Blog Takeover: Meet Danny.

Hi, my name is Danny Carney and I am a former collegiate Cross Country and Track athlete. I grew up in Littleton, Colorado and started running competitively in high school, following in the footsteps of my two older siblings. I went on to be recruited by and run for Brigham Young University where I was a 3 time All-American and member of the 2019 NCAA D1 National Championship team for Cross Country. I also competed at the US Track & Field Championships in 2018 and the US Olympic Marathon Trials in 2020. Nutrition has been a journey for me as I have transitioned through different phases of running. 

For runners, food can potentially ruin a race. In high school nutrition was a bit of an afterthought at the beginning. Living at home I didn't have a lot of control over what foods I ate but I was lucky to have parents who were flexible and were accustomed to runners in the family making specific requests.  High school became a time of experimenting with nutrition - something that I think most high schoolers should do. I learned about timing of nutrition and how long before a race or workout I should eat and what I should eat. I maintained a healthy relationship with food and learned by trial and error. As happens with a lot of runners and high school athletes, when I found something that seemed to work or was supposed to be good before running, I stuck to it almost obsessively. Oatmeal became my race morning tradition - even though I honestly don't like oatmeal very much. But it worked and I was stubborn (and maybe a little superstitious) so it continued. 

College became a much different experience as I was on my own for the first time. Luckily my college had an excellent nutrition support program for student athletes which ensured that I was getting the proper nutrition I needed to work out on a higher level. A nutrition class and dietitian helped me to evaluate my relationship with food and view it as a tool to both compete well and to be happy. While a lot of people adhere to diets and restrictions, I found that I was happiest and could compete on a high level if I approached foods with an "all things in moderation" approach. I tried to find balance, including eating foods that I liked (but were possibly considered unhealthy) when I wanted to. While traveling for meets, certain foods weren't always available. I had to learn to adapt and increase my repertoire of foods to include in my pre-race routine. This adaptation strengthened my relationship with food and helped me to become more knowledgeable about how my body interacts with different foods. 

In competitive running, as in other sports, it can often be the temptation to look a certain way. Often some runners will experience temporary progress if they decrease in weight. I've had friends (both female and male) who suffered from unhealthy relationships with food and some experienced eating disorders. I found that it was important to always put your health before anything else in sport. Usually when a runner drops in weight, they are more likely to then experience injury - I found that nutrition then became a tool for not only running well but avoiding injury. Staying healthy is key to competing well and proper nutrition (which includes eating enough food to fuel you) is key to staying healthy. 

Post college I had to figure out how to get proper nutrition without the support of my university. I began training for a marathon and learned even more about how vital fueling can be - even during the race itself. I had to learn about getting foods that fit my budget but also supported my training. Now, as I am starting dental school and running has temporarily taken a back seat, I have had to adjust my eating habits. A major adjustment has been my decreased appetite due to decreased calorie expenditure - when you are running for fun instead of doing intense marathon workouts you don't need quite as much food! 

 I have learned a lot about nutrition from the advice and experiences of others. From influential teammates who had strong opinions on how nutrition looked for them as an elite track athlete, to dietitians and coaches who gave guidance. At the end of day however, it was up to my own experiences and learning how to listen to my body when it came to figuring out my personal nutrition. Through combining the experience of others, scientific findings, and my own journey I was able to maintain a healthy relationship with food and use it to fuel my training and happiness. 

Tips I would give from my experience:

• Maintain a healthy relationship with food (all things in moderation - sometimes an unhealthy food might not be good for the body but is good for the soul)

• Try new foods in the context of your training to figure out what works for you

• Listen to your body - a healthy body (notice I didn't say skinny or a specific body type) is more likely to lead to a happy person  

- Danny

You can follow Danny on instagram @danielscarney.