Elite Heptathlete Chari Hawkins In Workout Gear Explains Hurdle Heights

Track and field athlete Chari Hawkins is giving fans a look at what typical competition for a female athlete looks like. Hawkins, 32, shared a video of herself wearing black shorts and a green shirt, comparing the heights of all the different hurdles. "All the heights of the professional hurdle races ✨ it kind of makes you realize what superheroes the men hurdlers really are, doesn't it??? Happy Monday! Today at practice we have hurdles, so I thought I'd show you what we are working with! ❤️❤️," she captioned the post. Here's what Hawkins' training looks like.

Hawkins continued training even when the 2020 Olympics were pushed back a year. "I've been doing my very best to just get a sweat in at home, go on a run and then come home and do dumbbells and a Bosu ball—just trying to get in as much as I possibly can and keep trying to take it as like, 'Hey, this is like an off-week where you're just doing the little things, you're not doing anything crazy, but you're not going to lose it.' I think the most important thing was trying to keep your mind sane," she told Sports Business Journal. "And I think that, honestly, I probably did a better job keeping my body sane than my mind during the uncertainty."

Hawkins says nutrition is something she had to learn. "The biggest thing that my coach has always talked to me about is the 80/20 rule," she told PROMiXX. "80% of the time making sure I'm having balanced food and the right nutrition to recover: the right amount of protein, the right amount of fats, the right amount of everything I might need. And then 20% of the time allowing yourself to live a life. At the end of the day, when we do 100% of everything, that's how we start getting mixed up in "this is who I am and if I don't do well I'm not good". Keeping perspective is really important. That 80 is keeping us healthy, that 20 is keeping us sane."

Hawkins uses visualization techniques to deal with anxiety. "Before practice, I was getting a sports massage. They are brutal. I decided if I could take that pain I could take the pain of my workout the next day," she told Upworthy. "I started visualizing my race model for the next day, my pace, I was working with the pain that I was feeling. I was able to get through it a lot better. I wasn't as squirmy. The next day, it was my most successful workout ever. It was almost as if I had already experienced it. When I started feeling pain or anxiety in my workout, I pushed past it in my head."

Hawkins almost gave up competing but was determined not to give up. "I decided I'm going to work and not have one day where I don't work as hard as I possibly can," she told Upworthy. "I'm not going to go without fighting as hard as I possibly can. That's exactly what I did. Got enough sleep, put the right kinds of food in my body. I was working on getting faster, stronger, but also on my physical recovery. Just making strides in so many areas. It took me from 25th in the nation to 3rd. I honestly truly believe that it's because I made a promise to myself to give everything I could."

Hawkins loves mentoring young runners through Girls on the Run. "It's been such an incredible experience. Every single day they got a little better," she told Upworthy. "The day I spoke to them, the subject was joy and all the things that bring them joy. Every time they ran a lap they got a bracelet. They wrote something on a board that brought them joy. What an incredible practice. Running isn't a punishment. At the same time, they don't have to be average. Running can kind of help you become your own empowered self. They don't need to fit any mold."