Wisdom from an exhausted athlete: Ellen Pennock shares lessons from her career

Ellen Pennock has learned from her mistakes and wants to share them with the younger generation

Ellen Pennock took a break from competition last year shortly after the 2015 Pan Am Games, her best race of the season. The 24-year-old felt burned out physically and mentally and thought she needed a month to recover. It took a little bit longer....

....She thought she needed a month to recover, but it took a little bit longer. “I went back to Victoria, back to university and after a month I realized I needed more time off. So when the Olympics in Rio were happening I still wasn’t training. I worked at the Mountain Equipment Coop in Calgary and did a lot of trips in the mountains, which was refreshing. But never the less it was a hard time for me. Going to the Olympics was a dream and not seeing it fulfilled was hard.”.....

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Bethany`s Notes
Notes: What a brave story to share with younger athletes. I can only imagine how hard it was for Ellen to step away from the sport so she could recovery mentally and physically. Glad to see Ellen had a support group to help her through this time. It is nice to see she set her own timeline for her return when she is ready.