this New York Times article on the event and on Rich and Chris' adventure.) Caroline suffered an unfortunate injury and fractured her heel (calcaneus) and had to pull out resulting in over 4 months of forced rest. During that time, she decided to dig deep into the depth of her soul to continue learning more about herself.

Topics Discussed in the Podcast

• her journey as an athlete from a child to an Olympian, managing expectations, and competition
• how to redefine your life after retiring as a professional athlete
• continually searching for that next achievement and what that means
• personal identity and knowing that it's okay to always know your purpose
• the importance of rest, symptoms of fatigue
• the duality of pushing and pulling

Links

• Rise Elite
• Caroline Burckle's Website
• Caroline's Instagram
• Rich Roll's Podcast (mentioned in the conversation)
• Peak Performance "have the courage to rest" episode
• Youtube video with Caroline in Tahoe + Rich Roll & Chris Hauth & their podcast
• Across the Lake Swim Kelowna