Abbey D'Agostino Cooper: Putting her heart on the line

Her sights are set on the outdoor track and field season, which she hopes will culminate with a spot on the U.S. team for the 5,000 meters at the world championships in Eugene, Ore., in July.

And, ultimately, the Paris Olympics in 2024.

But for a weekend in February, Olympian Abbey D'Agostino Cooper spent time sharing her story with runners in the Twin City Track Club in Winston-Salem. The Boone resident, absorbed in church and community with husband Jacob and in reading and writing to go with her training, served as speaker last weekend for the club's annual Winter Seminar, whose previous guests have included Frank Shorter, Dick Beardsley, Blake Russell, Zola Budd, Uta Pippig and Bill Rodgers.

Explaining grit and grace, the 5,000 meters professional said that more than mental toughness is required for people and athletes to manage the ups and downs – and to come back from the downs.

In Cooper's case, the downs include the fall during a preliminary at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, and the devastation wreaked on the anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in her right knee, but also foot, achilles and hamstring problems.

An up is a change in strategy moments before a U.S. Olympic trials qualifying race in broiling Eugene, Ore., last summer that helped her PR and achieve the Olympic qualifying standard – after all of that.

Her definition of grit "is making the choice to be emotionally vulnerable, putting your heart on the line, despite the risk of failure, or disappointment, and ultimately releasing control over the outcome."

But, drawing on her deep faith, she said it's God grace that must accompany her own grit.

"That frees me up to be to be gritty and to risk failure and disappointment over and over again," she said.

I won't rob any further from Cooper's talk; you can read more about her here. And if you ever get to hear her tell her story, don't miss it, because the seven-time NCAA champion from Dartmouth is as genuine and as humble of an elite athlete as they come.

Cooper, who trains with Mountain South Elite in Johnson City, Tenn., and is sponsored by New Balance, took questions from TCTC members after she finished speaking. A selection of those and her responses:

Q: "Was there a period of time where you ever contemplated how things would have been different if that event didn't happen, that trip?" – Will Cooper.

Cooper: "When I was coming across the finish line, I was like, 'I can't believe I just finished. That was a miracle.' So I was riding this wave for a long time of real gratitude – it was real, still is real – of what I did that day. ...

"It was not until the summer of 2020; I had another injury that ended my season. I had a conversation with a mentor. And it struck me that I had not grieved the loss of what could have been in 2016. And I can't believe it took that long, but it did. I had a very good sense of disappointment that I might not go back. And that would be hard. It was really deeply helpful for me to feel that – and still feel it, clearly (laughs). But yeah, it took time."

Q: "You're lining up to run arguably the most important race of your life. The cameraman is panning the start line, and you smile and you wave and you laugh. You had to have your game face on, and there you are, cheerfully, like 'I'm getting ready to run this.' What was your mindset right at that point?" – Robert Preli.

Cooper: "I never actually knew that I had done that (audience laughs). ...

"There's a couple of things. The night before, my then-boyfriend (Jacob), we were on the phone. We were just praying together, just talking to him. And I remember saying, 'I feel tired. I felt really emotionally tired. This has been hard.' While a lot of good things had happened, I just remember needing to really surrender. 'I have no idea what's gonna happen tomorrow.' I woke up the next day, really with a sense of peace about the race. I get nervous before every single race; I still do. It was really a peace beyond understanding.

"And actually, the second thing is, the woman who was right next to me, from Australia, her name is Eloise (Wellings). She's a dear friend of mine; I didn't know her before that. During the warmup, something happened in the call room with the numbers. They had asked me to fix my number, or something that I thought was really silly. And so I started to laugh. It was probably nervous laughter, but she came over to me as we were putting on our spikes. She said, 'Are you a Christian?' And I've never met this girl before, and I said, 'Yeah.' She said, 'I can tell by your joy.' And in that moment, God is here. When I got out there, I just felt a sense of peace."

Q: "It was painful to watch those Olympic trials (in 2021) and to watch elite runners trying to compete at 110 degrees. What for you is the optimum temperature to perform?" – Greg Shelness.

Cooper: "My favorite workout temperature is like the fall, where you're wearing shorts and a long-sleeve (shirt), so maybe 45. I've always been a cross country girl through and through. ...

"I haven't done much experimentation with sauna training. Perhaps that would be helpful. We do not have air conditioning in our home, so maybe that's helpful (laughs). ... In times we were able to anticipate the weather, like in China in 2015 (world championships), we did acclimate in Tokyo, which is even hotter, I think, than Beijing."

Q: "When you switched thinking about health and physical performance, you went 100 percent in on health. Mentally and physically, what occurred in that shift?" – Chaffraix Lelong.

Cooper: "I backed down with some of the mileage and just had to trust my coach that he was developing a plan that was set on long-term and I could trust that. I had seen evidence that that worked.

"I knew from experience that I can cross-train effectively. Maybe some runners find that they can't hit their heart rate. I find that I have enough experience swimming that my heart doesn't know the difference. It's OK for me to do 50 vs. 70 miles a week. I always want to race when I'm sharp, but it was getting out and just getting sharp, racing my way to fitness."

Q: "Hypothetically, let's say you win all the races and set all the records, just achieve everything – audience laughs; 'Keep going!’ Cooper says – achieve every gold medal you could want. What would you say you also want to be remembered for?" – John Teeter.

Cooper: "I just feel such a calling to this sport and really just the platform that it creates for me to express what I know to be true about my identity in Christ and what I'm learning about that through sport, and that's what I want to impart to others. All of those successes would be wonderful. But I don't get to a place where I get to speak and hopefully encourage you all unless you go through the other side. Just sharing what I know to be true about what matters and the real source of our identity beyond our performance."

Q: "After you've made it to Paris in '24, and after Disney calls you, who will play you in the biopic? (audience laughs)" – the Running Shorts publisher.

Cooper: "I have no idea! (laughs). Maybe two people tell me that I look a little bit like the woman in 'Glee' (Lea Michelle). I didn't watch 'Glee.'"

Q: "What would you say is your finest moment to date, not personally but athletically?" – Shelness.

Cooper: "I feel really grateful for the season that I had last year. Obviously, the goal wasn't to place fourth at the trials. If you had asked anyone in the field running or me, three months before that, or told me that that was going to happen, I would not have believed you. I was working toward that, but it really felt like the seas were parted for me. I worked hard. And there was a lot of opportunity that was created for me at the trials, to be in contention and to be able to PR (15:07.80) last year."