The Profile Dossier: Katie Arnold, the Ultra-Athlete Who Outran Her Anxiety

Source: https://theprofile.substack.com/p/katie-arnold

Highlights

• Arnold tried a multitude of remedies in an attempt to heal what she referred to as **“her worry brain.” **#Anxiety
• In this memoir, Arnold explains how running helped heal her grief and worry about her own mortality. Her story is one of sadness and renewal paired with adventure and obsession.
• Curiosity and observation have been crucial to helping her make sense of a chaotic world.
• When Arnold was preparing for the Leadville Trail 100, she created a “real-life training plan.” She accepted the fact that she had young kids, she was a writer, and she had a million little tasks to complete each day. **So Arnold created a training plan around her daily life that promoted mental toughness. **Daily Routine
• Go an entire day noticing the tiny, mundane moments in your life that you typically take for granted. The act of noticing can help you generate new ideas, develop an appreciation for your surroundings, and find the beauty in the mundane. #Curiosity
• Activate your beginner mind: Ultra-running has taught Arnold how to trust. When she shows up at the starting line of a race, she tells herself: “I’ve trained, and I’ve prepared for this.” She explains that she feels as though she turns a switch on in her head to “receive mode.” “I go into it thinking, ‘I’ve put in the work,’ now I’m open to whatever is going to happen.” **No matter what happens during a race, Arnold’s shifted her mindset to one of curiosity and learning because she believes every race has the power to teach you something about yourself. **Beginner’s Mind
• Lao Tzu: “Be who you really are and go the whole way.”
• Document the boring: Arnold’s a big believer in keeping notebooks in which you can write your observations or just record the mundane details of everyday life. She doesn’t like calling them “journals,” because a journal brings added pressure to write something precious and special. “If I’m working on something in my writing but I don’t want it to feel formal or that it has to be good, then I write it in my notebook,” she says. “I go through a notebook a month.” I also have a tiny notebook that I carry with me to record my thoughts, ideas, or interesting quotes I hear from random people around me. It’s nothing special but it keeps me present and curious throughout the day. Note-taking #Journals
• Detach from illogical, circuitous worry: Arnold emphasizes the difference between fear and anxiety. Fear is a response to a known threat; anxiety is dread of a perceived or imagined threat, of what could happen. It is anticipatory, not actual. #Anxiety #Fear
• “The crux is to live as big as you can, to love it all even when you stand to lose it all.” When you feel your stomach in knots and your mind racing, ask yourself: “Is my fear real or perceived? If it’s real, what can I do that is in my control?” **Learn how to let go of anticipatory fear. Focus on what’s actually in front you. **#Fear
• “When I move my body, I move my mind, and I move that imagination, and that is integral to how I write and how I do my work as a journalist and a writer.” #Writing #Exercise