E108 Ben Flanagan Balance and Olympic Dream
Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 108
Date: February 20, 2024
Participants: Elise Seifert, Sheila Webster, John Webster, Cameron Earnshaw and Julie Wilson
Guest: Ben Flanagan
Start Times and Segments:
[0:00:16] What’s On Your Mind: We enjoy reading. We chat about how reading helps social and intellectual wellness.
[0:08:23] Expanding Minds Interview: [Balance over time] We interview long distance runner Ben Flanagan about balance. He’s been pursuing an Olympic dream for years. Balance looks different to each of us. We ask about balance over the course of a time. It’s worth focusing on some areas now, the brining in other areas later. After winning NCAA’s, Ben thought, “Hey, I might have a shot at this and I want to go all in.” He experienced all the setbacks, including major injuries and times where he didn’t see improvement. He got past the setbacks using time, patience and, most importantly, learning from them. As he got older, he saw the off ramps from his running dream more clearly. He chose to stay on the path. There are people in my life who support him unconditionally. He wants to perform well to express gratitude, but there’s also recognition that a lot of this is to fulfil his own dream. It’s something he’s come to terms with better recently.
[0:33:26] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron contributed to the theme song for a Rick and Morty show. The song is about to hit distribution and be available on lots of media platforms. It’s a win for Cameronl
[0:36:58] Move That Body: 5 Tips to help you stay motivated to exercise – find ways to fit exercise into your day; do activities you enjoy; make it social; if there’s a break in your routine get back on track; and keep track of your progress.
[0:41:44] Running Popup: John connected with a line from ML Steadman’s book The Light Between Oceans. He smiled thinking about how Sheila tends to tap him off balance unexpectedly, and how she’s good-heartedly mischievous.
[0:43:22] Flipside of the Coin: While out for a walk, we saw a server running out to ask a customer to pay his bill. It was a cold winter day and she didn’t have a coat. He brushed her off, walking away without paying. It was hard to watch. We felt for the server and felt helpless. We both experienced walkouts in our server/bartending days.
Quotes and Take-Aways:
Ben – It wasn’t until I graduated from college and won NCAA’s, putting up an accolade that made me feel like I belonged in another class of athletes, where I thought, “Hey, I might have a shot at this and I want to go all in.”
Ben – When I was around 16, I was around plenty of athletes, who were much better than me, who are not in the sport today for a variety of reasons. It could be injuries, lack of passion, didn’t want to do it anymore, or found other interests. I’ve been climbing this ladder from high school success to college success to professional success and the last one being international success. I’ve noticed that you start to be one of the few standing. I don’t say that out of arrogance. There are people who were way better than me, who I saw as locks for Olympics, who don’t run anymore. You realize how many opportunities there are to get off that path or lose that track for whatever reason.
Ben – I went to college to be a track and field athlete. I was there to practice and race and compete at the best of my abilities. I don’t think I took advantage of the college experience, including all of the educational opportunities. I definitely didn’t take advantage of the social opportunities, because it could conflict with high performance activities quite a bit for some people.
Ben – As I got older, I saw the off ramps from my running dream more clearly and I deliberately chose to stay on the path.
Ben – I’ve experienced all the setbacks. I went through the entire checklist, such as major injuries the most notable being stress fractures that knock you out for months. Another one is lack of progress, where you feel like you’re dialed in completely and doing all the right things, but you’re just not seeing the output. Performance is not getting better or at the rate you were expecting.
Ben – The biggest disappointment was missing out on the Tokyo Olympics. I was the first athlete not selected for the 5000-metre race. Up to two weeks before I thought I was going to be on that team.
Ben – You need to work through all of the setbacks in similar ways. The biggest one is time – giving yourself patience and time to recover from it. The most important one is taking away the lessons from them. What didn’t go right in this situation for injuries? How did I get injured? Let’s backtrack and make sure I solve these problems so it doesn’t happen again.
Ben – Being disappointed about missing the Olympics, I thought, “the Olympics doesn’t owe you anything”. The spot was never mine. It felt like that opportunity was taken from me when I didn’t make it, but it wasn’t. I had to learn how to set myself up to earn this spot, secure it and protect it, rather than get as close as possible and letting it slip in the last few weeks.
Ben – For balance now, one thing is to have a future plan of some sort. For a lot of athletes, our blinders are on for other areas of wellness especially when we’re younger. Now I’m a lot more realistic about knowing my career is going to come to an end. My performance level is going to drop off at some point. I’m trying to prep for the future. That includes taking courses and doing career exploration or career-development opportunities. I’m hoping to have my career through L.A. Olympics in 2028. I’m doing things to help me feel more in control of that inevitable transition out of sport, without making it so abrupt and overwhelming.
Ben – With how close I am now to achieving my goal, it’s something I feel that I need to accomplish. If I took an off-ramp after missing out on Tokyo Olympics, it would be hard to look back later in life and feel like I didn’t give it a try, being that close. It might have been a different story if it was half-way through college and it was at a time I didn’t know whether making the Olympics was possible. At this stage it’s something I really want to do, knowing it’s right there and could validate my career and my dedication to the sport. A lot of it is for myself. It’s something I want to accomplish. Ever since missing that spot in Tokyo, I’ve been more motivated than ever to not miss the Paris Olympics. I’ve been all in with that. I wouldn’t want to live with any regret, but it would be tough to look back and think I didn’t give it a go.
Ben – I’m lucky. I’m privileged, because a lot of the reason I’ve been able to make these trade-offs is because of the environment I’m in and the support I have from others. Other people aren’t so lucky. When it comes to economics, that off-ramp isn’t optional for some people. I’ve been lucky to be able to postpone things to do this. A lot of that comes down to the people who surround me. I’m 100% going to think that it was worth it.
Ben – There are people in my life who support me unconditionally. I want to perform well to express that gratitude, but there’s also recognition that a lot of this is to fulfil a dream that I have. It’s something I’ve come to terms with better recently.
Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by Ben: Holy $%#! I hope I don’t screw this up!
Guest Information: Ben Flanagan is one of Canada's best road running athletes. He’s currently the Canadian record holder in the 5 km and 10 km road races. He also is a 3-time winner of the Falmouth Road Race, having won the race in 2018, 2021, and 2022. Only taking the lead when he knows he's going to win, he fell in love with running in high school, discovering a community that welcomed him. Unafraid of improvement, Ben constantly pushes to better himself. Ben is married to Hannah and they love spending time with their dogs, Norm and Paris.
ON Running page: Ben Flanagan
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(-(-_(-_-)_-)-) Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle, Noura and Julie