By: Amy Begley, Atlanta Track Club Coach
Published: February 19, 2017
You’ve heard the phrase “attitude is everything”. If you learn to apply that mindset to your training and even your professional life, you will be setting yourself up for success.
Bridget Lyons is the type of athlete every coach dreams about. As a member of Atlanta Track Club Elite, she trains with and competes for the team locally and across the country. In 2016, Bridget toed the line in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials – one of her favorite experiences to date. She now has her sights set on a solid track season and qualifying for the USA Outdoor Championships.
But Bridget’s athletic accomplishments aren’t what makes her fun to coach. It’s her attitude.
Despite a busy training and racing schedule, Bridget is also a dentist. She is “all-in” on both her profession and her professional running career; she puts her head down and gets the job done whether it’s in the office or on the roads. She makes sure to find balance in both of her worlds, which gives her every opportunity to excel both as a dentist and as a runner.
Bridget has become a leader for the team. Her calm, even demeanor at practice and races has helped her performance as well as others. It is because of that demeanor that she has been selected to serve as the women’s open team captain for 2017.
That’s not to say that all of Bridget’s success has come easily. She has worked hard for it. She’s not superhuman – she has occasional trouble finding the motivation to get up and run early in the morning just like everyone else. Bridget sometimes feels tired or burnt out like we all do at some point. But she focuses on things like the excitement she feels on race day or the joy of setting a new PR to keep moving forward. You can find that same motivation, too – you just have to want it bad enough.