I was a runner and a soccer player living in Okinawa, Japan and I didn't have recruiters coming in to recruit me for sports. So how many kids out there and planning to go to college are super stud athletes but don't have a chance because they come from some podunk town and no one comes to watch them?

A run has never returned me exactly the same. I go, I grow.

Running has taken me in, and continues to comfort, heal and challenge me in all kinds of magical ways. I am not a 'good runner' because I am me. I am a good 'me' because I am a runner.

I think it doesn't happen overnight, that's for sure. As the first gold medalist since 1984, I think cycling needs to ride that wave right now, because people are excited.

To me, there is no greater way to achieve clarity than to run alone, or share miles with a trusted friend.

That's what our training is for, we practice not panicking, we practice breathing, we practice looking directly at the thing that scares us until we stop flinching, we practice overriding our Can't.

I talk about role models a lot and wanting to be a role model for kids around me because I didn't have that growing up.