There are very few times that you’ll catch Katie Izzo without a smile on her face.
She has a joyful disposition that she carries with her throughout life and in the sport of running. She says it’s something that she’s always had, even as a child.
“It’s always been my temperament,” she said. “I guess it’s just part of my personality. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve just realized there’s so much joy in the everyday little moments.”
She’s been able to use her joy to her advantage as she competes in the sport that she loves, despite the bumps and bruises that she’s faced along the way throughout her career.
Izzo found this season on the track, as well as on the roads and cross country course. She ran personal best times in the 1500m, 3000m, as well as the 10,000m. On the cross country course, she competed for Team USA at the World Cross Country Championships in Australia back in February. On the roads, she won her first half-marathon and qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials that’s set to take place in Orlando in February.
She took away confidence and belief in herself after accomplishing what she did this past season, and she’s using that to elevate her to the next level.
“Obviously you need to have the fitness, but I think a big part of it is the confidence and that belief,” she said. “I’ve been a pro for about two years and now I have the confidence. Sometimes you lose it along the way, but I feel like I am stepping into this new level of confidence which goes hand in hand with my potential, which is nice to feel again.”
Running is a love that Izzo has always had. While her identity isn’t always rooted in running, it’s something that’s always brought her joy, regardless of the circumstances that she’s dealt with.
“I’ve always had this natural gift and ability in running and definitely like a God given gift. So I’ve always loved it, just the simplicity of it,” she said. “When I first started running, I was a sprinter in middle school running the 100m, and now I’m running the half marathon. I think that the joy is how it’s been such a constant in my life. It’s really good to find your identity outside of running, and I definitely have that. But when I’m running, when I’m racing and when I’m at my best, that is just pure joy to me. I’ve lived in a lot of different places, but I’ve always had the joy of running. Even when I’ve been injured, I still loved running and I couldn’t wait to get back to it. Just having that constant in my life has brought me so much joy because it’s a part of who I am.”
Izzo has continued to trust the process throughout her running journey, and it’s always led to improvement and more joy. She loves her continuous trajectory of improvement because she knows what she’s capable of as a runner.
“For the most part within every season, I’ve always progressed. But it’s been a wild ride,” she said. “Every time I’ve gone up in distance, I’ve found more success, but I always look to return to the faster stuff because I think it’s fun to do every distance. I had some bumps in the road, especially at Cal Poly and not competing for two years and breaking my leg and everything – that was a two-year period where nothing happened. And when I transferred to Arkansas, from an outside perspective, people saw that as this crazy jump in performances. And even thought it was as I was blowing past all of my PR’s, it didn’t come as that much of a surprise to me because I always knew that I had that in me, and I just knew that I needed to surround myself with my teammates at Arkansas to get to the next level in my career.
I just love always improving. That brings me so much happiness. Just to see that the work that I put in year after year – it shows that I’m being the best version of myself every single year.”
Izzo admits that in the tough stretches, she lost the feeling of fun that running provides and that she loves the most. Her perspective and her support system helped her regain that happy feeling.
“I think I found the fun again,” she said. “And you have to have the fun because that’s what it’s all about. If you’re not having fun, what’s the point and you’re not going to race well if you’re not enjoying it. I’m enjoying it. I have great teammates – such a great support system. I have a whole community in Flagstaff now since I go out there all the time. I really am having fun and it’s nice to really feel that again.”
