Vibes of peace and contentment gleamed from Valerie Constien’s computer screen on a Tuesday night in late December. She wore her royal blue headphones to field interview questions about what she hopes her upcoming season will look like this year.
Like a box of Honey Nut Cheerios, Constien is happy and healthy. This wasn’t the case 10 months ago.
The talented Olympian, who competes in the women’s 3000m steeplechase was dealt an unfortunate hand last season that caused her not to compete in the sport she loves. This not only hampered her physically, but mentally as well.
“A huge reason why I was down last spring and last summer was just because of this injury that just wouldn’t go away,” she said. “Running is a huge part of my identity, it’s a huge part of my personality and it’s a huge part of my daily ritual and what I do to feel satisfied and happy. And to be at a point in my injury where I can’t even go on a 30 minute easy run just to be outside and maybe with friends, it took a toll on my mental health and happiness to be cut off from such an important aspect of my life. Now I’ve been running for four months straight, no injuries just feeling so good. And so hopefully I can keep that going.”
Constien dealt with a torn plantar and a reaction in one of her metatarsals. 10 days before she was set to leave for US Championships, she contracted COVID and dealt with various symptoms that stemmed from the illness.
Instead of rushing back into training and racing, Constien took her time to address and recover from her health issues, and she ended up returning to training in September. She admitted that her body just needed some time off, which has led to a successful offseason.
“Most of my offseason was trying to heal from COVID and these injuries and trying to figure out what went wrong this year, and then try to make good on that this year,” she said. “I was just kind of experimenting with a couple different new things. During the offseason, I brought my mileage down a little bit, I increased the intensity of my strength training, and I also started to do a little bit more intensity and less high aerobic workouts. Those slight adjustments in my training have made a really big difference. It’s just been fun to get out there and rip some really fast track workouts, even though I don’t have a race on the calendar until maybe February. So it’s been really fun.”
Another crucial part of Constien’s offseason was getting a chance to step away from the sport and go on adventures with those close to her. She went camping with her partner, flew on a private jet, and went to Moab.
Constien said that she believes that everything happens for a reason, including the difficulty that she faced last season. The tough times gave her newfound gratitude for the ability to run healthy.
“It gave me a massive amount of appreciation and gratitude for every mile that I can run outside pain free,” she said. “It’s really forced me to reconnect with my body to just be more observant and more in tune, where I was kind of shutting things out like ‘oh it’s fine, it hurts a little bit but it’s fine,’ and that type of attitude is what caused this huge injury that I had. Being able to be like ‘oh you know what, I don’t feel super good, so I’m going to take it really easy today, or this doesn’t feel right, I need to go see someone about this.’ Being hypersensitive about it has been good.”
The women’s 3000m steeplechase continues to evolve with great competition, but don’t count out or overlook Constien. She thrives and enjoys being the underdog.
“I will continue to be an underdog until I’m undeniably the best,” she said. “And I’m fine with that.”
Constien has set some goals for herself this season that go beyond the track and she has a list of things that she’s excited to achieve. One of those items on her list includes heading to Monaco to not only race in the steeplechase for the first time, but also to check out a Formula One race. But the one thing that excites her is the opportunity to train injury free, which was not the case this time last year.
“I’m honestly just excited to be healthy,” she said. “This time last year, my injury was starting to flare up, and I was like ‘oh it’s fine, it’s fine.’ But I don’t feel anything right now, I feel totally good, 100%. So the number one thing I’m looking forward to is training healthy. The number two thing I’m looking forward to actually is I would love to go race a Diamond League race. I’ve never raced a Diamond League race, and that’s what I really want to do.”
Despite everything that transpired over the past year, the continued love that Constien has for the sport has never wavered, and it’s the reason she continues to run.
“The moment it’s not fun, you gotta be done,” she said. “But this is fun for me. I love it.”
